It’s solitary confinement. Even with multiple in a tank, it’s just solitary-confinement-sized conditions but with bonus miserable buddies with you.
If a whale can propel itself across the tank in a few seconds, then that’s the maximum time they could ever “feel the breeze in their hair” for their life. (Swimming in circles makes that longer, but circles over and over and over messes animals up. Pony rides are an example.)