No the killer whale did not say "set me free"

Being a public broadcaster it would be hoped that the BBC would use a little bit more rigour when reporting issues particularly those that involve science. A case in point is an article in the Newsbeat strand written by reporter Talia Shadwell regarding research done on the mimicking behaviour of killer whales at an aquarium in France entitled: "Killer whale could be saying 'set me free'. 

The article is very disappointing due to the obvious lack of research and which appear to be based on views from the animal rights groups The Born Free Foundation and Whale and Dolphin Conversation - both known for their objection to animals maintained in captive care.  Further, there appears to be absolutely no effort to contact Marineland in France whose animals and facilities were used in the research cited or indeed any other zoos or aquarium that display whales or dolphins.

Did Vancouver Aquarium capitulate to the animal rights industry?

Vancouver Aquarium (VanAqua) announced in January 2018 that it is going to now discontinue the display of cetaceans (whales and dolphins).  This comes after a protracted period of protest from the animal rights industry and the controversial decision by the Vancouver Parks Board to arbitrarily ban the aquarium for keeping cetaceans at the aquarium. 

It is with a certain amount of irony that only a few years earlier the Park Board had approved the plan for the aquarium building new facility entitled "Canada's Arctic" which were to include new facilities for marine animals including belugas.

However, in 2017 (after pressure from the animal rights industry) the board introduced a by law to ban the display of cetaceans at the aquarium site.