As SeaWorld prepares for the next round of hearings in which it defends itself against charges by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) of “willful neglect,” The Orca Project has released a new video that reveals the differences between life for killer whale families in the wild and in captivity.

The video was prepared by Leah Lemieux, author of the book Rekindling the Waters, and Lori Marino, Ph.D., neuroscientist at Emory University, who has studied dolphins and whales for over twenty years.

“We want people to see the amazing rich family life orcas lead in the ocean, and how captivity not only destroys individual dolphins and whales but tears whole families apart,” Marino said.

The citation against SeaWorld by OSHA followed an investigation into the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in February, 2010, when killer whale Tilikum dragged her into his tank and killed her over a period of 20 minutes as a horrified audience looked on.

The video shows the difference between life for orcas in the ocean, where they live in large, highly social family groups, and life in captivity, where they live in barren, lonely tanks.

Tilikum, a 30-year-old male orca at SeaWorld Orlando, was taken from his mother at two years of age and transferred from one marine circus to another after killing his first human at a facility in Canada. In the ocean, he would have been able to live with his family his entire life. But captive orcas are forced to live deprived of the natural family life that’s vital to their physical and mental welfare.

“While there have been numerous deaths, injuries and other incidents at these marine circuses,” Marino said, “there’s not a single case on record of an orca in the wild ever having killed anyone.”

The Orca Project is inviting everyone who watches this video to take a pledge not to buy a ticket to marine parks with captive dolphins and whales and to share this important message with family, friends and colleagues.

The video, entitled A Better Way to See Orcas, can be viewed here

Captivity is, in reality for the orcas concerned, far from the shiny, slick, happy veneer these facilities present to the public. Captivity brings devastation to orca families not only in the wild from wild captures, but also those born in captivity who are removed from the only relative they know, their mothers.

This link shows a list of captive orcas separated from their mothers and the reality behind these facilities and what life really means for these whales.