Chronic Stress in Captive Orcas – Webinar

Join Drs. Lori Marino, Naomi Rose and Veronica Slootsky for a discussion of their findings on the impact of chronic stress in captive orcas.

People often assume that orcas in marine parks have a stress-free life with regular veterinary care, daily nutrition, and no outside dangers. But years of accumulated evidence has revealed that these whales live shortened lives characterized by high mortality rates from infections, abnormal behaviors and emotional dysregulation.

Our three panelists were part of a unique collaboration of six experts across the fields of marine mammal science, veterinary science, internal medicine and psychiatry. Together, they examined the welfare of orcas living in concrete tanks and concluded that living at marine parks is the very opposite of stress-free. Instead, they found that captive orcas experience five major sources of chronic stress.

In this webinar they will discuss those sources of stress, explain how chronic stress impacts the brain, behavior and susceptibility to disease, and suggest a new sanctuary-based paradigm as an alternative to living in concrete tanks.

For more information and background, check out their study in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior.

You can send in your questions to the panelists ahead of time by email.