SeaWorld: Why The Food Deprivation Claims are Nonsense

Picture provided by Tessa Nicole

SeaWorld: Why The Food Deprivation Claims Are Nonsense

You may have watched the movie "Blackfish." And you may have heard that "SeaWorld deprives animals of their food if they don't perform" from the cast members. But is that really true? Let's take a closer look at these claims.

The People who claim that:

1. Have never worked at SeaWorld.

2. Did work there, but decades ago.

or

3. Contradicted themselves in the past.

So what is true?

First of all: The Killer Whales at SeaWorld do not perform to get fed. This is a lie. The People who make these false claims desperately need reasons to make people "Boycott SeaWorld," so of course they're going to make up a few lies to push their Agenda. But if you need lies to make people "hate" a company, doesn't that just reveal your true face?

John Hargrove, a former Killer Whale Trainer who worked at SeaWorld and Marineland Antibes, has made these assumptions in the past, especially in his book "Beneath The Surface." Hargrove has contradicted himself in the past and probably will in the future again. Let's look at the Facts:

The pictures above show you what Hargrove said before he published his book in 2015. He said trainers were not supposed to deprive animals of food, and that a trainer who starved animals into performing "was a poor trainer and [was] using techniques not taught to us in the SeaWorld system".

Kim Ashdown, another former SeaWorld Trainer that was featured in "Blackfish", said the following in an Interview with "Cetacean Inspiration" about the Food deprivation claims:

"If we ever deviated from their base (the daily amount of food they are supposed to get) then we would have to get a veterinarians  approval.
It really wasn't about making them go hungry - if that were the
case, I would've left a long time ago. [...]
It really isn't a diet thing - SeaWorld doesn't want them to starve or get
sick."

John Jett and Jeffrey Ventre, also featured in Blackfish, both have made these assumptions, too. Both of them have not worked at SeaWorld in over twenty years and yet, they claim that SeaWorld deprives animals of their food NOW. Let's pretend that they had to do what they claim back then. HOW can you say that SeaWorld, if they did that twenty years ago, STILL does it? How can you claim that? And how can anyone believe it?

Mr. Jett worked at SeaWorld Florida from 1992-1996, and had limited interaction with killer whales. Mr. Ventre was employed by SeaWorld from November 1987 through December 1995 and worked with killer whales for approximately three years. Now tell me again: How can you claim that they deprive animals of their food in 2017?

Let's also look at what SeaWorld says: SeaWorld has described their own training methods in their Animal Training Infobook. Basically, if an animal at SeaWorld does not perform the correct behavior, they will be given a chance to try it again, but will not be rewarded for incorrect behavior. SeaWorld's animals receive a set amount of food each day (a "base"), which does not change based on their behavior. If an orca does not perform the desired behaviors, the food which they might not get during a show is always given to them by the end of the day.

Fish is their primary reinforcement, but sometimes they are rewarded with secondary reinforcements like ice, toys, rubdowns, and more.

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Picture provided by Tessa Nicole

Now here comes the ultimate question: If you love animals, would you deprive them of their food?

All the former Trainers claim that they loved the animals they worked with and yet, some of them claim they deprived (or had to) animals of their food. You can't tell me an animal lover would do such a thing, unless it is medically needed. I would rather loose my Job than do such a thing.

Especially that John Hargrove, who worked fourteen years at SeaWorld, makes such claims, is devisating to me. Who would work for a company, that allegdely deprives animals of their food, THAT Long? It does not make sense to me.

Luckily former Trainers came forward and denied that they deprived animals of their food.

I honestly don't care if you hate SeaWorld - but please don't make up lies to push your Agenda

It is simply not fair.