Price of Admission

As a child, I thought SeaWorld was so magical and wonderful.  We went probably a half dozen different times growing up.  I was drawn to the animals, being such an animal lover already.  Back then, I was amazed at the killer whales and all their glory, the dolphins' cleverness, the sea lions' comedic tricks and funny groans, the penguins' antics, just everything. 
Ah, the innocence of childhood.....

As an adult visitor, the magic has definitely faded.  So many thoughts run through my mind.  Where did the animals come from really?  Were they rescued or born into captivity?  What kind of life is this for them?  Do they spend their "off" time stuck in small spaces without attention?  What life did we rob them from?  Or would they have died without rescuing?

I think of the baby killer whale learning from it's mama that you must jump and splash people for food.  And then I look at the pathetically small holding tanks for them.  Thinking of their existence in this context makes me very sad.  On one of the performances, they showed a film about how they rescue the animals plus many more that get released back into the waters.  If what they are selling is true, then I feel slightly better about it.  But, could it just be another marketing scheme?  After all, they are a business out to make money.  And one way to do that is to sell a good image of rescued animals being loved and given a good life.

I then think of it from a bird's eye perspective...Clap, clap, clap.  Entertain us.  Humans paying humans to force animals to do tricks for us.  It's not bad enough that we raise animals to slaughter them for food (yes, I eat meat also) but now they are at our mercy to perform for us.  If one day, we will be judged solely on how we treated the most innocent, I feel we are in big trouble.  And we just contributed to the cause with our price of admission.