SOUTHEND Animal Aid staged a demonstration outside a travel agent it says supports cruelty towards captive whales.

The group protested outside Thomas Cook in Southend High Street in support of animal welfare group Peta’s petition against captive orcas being used in Seaworld at holiday destinations.

A spokesman for Southend Animal Aid said: “Seaworld confines orcas to tiny tanks, where they’re deprived of any physical or psychological stimulation. These highly intelligent animals – who live in large social groups and swim up to 100 miles a day in the ocean - are forced to spend their days swimming in circles and gnawing on the bars of their tanks in frustration. At least 41 orcas and dozens of dolphins have died in captivity at Seaworld so far.”