2 min read Ecstatic Wild Orca Family Shows Why Whales Don't Belong In Tanks

<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnBpMiyey4U&list=PL8_gw3K3Eg1RjAelhVzUF3QiOSAehPBGT&index=1">YouTube/Gary Cullen</a><span></span></p>

A group of wild orcas recently passed by British Columbia's Galiano Island - and treated onlookers to a display of unbridled joy. The large group was made up of two related families, believed to be the J and L pods, who happily intermingled as they cut through the water.

This browser does not support the video tag. YouTube/Gary Cullen

They can barely contain their energy, slapping their tails and breaching into the air.

This browser does not support the video tag. YouTube/Gary Cullen

Several youngsters can be seen as well, gliding along next to their mothers. At one point a little infant attempts a breach of his own, bouncing through the air in the protective shadow of his mother's dorsal fin.

This browser does not support the video tag. YouTube/Gary Cullen

The display is a stunning reminder of what it means to be wild and free.

This browser does not support the video tag. YouTube/Gary Cullen

Yet this beautiful footage makes the fate of orcas like those at SeaWorld, who are condemned to lonely lives in tiny tanks, all the more tragic. How can you compare the freedom above to this?

This browser does not support the video tag. YouTube/The Humane Society of the United States