Should animals be kept in captivity ?

        Another criterion is health problems caused by captivity. Many tanks have water full of chemicals and bacteria; this results in blindness and many skin problems in dolphins and other marine mammals. In addition marine mammals in captivity die from pneumonia, ulcers and other stress related diseases. Most of these helpless creatures suffer form boredom. For example dolphins in the wild swim from 40-100 miles per day but in pools they go around swimming in repetitive patterns. Due to boredom and limited space many dolphins abuse themselves; they often bang their heads against tank and aquarium walls. Some of these poor innocent creatures face abusive treatment by their caretakers, thus shortening their lifespan. In fact Keiko, the killer whale, the star of Free Willy, was a victim of this type of abuse. It was said that he was 1000 pounds underweight and developed a wart like disease. His teeth were grind down from chewing the sides of the pool due to the boredom and he had a problem with his dorsal fin. A third criterion captivity causes distress on the animals. Marine mammals breed very poorly in captivity with very high infant death rates. For this reason, when a baby dolphin is born into captivity its birth is usually kept a secret from its mother until it shows signs of survival due to the amount of stress the mother dolphin is in. Marine mammals do breed in captivity, but the birth rate in captivity is not as successful as in the wild due to stress.

        Dolphins are well known for their agility and playful behavior, making them a favorite of wildlife watchers. Many species will leap out of the water, spy-hop (rise vertically out of the water to view their surroundings) and follow ships, often synchronizing their movements with one another. Scientists believe that dolphins conserve energy by swimming alongside ships, a practice known as bow-riding.

Dolphins live in social groups of five to several hundred. They use echolocation to find prey and often hunt together by surrounding a school of fish, trapping them and taking turns swimming through the school and catching fish. Dolphins will also follow seabirds, other whales and fishing boats to feed opportunistically on the fish they scare up or discard. Just think about the amount of stress these dolphins are dealing with everyday in captivity. When they could be doing so much more living, than just jumping though hoops and eating die fish all day in a little tank.

        Many people think that marine mammals should remain in captivity. I realize that some people may believe that captivity increases the life span of certain animals, but the truth is if these animals are so happy in captivity, why do they die so fast? Captivity shortens animal life spans it does not increase them.

Adam Roberts, senior vice president of the animal protection advocacy group Born Free USA, said caging animals can create problems for both humans and the animals.

"It's not good for the animals," Roberts said on "GMA" today. "It's not good for humans either. First, the animals are put in unnatural settings. They're taken out of their biological comfort zone and the way they actually live in the wild and forced into these artificial enclosures on concrete, behind bars.”  It is cruel to imprison any innocent animal or human for the rest of their lives.

        In my opinion there is no doubt that marine animals or any other animals should not be held in captivity. Marine mammals are a part of nature and should not be bought, sold or thrown in an aquarium. I believe that they have the right to be kept in their natural environment. When people go see these animals am sure they are lost for words because of the beauty and innocence of these wonderful animals that God had blessed us to put on earth with us. But God did not put the animals behind bars or in tanks, we did. If we wish to pass on these wonderful moments and experiences to our sons and daughters and their sons and daughters, we must put a stop to captivity. Animals are a part of nature and should not be bought, sold or thrown behind bars or into tanks for display. God put these animals here naturally so lets keep it that way.