orcafreak:

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 Armchair orca researcher: I personally believe it is cruel to keep such large and intelligent creatures in small, barren pools. They were meant to roam in the ocean with their families, not caged for our amusement.

 Pro-cap: You’re not an expert on orcas, wild or captive, so your opinion is invalid. Also, the wild is a dangerous place for them. They have to deal with pollution, boats, net entanglements and lack of food.

 *BONUS* I’m going to be a Shamu trainer! It’s been my ambition and you are just jealous because you aren’t going to be able to work at SeaWorld, so stop trying to endanger my chances at my dream job.

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Researcher who studies wild orcas: I study orcas in their natural habitats, able to observe behaviours that are not influenced by confinement or the trauma of being captured.

 Pro-cap: You can’t study orcas in the wild. They spend most of their time underwater so you can’t observe these behaviours. Captivity means we can study them up close all the time. Also, you have no experience working with captive orcas, so you cannot claim that captivity is bad for them.

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Ex-orca trainer: After spending several years working as a trainer I saw the darker side of the industry. Calves being separated from their mothers. Teeth drilled and removed on a regular basis. I was coached to misinform the public on orca longevity so that we could justify the number of dead young orcas who did not survive past their teens. And don’t get me started on the unsafe working conditions.

 Pro-cap: You were fired, or had quit, and you have an axe to grind so you willingly slander your former employers, who should sue you for spreading nasty, hateful lies.