Arrest Protesting SeaWorld: Why I Was Cuffed In, Laid Down, And Dressed Up As An Orca

A few years ago while budget traveling the California coast, I found myself handcuffed, sitting peacefully in a wade pool in San Diego, California. I vividly remember sitting cross-legged, focusing on my breath, staring out at the water and wondering why our human world was so backwards at times. Even though there was yelling and screaming in the background, everything was crystal clear for me in that moment. Let me explain.

What It Was Like Being Arrested For Peacefully Protesting Animal Cruelty

As soon as I turn my attention back to the wade pool that I am laying in, I hear it all. The shouting. The yelling. The heckling. People holding fast to their their support of SeaWorld through yelling and chanting. Do they really know what they’re supporting – truly? I doubt it. As soon as I turn my attention back to my body, I feel the cuffs on my wrist. I feel a slight sensation of pain in my shoulders from my arms being restrained behind my body. I remember that I no longer have access to my own arms and hands, that I am no longer able to use them freely.

Many people watch this happening live in person, and online thanks to streaming technology . But to me, it was real-time. I remember that a person in all uniform pulled me up out of the water and laid me down on my belly. They took away my right to move freely and tied my hands together. They left me on the pavement, under the hot sun, and I felt my face burning and turning red. People yelled at me, shouting profanities, and some park-goers even kicked water in my face. To be honest, I was scared, but that was nothing compared to what happens to these animals who suffer at the hands of SeaWorld.

In the moment where I found myself with my face shoved into the pavement, remembering that I was unable to move or protect myself, I found the smallest (tiniest, most micro) bit of understanding of what it was like to be held captive at SeaWorld. But my smallest sliver of suffering, fear, and uncomfortable physical condition will never equate to what orcas go to in this place where animals are exploited in the name of human entertainment.

The Facts About SeaWorld And Orcas

Orcas there are taken out of their natural habitat, or forcibly born into a fake one. Orcas are used to swimming up to 110 miles each day, spending 95% of their time submerged, protected from the sun. There, at Sea World, the pools are equal to the size of a bathtub, in perspective to humans. This means that they would need to swim 3,105 lengths back and forth at the longest part of the tank to get close to their natural distances—it means that there is no protection from the sun.

So naturally, they don’t have adequate space to move their bodies a healthy amount. They don’t have enough room to dive down under the water, so they get sunburnt from being so close to the surface. They’re stuck, confined to a space that doesn’t fit them. They’re silenced by the fact that they don’t speak a human-constructed language, and we refuse to hear them. And to top it all off, they’re put on antipsychotics and benzodiazepine, because they need a number of harmful drugs just to survive in a tank. These animals in captivity gnaw at iron bars from boredom, stress, and anxiety. They break their teeth trying to liberate themselves and can lead to painful dental drilling, all without anesthesia.

Educate Yourself On SeaWorld And Other Water Jails

And that’s just the beginning of it. Before I protested this park, I had only done some various smaller studies of the life of an enslaved orca at SeaWorld. I read some information here and there, and I was rightfully horrified. I had a hard time stomaching that we, as humans, with the capacity for empathy and compassion, kept doing awful things like this to animals with little gain to claim at the end of the day.

And I still do. I am astounded that these animals, to this day, are still used and abused at SeaWorld. Are you ready to see what I mean? Check out Blackfish on Netflix. This is just the beginning of the story.

For those humans who refuse to think about non-human animals, or other animals stripped of their autonomy by humans, try thinking about yourself instead. Does being chained up, crowded, taken from your home, unable to move and live freely sound like something that you would want to suffer through each day? All for profit and entertainment that’s completely unnecessary?

Hey, I’m not providing answers here. It’s just a question.

And just like I did, you have the right to remain silent.

Want to hear me tell you this story, in full detail? Check out the podcast episode! It’s been the most played episode so far. Listen now!

We’re planting the seeds to be set in motion

Release the orcas to the ocean

You wonder why we cause commotion

I’m just asking you to consider my notion

Animal liberation, now!

• Emek Echo & Calen Otto

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