I'm sure by now everyone's heard about the whale, Tilikum, who killed his trainer. I'd link to it, but I have yet to find one article that tells all the facts. What I have ascertained is:
When she was kneeling in the shallow pool dock thing on the side of the tank, rubbing him on the head during a show, he pulled her by her ponytail into the water, where she drowned. (Other reports say she was grabbed by the waist, but the autopsy shows she was pulled by her ponytail.)
Tilikum was captured in 1983 from the wild, in waters near Iceland. He was kept as a stud, and has spawned least 17 offspring in captivity.
He has killed 2 other people in the past: In 1991, a trainer fell into the tank with him and 2 other orcas. In 1999, a homeless man sneaked into the park and into the whale tank. He died of hypothermia, but had bruises on his body that appeared to be caused by the whales before he died. (I've noticed most articles don't mention the details of this one.)
Other trainers didn't attempt to enter the tank to save Dawn Brancheau (the most recent trainer), because the whale was acting aggressive.
Seaworld has announced that he will return to doing shows with other trainers with new safeguards in place.
Oops, almost forgot one more fact. Although other orcas have killed people in captivity, there have been no records of a human being killed by an orca in the wild.
-- Edited by MzHartz on Thursday 25th of February 2010 01:43:33 PM
In my opinion, that particular whale should be returned to the wild. Captivity is obviously not a good option for him. No one can really blame him for doing what he feels he is supposed to do, after all... he is a wild animal. It is unfortunate and tragic that those 3 people lost their lives, but bottom line is that if he was not in captivity they would not have had those encounters with him.
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MM
That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.
I've been thinking about this, but I'm undecided for now.
I don't think he should go back into acting; I think at this point, his carreer is shot.
It would be nice to keep him in captivity and not have to euthenize him, but that would cost a ton of money. I guess if someone with money to blow wanted to foot the bill...
He wouldn't survive in the wild; he's damaged goods.
Euthenization is probably the most cost effective (from a business standpoint) thing to do. And seriously, it's all about the money otherwise he would have been left in his natural habitat to begin with...
Sometimes, people are stupid...
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OK, that was one fact I left out of my original post, because I didn't want to sway people to my position.
I read several quotes from biologists or trainers that think he would be able to survive in the wild as long as he was returned to the original location that he was captured from in hopes of reuniting with his pack.
Also, sometimes they release orcas to an area in the open sea, yet humans still have limited interaction with them just to be sure they're cared for. That's what they did to the whale in Free Willy.
So obviously, I think he should be released back out into the wild. He's a wild animal, that's where he belongs.
Ah... I just read an article about Tilly from Frontline about the 1991 incident. There's more to this.
Tilly was at a park in Canada first, that's no longer in business. After the incident, Tilly and the other 2 whales that were in the tank were sold to SeaWorld. The other two whales were pregnant females.
To bring the whales into the US, they had to get permission to import them, which of course takes a while. But in the meantime, the females were acting agressive to the male. So they separated him into a tiny tank, and asked for emergency permission to import him. In the meantime, the calf was born, so they didn't think they could let him back into the main tank without a whale fight breaking out.
They got the emergency permit, but Tilly couldn't be used for display or performance until the regular permit was granted. If the permit was not granted, he would have to go to a Canadian facility, or be released back into the wild.
While they were waiting for the regular permit to be granted, SeaWorld contacted Iceland about releasing Tilly into the wild. Iceland said no, afraid he wouldn't survive, or that he got diseases from captivity that would be passed on to other whales.
Some people do think that it's strange that SeaWorld contacted the officials in Iceland, and wonder if there was ulterior motives on behalf of SeaWorld.
I just don't think it would be right to euthanize this whale for doing what a wild animal would be inclined to do. Its not the animal's fault. Clearly having him perform like the other whales is out of the question. If this animal is kept in captivity, there is continued risk that he will attack another trainer or keeper, and likely that will happen. Yes, he does run the higher risk of not surviving in the wild, but all in all I still think its the better choice.
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MM
That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.
I agree Mema. I like the monitored release option. We've screwed this animal's life up, it's up to us to fix it.
Did I link to the article earlier this year that said some scientists believe (and I don't mean the stupid PETA people, I mean real scientists) that dolphins should be considered "non-human beings"? Basically, they said dolphins are nearly as smart as a humans.
I don't know if I would go that far, but it does make you rethink the way we treat these animals. (Orca's actually are large dolphins, not really whales.)
I read yesterday that they won't euthanize him because he is a good breeder.I think he has like 9 offspring still living in captivity and 2 more that have died.According to what i read that makes Seaworld a bundle.
let him keep doing the shows. Nothing is his fault. He's in a cage and its the world he knows now, it wouldn't be fair to return him to the wild. After all, the trainers domesticated him. good job.
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"And like Web, I enjoy throwing JR under the bus. Problem is, it's usually under the special bus that I ride every day". Ghostdancer 12-18-09
Well CNN just reported the had 13 offspring and 10 are still alive.There is a debate about if they can even release him into the wild.Seaworld said he won't make it and environmentalist say you can if they could reunite him with his pod.I think killer whales are at the top of the food change so that should make it somewhat easier.
-- Edited by Cowboyfan on Thursday 25th of February 2010 05:23:40 PM
