Week 8:
Misconceptions

July 31, 2016

This week I worked with another group of 6-8th graders in a camp called Animal Sciences. While we had some extremely challenging kids to work with and ran into quite a few problems, it ended up being one of my favorite weeks of camp so far.

On Friday, we had a trainer talk with one of the killer whale trainers after the One Ocean show. Our trainer, named Kayla, was phenomenal, and had a lot of wonderful points to share with the kids. She taught them all the general facts about SeaWorld Orlando’s orcas, how much water is in their pools, how many whales there are, etc. Then she moved on to a speech about why SeaWorld is so important.

Ever heard of a film called Orca? Probably not. Made in 1977, Orca is a film very similar to Jaws. But instead of the gigantic, terrifying villain being a shark, the villain is a killer whale. In fact, 50 years ago, people used to fear killer whales in the same way they fear sharks now. And much of the reason that killer whales are now revered as these beautiful, intelligent creatures is because of SeaWorld. Before SeaWorld, little had been studied about orcas. I would argue that SeaWorld almost singlehandedly changed the public’s view of killer whales, from seeing them as enormous, terrifying predators, to powerful, intelligent, and compassionate creatures of the sea.

Without SeaWorld, it’s a very real possibility that we would still view killer whales and other powerful cetaceans in the way we continue to view sharks. Which brings me to another important lesson that I’ve learned while working at SeaWorld. 

I used to be terrified of sharks. I think part of it was due to unfamiliarity, having grown up in the landlocked mountains of Colorado. Sharks are portrayed as these bloodthirsty, menacing predators who will ruthlessly attack anything in their domain. However, this could not be further from the truth. In reality, sharks are more like confused babies with bad eyesight.

Sharks only kill about 5-10 people per year worldwide. That’s…next to nothing. In fact, what most people picture when they hear the word shark isn’t even that accurate. There are over 450 species of sharks, but more than 200 of them won’t ever grow to be more than 3 feet long! And most people killed in shark attacks are far from devoured by the shark, they usually die from blood loss. You see, when a shark attacks a human, they’re most likely just confused. Because from their view, we look pretty darn similar to their actual diet: seals, sea lions, and turtles.

In fact, here is a list of things that kill more people than sharks annually: 
-Lightning
-Mosquitos
-Vending Machines
-Deer
-Black Friday shopping (I’m not kidding)
-Bathtubs
-Dogs
-And many, many others

Just like every other creature on earth, sharks have incredible adaptations that help them survive in their watery environment, one so unique that it’s often called a sixth sense. SeaWorld is working very hard to change the public’s view on sharks, just like they did with killer whales. The opening of their new rollercoaster, Mako, is aimed at increasing public interest on sharks. The Mako shark is the fastest shark in the sea, just like the rollercoaster is the fastest one in Orlando.

SeaWorld does so much for the conservation of thousands of species worldwide, but they can only continue this work if the public realizes that SeaWorld and its partners are not the enemy.