SeaWorld trainers say killer whales were ‘drugged up’ and so stressed they’d self-harm

Killer whales kept at SeaWorld were starved, drugged up and stressed so much they self-harmed and died young, say former employees.

Trainers John Hargrove and Jeffrey Ventre gave an account of the conditions in which the creatures would allegedly be held in the theme parks’ 36ft tanks.

Jeffrey Ventre, now 55, told the Sun newspaper that at first he felt ‘honoured’ to be given a job as a marine mammal trainer in 1987.

But over his eight year career at SeaWorld, he claimed he witnessed first-hand the detrimental conditions the whales live in.

He said: ‘The job is more akin to a stunt man or clown performing with captive animals using food deprivation as a motivator.’

Mr Ventre painted a harrowing image of the extent to which the wales suffered as he claimed they would grind their teeth and chew concrete out of boredom.

He said: ‘There was a lot of self-mutilation. Jaw popping was regularly seen – it’s a threat display between two orcas.’

Mr Ventre said the level of stress the whales were put through caused them to have stomach ulcers, for which they were given medication.

The animals would also get chronic infections and would be treated with antibiotics.

Mr Ventre added ‘they were also sometimes aggressive or hard to control so they could be given Valium to calm their aggression.’

The allegations come as SeaWorld, who has already been mired by claims its whales were mistreated, was dealt a new blow earlier this week after Virgin Holidays announced it would no longer offer tickets to attractions featuring captive whales and dolphins.

Mr Ventre also alleged SeaWorld would make him blatantly lie to the crowds when he was tasked with describing the whales’ features.

He said that a whale’s life span in open water ranges from 50 to 80 years, while their life expectancy in captivity is around 17 years.

But he was told to always say they could live an average of 25-30 years.

John Hargrove, who was 20 when he began his killer whale training in 1993, resigned in 2012.

He said he personally witnessed how captivity caused whales to die ‘at very young ages from disease’.

SeaWorld responded to the allegations saying: ‘These are many of the same tired, false and misleading claims uninformed activists and disgruntled former employees have been repeating for years.

‘Our animal welfare practices are accredited and reviewed by numerous organizations, so any notion that SeaWorld abuses animals is categorically false.

‘The fact is, no one does more to protect marine mammals and advance cetacean research, rescue and conservation than the more than 1,000 dedicated animal care experts at SeaWorld.’