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Pink

Pop star Pink has urged SeaWorld bosses to build coastal sanctuaries for the orcas they have held captive for years.

The Trouble singer submitted an online question on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals during the themepark's annual board meeting this week, calling for drastic action to save the great whales.

She wrote: "As a mother, I would never take my kids anywhere that keeps intelligent, sensitive beings in intensive confinement. Children are impressionable, and the last thing I would want to teach my kids is that might makes right or that it's OK to bully and exploit someone just because they look different from us.

"But that's exactly what SeaWorld does by locking up animals who, in their ocean homes, would swim up to 140 miles a day, dive to great depths, co-operate with their pods to find food, communicate in their own dialects, and transmit their own culture from generation to generation.

"At SeaWorld, all these animals are able to do is swim in endless circles. Some are so frustrated that they break their teeth by gnawing on the concrete corners and metal bars of their tiny tanks."

She urged the SeaWorld bosses to "change that", asking, "When will SeaWorld transfer its orcas and other marine mammals to seaside sanctuaries to save them - and itself?"

According to PETA, at least 40 orcas have died at the themepark.

Pink has been a longtime friend to PETA officials and has spearheaded many animal rights campaigns on the organization's behalf.