Amanda Holden for PETA
“[Orcas] are animals with their own cultures and their own language,” says Holden in the video. “The more we understand about the extraordinary capabilities of these wonderful whales, the more we can realise just how disgusting their captivity and confinement is."
Wearing a billowing gown and pressing her hands against a glass wall, Amanda Holden is entirely submerged underwater in a new PETA campaign that proclaims, “Boycott Seaworld or any marine park that keeps orcas, dolphins, and other animals captive” and “All animals want to be free.”
In an accompanying video, the Britain’s Got Talent judge explains that orcas suffer in marine parks like SeaWorld, where they swim monotonously around tiny concrete tanks filled with chemically treated water, gnaw on the metal bars of their enclosures until their teeth break, and are given anti-anxiety drugs to manage stress-induced behaviour.
She points out that while no whales or dolphins have been held captive in the UK since the 1990s, marine parks continue to operate abroad. PETA is calling on the public and businesses such as travel operator Thomas Cook to stop supporting the marine park, especially in light of its recently failed animal-welfare audit.