As caretakers of the animals, we owe them more than barbaric sideshows. People know what whales look like. We know they can do tricks. Prepare the creature for freedom and let him go. Keeping a 12,000 lb animal like this caged up so he can amuse people is obscene.
Orca to be spared in trainer’s death
Trainers at SeaWorld’s Orlando park will continue working with Tilikum, the 12,000-pound killer whale that attacked and drowned one of its primary handlers in front of a horrified audience Wednesday.
“We have every intention of continuing to interact with this animal, though the procedures for working with him will change,” SeaWorld wrote in its blog Thursday.
SeaWorld, which opened as usual Thursday, did not specify how it would change its killer whale performances and did not return calls for comment. It suspended Dine with Shamu and other killer whale shows at its three parks — in San Antonio, Orlando and San Diego — indefinitely.
Chuck Tompkins, chief of training for all SeaWorld parks, said that Tilikum, a male orca dolphin known commonly as a “killer whale,” will remain with the park’s seven other orcas where he can still mate, the Associated Press reported Thursday. “We want him to continue to be part of that social group,” Tompkins said.
One former dolphin-trainer-turned activist notes:
Tilikum, nicknamed “Tilly,” is valuable to SeaWorld as a breeder and already has fathered several offspring, says dolphin-trainer-turned-activist Russ Rector of Fort Lauderdale.
“Tilikum is a monster. This is his third killing,” Rector says.
Yet SeaWorld won’t euthanize Tilikum “because as a breeder, he’s worth millions,” says Rector, who spent eight years as a trainer at Fort Lauderdale’s now-closed Ocean World and runs Dolphin Freedom Foundation, which encourages sea parks to release their animals from captivity.
While obviously his group’s mission is a laudable one, and the death of the trainer is horribly tragic, to portray the orca as a “monster” because he has killed is ridiculous. First, he’s a wild animal, killing is what he does. Secondly, he’s being held captive in what is arguably a torturous environment for such a huge ocean creature. Monster? I don’t think so.
I do have a tiny feeling some of you may disagree with me, though…
I completely agree with you Tammy. I even feel bad for those oversized goldfish with bulging foreheads often housed in tanks so small that all they can do is float in place, treading water – living in a state of suspended animation
Free Tilikum. Geez, they’re acting like he’s a stud llama herdsire or something.
It’s incomprehensible to me that any trainer got near the animal after he killed the first time. It’s incomprehensible to me that Sea World allowed anyone near this animal after he killed the first time. And after he killed the second time. I even read one news article that said Sea World planned to continue using Tillikum in their shows. They should rename him Killikum and give him top billing, should be quite a draw for them.
I agree, Mary Val. Did we hear about the first 2 killings? I live in Orlando and enjoy Sea World. I was with someone who’s worked there over 12 years and as far as I know, they are very good to their animals. They even have a “rehab and physical therapy” unit for sea turtles who are found injured on beaches. But they are insane if they are going to keep him in the shows. Every time people go to see “shamu” people are going to wonder whether this is the one that killed that woman.
An animal that was designed by God to roam the wide oceans surely can’t be “normal” in such a confined space. And I assume anyone that works closely with wild animals is surely aware of the risks. The trainer wouldn’t want him killed.
It’s easy to see how a person could get a little too comfortable and maybe forget that the animal could turn on a dime. Though there is the rare instance when an animal does have to be put down, animals don’t “murder” and shouldn’t be held accountable in the same way we hold people accountable. The way I see it, they don’t ask to come live with us, so any interaction we have with them is our responsibility.
Most zoo animals can not be released into the wild, they don’t have the survival skills (hunting mainly) and will quickly die. You really can’t prepare a mature captive beast for the wild. It would be humane to euthanize the animal. I can go along with stop capturing orcas for zoos, but that doesn’t solve this orca issue.
Actually the whale’s name is Willzyx and he’s unhappy because he misses his family on the moon.
Dude.
*scratches head*
Is the animal a killer? Demonstrably, that’s a fact. Is it a murderer? Of course not, it’s an animal. Is it safe to work with? I wouldn’t be getting into a tank with it. If you own a pit bull, and it kills one of the neighbor’s kids, do you say, oh it’s just an animal, doing what animals do, it’s not his fault, and keep that dog as a playmate for your own children? Of course you don’t. The animal is euthanized. If a cougar is coming down from the foothills and kills a child in the suburbs, do people say oh it’s just following it’s natural instincts? Of course not. The cougar is hunted and killed. It can’t safely be relocated. It can’t be kept in a zoo as it’s a danger to the zookeepers. If Sea World isn’t going to release Killikum, or he can’t live on his own in a free environment, and he isn’t going to be euthanized, then he should never, ever be used in a show again.
He should not be killed. He should not be used in shows, either. It would be nice if they could set him free, but he’d probably come back to be with his friends at Sea World. Keeping him as a breeder is probably the best option.
Don’t dismiss the possibility that the orcas actually enjoy the life they lead. Life in the wild is “nasty, brutish and short”, “red in tooth and claw”. Instead they have a place to swim, friends, all the food they can eat, and relationships with humans who actually like and care for them. These orcas are probably more like pets than wild animals. And even a kitty cat can bloody you if they’re in a bad mood, and you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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I heard on Fox that the trainer was in the water (on a step), that she laid down on the step , horizontally.. that the whale then grabbed her pony tail.
If that’s what happened. he probably thought her hair was fish . He probably had no idea she was attached to it.