View Full Version : Killer Whale vs. Trainer
Michaelhatesfans
02-24-10, 06:16 PM
Spoiler alert: The orca wins
http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2010/2/24/587273.html?title=Trainer%20dies%20in%20Shamu%20ta nk%20at%20Sea%20World%20&cid=rss
Opposite Lock
02-24-10, 06:29 PM
The incident happened during a Dining with Shamu event.
Well, yeah.
Somebody call the Japanese. :p
oddlycalm
02-24-10, 08:07 PM
Kill #3 for Tilikum.
Time for a name change, a fake resume, and a quick sale to a marine park on the other side of the world. :\
Kill #3 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100224/ap_on_re_us/us_seaworld_death;_ylt=ArsbW8VYhSZn1FL9FhbYM8134T0 D;_ylu=X3oDMTJqcDM3bGcyBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMjI0L3V zX3NlYXdvcmxkX2RlYXRoBGNwb3MDMwRwb3MDMTEEc2VjA3luX 3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDd2hhbGVraWxsc3Ry)
SeaWorld spokesman Fred Jacobs confirmed the whale was Tilikum, one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer who lost her balance and fell in the pool with them in 1991 at Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia.
Tilikum was also involved in a 1999 death, when the body of a man who had sneaked by Orlando SeaWorld security was found draped over him. The man either jumped, fell or was pulled into the frigid water and died of hypothermia, though he was also bruised and scratched by Tilikum.
oc
Methanolandbrats
02-24-10, 10:22 PM
Uh, maybe there is a reason they are called Killer Whales and therefore are not the ideal pet.
Opposite Lock
02-24-10, 11:24 PM
Kill #3 for Tilikum.
Time for a name change... :\
oc
Kilitum?
KillyTilly?
:\
TrueBrit
02-25-10, 10:41 AM
How about 'Free Tilli' instead..?
What is it about the 'killer' in the name that has people so confused..you can take the animal out of the wild, but you can't take the wild out of the animal..
Let 'em all go...they are not pets or playthings...
Say...maybe they eat Asian Carp. Release Tilly in Lake Michigan!
from an article:
Tillikum could have been trying to play with Brancheau or get her attention or companionship, said Nancy Black, a marine biologist who has studied whales for 20 years. Such whales play with seals and sea lions in the wild, tossing them in the air, she said. But they do not kill them and end up letting them go.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/25/florida.seaworld.death/index.html
:saywhat: Really? I thought seals were always on the menu.
Let 'em all go...they are not pets or playthings...
I agree. I think it is interesting that we abhor slavery of humans but animal confinement is AOK. Do they not have a right to normal life?
You're right. Maybe they can reason with Tilikum: Bad Fishy. Bad.
:gomer:
Methanolandbrats
02-25-10, 08:41 PM
You're right. Maybe they can reason with Tilikum: Bad Fishy. Bad.
:gomer:
Tilikum was probably abused as a calf, it's not his fault.
datachicane
02-25-10, 09:32 PM
Tilikum was probably abused as a calf, it's not his fault.
Y'know, even the most well-adjusted orca isn't exactly vegan.
It's not like you'd need huge teeth, a powerful tail, and blinding speed to harvest the sea's bounty of lollipops, gumdrops, and moonbeams. Sure, it can race up the beach, grab a 2000lb adult elephant seal a hundred feet from the water, toss it in the air like a rag doll, and devour it in a few gulps, but who'd ever imagine it could knock a 98lb trainer off a platform inches from the surface and bounce her around a bit? :saywhat:
cameraman
02-25-10, 10:05 PM
Reality sucks, you can't just release a captive bred Orca and expect it to survive. Those are highly social animals that vary tremendously in behavior from pod to pod. They have the most diverse range of "lifestyles" of any species besides humans. What are you going to do, interview the whale and ask him if he prefers the open ocean whale hunting life or the inshore salmon/seal life? What language does he speak? Most pods seem to have their own.
None of it is simple and the 10 second sound bites of the press miss the entire story. I can't say that I think breeding 12 ton social animals that can live for 90 years in the wild is a particularly bright idea.
Who ever decided that a killer whale should be a in a trained animal act? Why not great white sharks?
Who ever decided that a killer whale should be a in a trained animal act? Why not great white sharks?
Probably the only reason they don't is because they cannot get great whites to survive in captivity.
Probably the only reason they don't is because they cannot get great whites to survive in captivity.
I don't think you can really train non-mammals. They might be easier to train if they were dead tho.
STAY!
Michaelhatesfans
02-25-10, 11:31 PM
Reality sucks, you can't just release a captive bred Orca and expect it to survive.
Hell, even if he did survive, this guy's already got three humans on his scorecard. The last thing I want is that sucker prowling the San Juans.:\
It will be interesting to see what they do with it. Show time's over, and a release into the wild faces it's own set of problems. I think I can see this whale being used for "valuable research" in the not too distant future.
datachicane
02-25-10, 11:57 PM
Why blame the whale for being a whale?
If someone gets in the tank with the hammerheads and things don't go well we don't blame the sharks, and orcas eat sharks.
Why blame the whale for being a whale?
If someone gets in the tank with the hammerheads and things don't go well we don't blame the sharks, and orcas eat sharks.
That poor whale is owed a quiet and secure life in the largest controlled environment they can arrange for it. I saw an orca act ages ago when Marineland of the Pacific was still open and I was living on the PV Peninsula and I wondered how they could do that with a clear conscience. The life of a solitary orca in a tank must be dreadful. At least the dolphins get to have the company of their own kind.
cameraman
02-26-10, 12:42 AM
He doesn't live alone. There are 8 orcas there and he has had something like 13 children over the years. That being something of a problem as he is a full grown male whale and as such is rather too large & aggressive for the tastes of the other seven whales. He's double the size of the next largest whale there.
Michaelhatesfans
02-26-10, 01:06 AM
Why blame the whale for being a whale?
If someone gets in the tank with the hammerheads and things don't go well we don't blame the sharks, and orcas eat sharks.
Me? I don't blame it at all.
I'm just saying I'd like to be a fly on the wall at the next few Sea World board meetings.
News reporting whale won't be punished. I don't even know what to add to that bit of wisdom. :rolleyes:
Also, I liked the early PD report of "no signs of foul play".
Seems like Sea World is using the "best defense is a good offense" theory for their PR stuff.
I wonder what kinda insurance rate increase SeaWorld's gonna see now that their 12 ton show Orca has three confirmed kills?
oddlycalm
02-26-10, 05:13 PM
I wonder what kinda insurance rate increase SeaWorld's gonna see now that their 12 ton show Orca has three confirmed kills?
Dunno, but the help wanted listing for a new trainer on monster.com says English not required....:gomer:
oc
oddlycalm
02-26-10, 05:41 PM
Sure, it can race up the beach, grab a 2000lb adult elephant seal a hundred feet from the water, toss it in the air like a rag doll, and devour it in a few gulps, but who'd ever imagine it could knock a 98lb trainer off a platform inches from the surface and bounce her around a bit? :saywhat:
Commercial interests have a well proven historical ability to ignore the most obvious liabilities if there is any chance of a payoff. If the senior management team had to go for a swim in the tank we might see a quick change in business strategy. :laugh:
oc
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