Captive marine mammals face some of the most profound welfare challenges in the zoo world, with growing consensus against keeping orcas in particular in entertainment facilities.
Orcas in captivity live in pools equivalent to a bathtub relative to their wild range of hundreds of miles daily. The cognitive complexity, social sophistication, and acoustic culture of orcas make captivity particularly damaging. Captive orcas develop collapsed dorsal fins from circular swimming, stereotype, and show dramatically reduced lifespans. The transition from entertainment facilities to open-water sanctuaries represents a welfare improvement, though full rehabilitation and release is rarely possible for long-term captive animals.