Sea World Dismisses Plan to Free Corky

Animal-rights advocates on Thursday called for Sea World to consider releasing Corky, a female killer whale, into the ocean where she was captured in 1969.

This first-ever proposal was made by Dr. Paul Spong, a British Columbia-based whale researcher, who said the purpose of such an experiment, which would include retraining Corky to catch fish, would be to gather scientific data while “doing something for the whales as well.” He said he believes Corky’s mother is still alive, referring to a whale who lingered in the area where Corky was captured, and that her family unit, or pod, would recognize her and accept her back if she returned.

“Corky has given 22 years of her life to us. She’s entertained us, she’s educated us, she’s sacrificed her life,” Spong said at a news conference held in San Diego to explain what he calls “The Corky Project.”

“We can give her something back, and we owe it to her to try. We can make a meaningful gesture of recompense,” he said.

But Sea World officials, who met with Spong in August to review his proposal, said Thursday they have concluded the project is a poorly conceived “fantasy” that would endanger Corky’s life. After spending 22 years in captivity, they said, Corky would have difficulty surviving in the wild.

Furthermore, they said, Corky is making a scientific contribution right where she is.

“She’s serving an important function here,” said Sea World General Curator Jim Antrim, who speculated that Spong had his own interests, not Corky’s, in mind when he proposed that she become the first freed captive killer whale. “I don’t know what his motives are. It might be that he could have benefited from (the project) in terms of employment, money, recognition.”

Antrim and other Sea World officials accused Spong and the animal rights groups that support him of anthropomorphizing marine mammals--assigning them human characteristics and values, such as a desire to go “home.” They also said the Corky Project is just one in a continuing series of attempts to manipulate the public’s emotions in order to discredit the marine park.

Dan LeBlanc, Sea World’s public relations director, said that, if killer whales became endangered or threatened, as the California condor has, Sea World might consider some sort of reintroduction effort. But, until then, as killer whales flourish around the world, Sea World officials see no reason to consider such potentially risky releases.

“It wouldn’t matter who was asking,” he said, noting that scientists have learned much about killer whale gestation and growth from Sea World’s captive populations. “Corky is home right now. Right where she is.”

Sea World officials say that, at an estimated 27 years old, Corky already is an elderly whale. But Spong and other activists say a female killer whale can live in the wild to age 60.

Spong said he first made his idea public at a symposium on dolphins and whales held in Geneva in 1990. The concept is “certainly risky,” he said, but is designed so that the experiment can be stopped at any point. First, he said, Corky would begin relearning to catch live fish in her tank at Sea World. If she mastered that, she would be moved to what he called a “halfway house in the ocean”--a bay near her pod’s home that would be netted off.

The pod travels in the waters between the southeast border of Alaska and central Vancouver Island.

There, her training would continue, Spong said. Meanwhile, scientists could monitor whether Corky was communicating acoustically with others in her pod. If she was, and if other behavior indicated the pod would accept her, Corky could be released--but only after being taught to return regularly in order to have her health checked.

Spong also envisioned attaching a harness to Corky that would carry cameras and recording equipment to shed new light on the underwater life of whales.

“Corky will just blow our socks off,” he said, adding that, if Sea World would only fund such an experiment, “they would more than get their money back. . . . Films, videos, tapes, books. Just the rights to the underwater imagery. It’s a public relations bonanza. In my opinion, it’s sheer idiocy to turn it down.”

But at least one independent scientist who in the past has been critical of Sea World said he is unimpressed by Spong’s proposal.

Dennis Kelly, a professor of marine science at Orange Coast College, said Thursday that the Corky Project is misguided.

“What convinces them that this animal can learn how to be wild, since nobody’s ever done it before? Emotion is leading this venture, as opposed to good science,” he said. “They’ve glossed over a lot of problems--like how do they plan to get her there (to British Columbia) without killing her?”

A better experiment, Kelly said, would be to attempt limited periods of captivity, followed by release--what he called “dolphin sabbatical leaves.” In this scenario, which he said has been attempted with dolphins, younger animals would be captured in the wild, held in captivity with limited human contact, and then released and monitored.

Jim McBain, Sea World’s senior staff veterinarian, agreed.

“That’s the logical way. Not taking an animal who’s learned to trust people and in all ways has adapted,” he said, noting that killer whales are still hunted in certain areas of the world. “Corky seems a very poor candidate for this.”

At Spong’s news conference, he was asked if a romantic view of animals contributed to his desire to repay Corky for her captive service by reuniting her with her wild family.

“It’s not sentimental to say that orcas are the most closely bonded animals on Earth--that’s fact,” he said. “It’s not sentimental to say there is a very good chance that Corky and her family will recognize each other.”

Spong acknowledged he is an opponent of having any marine mammals in captivity, but he said the goal of the Corky Project is not to put Sea World out of business.

“People are going to say, ‘You won’t stop with one.’ I’ll probably agree. If we work it out with Corky, who knows?” he said. “But Corky’s the only one I can see at the moment.”

Sean R. Whyte, executive director of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society in England, said he was disappointed by Sea World’s rejection of the idea.

“Sea World may well accuse us of being emotional. I think our arguments are very rational,” he said at the news conference. “My personal belief is they do not want to release Corky for fear of being seen as letting conservation organizations take the lead here.”

But Antrim challenged that assertion.

“That depends on what you mean by conservation,” he said. “We have saved over 100 (beached and stranded) animals and returned them to the wild since Jan. 1, 1991. To me, that’s conservation. Let’s ask Dr. Spong and Sean Whyte what they’ve done.”