The welfare of dolphins, orcas, and other cetaceans in captivity has attracted intense scientific and public scrutiny, with growing consensus that the needs of these large-brained, wide-ranging animals cannot be adequately met in captive settings.
The captivity of orcas and other cetaceans represents a profound welfare failure that has become increasingly difficult to justify as evidence of their intelligence, social complexity, and welfare needs has accumulated. Captive orcas experience the combined welfare insults of severely restricted range, disrupted or absent natural social bonds, loss of the coordinated hunting that structures their cognitive and social lives, and the noise and unnatural conditions of performance environments. The documentary Blackfish brought these issues to mainstream attention and contributed to significant changes in industry practice, but fundamental welfare concerns about large cetacean captivity persist.