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Holy crap...
Did you guys hear about this? One of the SeaWorld trainers was killed by a whale yesterday.
We were just at Seaworld last November and the trainer looks like one of the girls we saw in the show 
And how terrible for the tourists who witnessed it all happening. I don't know if I could ever go back to Seaworld now.....
Re: Holy crap...
I saw that yesterday and I had a royal freak out. When I saw the article, it was through AOL and they hadn't revealed who the woman was that got killed... they wouldn't give her name. A good friend of mine is a trainer at Sea World and I called her last night to make sure she was ok and she didn't pick up the phone. I had a major worry-fest until I saw the name of the trainer a few hours later.
It is REALLY sad when something like this happens, but this is something that the trainers *know* is a possibility. It's like anyone working with any wild animal. Even though they are in captivity, they are still technically a wild animal and you still run the risk of them hurting or killing you every single time you get near their tank or in the water with them.
Don't never go to Sea World again! It's such an awesome place filled with beautiful wildlife and so many things to learn. Sea World is one of my favorite places on the planet. This sort of thing has happened on a few occassions... there was one in 1993, 1995(I think), 1999, 2004... it's sad, but it's the risk you run when working with huge, wild animals.
I remember the 1999 incident since I was living in Orlando at that time. It's just crazy that the whale had killed two other people before this and they still let him stay in the tanks
I also find that a bit questionable... the whale, Tilikum, has been there for *years* and has had three or four instances where he's attacked people... I think he's killed two trainers.
One of the *first* things I read in the article is that they are not going to euthanize the whale. I think that's ok as I'm sure they have their trainers sign waivers and they know the dangers of working with wild orcas. However, I don't think they should keep putting him in shows. If they are going to keep him at Sea World, I really think they should have him as a visual exhibit or something.
I'm sure it must have been very scary for the spectators and especially for the trainers. I suppose the "bright side" is that she was able to fullfill her life long dream of being a killer whale trainer.
That's ridiculous!
I agree with all these statements as well. Especially after the 12:30 show in which some of the animals were acting not like their usual selves. I too am glad they aren't going to put the whale down, but would hope they could have this particular one more for visual exhibit than for live action shows.
Well, one of the deaths at Sea World by this particular whale was because some jackass decided to go swimming with them. He broke in somehow and got into the tank with the whales and it killed him. He was in no way affiliated with Sea World and was just some doofus.
I feel like this is a known risk with working with wild animals. Should you choose to do it, this is the risk you run. I can look at video of whales, I don't need to see them wearing party hats and making silly faces. That's not what they are meant to do. It's not the whales fault. He is called a killer whale, after all.
Catching up on sports news...
True... the guy got near the whale tank after they closed and they found him naked the next morning, draped over Tilikum. He had a few scratches on him, but they couldn't conclude whether he was killed by the whale or by drowning. Also an interesting fact: there has never been a documented killing of a human by Orca in the wild, only in captivity. Ther *have* been documents of Orcas saving people from sharks in the wild though. Interesting stuff.
This exactly. We were talking about this in the office this morning and one of the things we talked about was that it is hard to tell whether he was being aggressive or just attempting to be playful (as the trainer was rubbing his belly). The whole incident is sad.
It's harder than it sounds. They attempted to release a killer whale back into the wild back in 2000... they trained him for his release from 1996 to 2000 and then tried to release him, but when they monitored his progress he was having trouble socializing with other Orcas and he wasn't joining a pod, which is imperative for survival of an Orca.
They had to take him back into captivity because he would have died in the wild.
Good, if it's killed 3 people. I wouldn't waste my time.
So like a dog who has bitten a child because someone kept it chained and abused, lets just put it down. That's the best answer, sure.
I haven't heard the latest so I could be off base but wasn't there an eyewitness report that said it looked like her long ponytail was wrapped around his tooth as he went back in the water, dragging her along. This woudl be considered accidental, not an attack.
They do not get in the water with this particular whale because of his personality. This incident is not surprising not upsetting. I feel sorry for her family but this was not an "attack" out of the blue or anything like that. I'm sure it was an unpleasant death and I'm not demeaning her in anyway but putting the whale down or releasing him to die in the ocean isn't the answer either. I agree they should just use him for visual but not in "shows."
This is what I wanted to say... but I am a cluttery-brain and couldn't put it into words as well as Buckin just has.
My immediate thought is that, when someone on here complains about the behavior of their animal and how they now want to rehome him, we flame them to Hell and back... but it's ok to do it with another animal?
While biting someone and having behavioral problems in a dog is much less severe than an Orca killing someone (perhaps accidentally), if you factor in the weight and size of an Orca compared to a dog, it's pretty much on the same scale.
When your dog, whom you have had and trained for YEARS (in Tilikums case, 26 or 27, as he was brought into captivity in 1983) bites you... you don't throw him back into the wild or kill him. You discipline him, get him training, or whatever and get on with your life.
According to the Orlando news it sounds like it was an attack, not an accident:
"Witnesses told the Orlando Sentinel that the animal suddenly grabbed Brancheau by the upper arm, tossed her around in his mouth and pulled her beneath the water as dozens of tourists looked on in horror.
Suddenly, they saw a woman in the killer whale's jaws, her face bloody. The more than 20-foot-long orca circled round and round, turning her over and over, they said.
"It was terrible," Sobrinho said. "It's very difficult to see the image."
Witnesses who watched the attack while eating at the "Dine with Shamu" show ? a poolside buffet where trainers demonstrate their connection with the animals ? told the Sentinel a female trainer was petting a killer whale when it grabbed her and plunged into the water.
It reappeared on the other side of the tank and leapt up holding the woman, they said."
I agree that it is a wild animal and really not all that surpising that he attacked someone. But it is still very tragic, and I'm sure absolutely traumatizing for those that saw the events unfold.
Well said.
I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything... and I know this is all sort of opinions, because who has the right to say what's right or wrong in this situation? But I strongly disagree with this.
A man who has killed 3 people is in control of his own life. He is not stuck in a glass cage entertaining another species for 27 years. Perhaps if he was, he WOULD kill people (not that it would be "right" at that point either).
Also, Orcas are far from dumb, actually they are ridiculously intelligent animals.
This is a wild animal, brought into captivity. You can hardly compare him to a human because the circumstances are 100% different... not one similarity between the two at all.
I would like to see any person kept in a small room--say a bathroom-- for 26 years and act 100% appropriately each and every day. It's not going to happen. Heck, I get out and about, have the ability to drive my car or ride my bike just about where ever I want but still have a "cranky day" here and there. Fortunately, my size is relative to everyone else with whom I interact on a daily basis so anything cranky that I do is minimally felt.
In the case of these whales--they don't have the luxury of any of those things I mention. And the human trainers that interact with them DO know the dangers they are up against. Really, it's sad, but as I tried to allude in my earlier comment, how many of us will die doing exactly what he/she wanted and loved to do? My guess is that the trainer would have defended the whale that attacked her, had she were to have made it through the ordeal alive.
Exactly. Wild animal =/= human being. Wild animals act on instinct, and it's in their nature to kill their prey. Sometimes humans end up being their prey. That doesn't mean that we should go around killing any animal that has killed or would kill a human. Like Speed said, we took the risk of putting them into our "world". We can't expect them to just ignore their natural instincts. It's not their fault, it's ours.
I was just thinking about this in another way. My cat has killed 2 mice in the last week or so--and he's killed a bird or two in the past. He's normally well behaved, doesn't hurt DH nor I or any of the other (larger than him) people/animals he meets. Should I put my cat down for acting on his instinct? The mice weren't doing anything "wrong"--they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Yea, I guess a cat eating a mouse is equivalent to something killing a Human Being?
ETA: Cat eat mice all the time. Whales don't eat Humans. Well, I guess in this case they do.
I think that depends on how you view animals.
If you think you are more important than your dog, or your life has more value than a cat or something... than maybe it's not equivalent... at least, not in your opinion.
But if you value life because it is a life, and not WHAT life it is... well, than yes, it is equivalent.
As far as it happening all the time... that doesn't make it any better or worse. Cats eat mice all the time because they are in the same environment. I can guarantee that if humans lived in the water alongside orcas and other large marine inhabitants, we would be eaten all the time.
In the cats/whales minds, I think "yes" is the answer. One of the conditions of "murder" is intent. If you don't mean to kill someone but it happens, then it's manslaughter (not murder)--and the rammifications are much less. Even humans make a distinction between the two.
Clearly, though, we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.
Well said, AT. And I also agree with you that Orcas are ridiculously intelligent animals, not a "dumb, oversized" fish. The whole situation is just sad.
I read about this on P&CE yesterday (there was quite a discussion if anyone is interested).
The situation is horrible. However I do not think killing the whale or releasing it into the wild to die is the right answer. It is not really the whale's fault. It is a wild animal in captivity, it is not surprising that something bad happens once in awhile.