Animal Welfare Institute marine mammal scientist Naomi Rose said whales suffer extreme stress when they are moved between aquariums, as their bodies react as though they've been stranded when they are taken out of water.

Rose, a long-time SeaWorld critic, said it's unlikely a beluga would suffer a broken jaw in the wild, as the whale would have had the space to flee from an aggressor.

"It's not a common injury and yet it happens in captivity because they just can't get away from each other," she said.

HSUS's marine mammal scientist Dr. Naomi Rose, author David Kirby of "Death at SeaWorld," and three former SeaWorld trainers visit Puget Sound and observe resident orcas, to compare their lives with those of captive orcas.

Naomi Rose, the Humane Society's marine mammal biologist, said there's a growing body of research suggesting that whales, dolphins and porpoises have the cognitive sophistication of 3-to-4-year-old human children.

As for the orcas at SeaWorld, she said, "They don't seem to adapt to captivity.