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Trainer at a SeaWorld Park killed

Just be happy you don't live an hour away from Seaworld I can't even watch the Olympics :(
I think the reason they haven't released the whale is due to the fact I'm sure it takes a lot of time and money to get and train a 12,000 pound whale.

I can remember from previous times going to Seaworld Orlando that whales would sometimes act up and that is what the media is saying what happened over here.

On the bright side I went to Seaworld yesterday because they had discounted tickets lol.
 
Well isn't he a KILLER whale? yeah just like everyone says they shouldn't be keeping one of the largest mammals in captivity i think they should set he/she free and if necessary they could always keep an eye on her just let it free.
 
Owned.

Honestly, what were people expecting? Its a KILLER whale. If that name didn't send off red lights at first, my hope in humanity is lost more so. We aren't playing with Tonka toys these are giant animals that eat tons (literally) of food every day. We forget about that because "Oh I'm a flippin little dolphin let me flip for ya" its still an animal, its still got instincts, and it still likes to eat. Risk of the job kinda says that. La Foudre, its not a tea cup, its a giant, huge, enourmous tank of water that they keep him in, he lives the life of Riley. Its been in captivity so long it wouldn't know what to do in the wild.

Due to this picture being ginormous click here and see how the whale is dwarfed by the size of the pool, oh yeah, because its frikkin huge.

People getting upset about this is like being surpised when a lion attacks someone at a zoo, "gee no way".
 
you might not agree with me, but that whale should be killed! He killed one person while he was in B.C., he killed a homeless man that snuck into the Orlando park in 1999 (although we need less of the homeless crowd) and now this! If that monster killed before, then he'll kill again!
 
I do hope it gets released. It's caused too much trouble already, and the problem should be dealt with. CNN might make it sound worse, but this whale in particular was obviously too wild to tame completely, so the easiest way to stop all problems is to throw it back to sea, and to all you animal lovers: not literally throw it back to sea.

It's sad that someone had to die so that the owners could realize the problem with their whale. ):
 
I think you should put him in the ocean so he can be free and be with his own kind.
 
Captain Hobo. said:
I think you should put him in the ocean so he can be free and be with his own kind.
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He can't be put in the ocean because he doesn't know how to hunt and how to feed himself. If he was put in the ocean he'd die the first day because he's a tamed orca and he doesn't know how to get along without trainers feeding him.
 
This is terrible. I have to agree with the thought of the confinement of the whales. They are smart animals; of course they are prone to be desperate living in such a small environment. My condolences for the SeaWorld staff and the victim's family.
 
TheBigMan0706 said:
you might not agree with me, but that whale should be killed! He killed one person while he was in B.C., he killed a homeless man that snuck into the Orlando park in 1999 (although we need less of the homeless crowd) and now this! If that monster killed before, then he'll kill again!
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It's not a monster. It's a killer whale. There is a difference. He was born into captivity and there's nothing that he could have done to go to an environment where he could kill like he is programmed to do. Is it his fault that his instincts tell him to kill? They can't reason like humans can -- it's not their fault if they act on their instinct.

And tbh, that guy who snuck in...Tilli was kind of a watchdog for SeaWorld, so I actually applaud him for that. He knew he wasn't supposed to be in there and the homeless guy probably did something to anger him.

It's really not his [Tilli's] fault.
 
Actually, Tilikum was captured from the wild when he was about 2 years old. Which makes this even more wrong than it was before. Ihatehumans, don't mind me.
 
La Foudre said:
Actually, Tilikum was captured from the wild when he was about 2 years old. Which makes this even more wrong than it was before. Ihatehumans, don't mind me.
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Oh, from what I'd heard he was born into captivity. But yes, you're right, it makes it even more wrong because they should not have taken him from his natural habitat. And I hate humans too, so don't mind me either xD It just seems like there's so many wrong things that we do and we should really learn to leave these animals alone :/
 
The problem with animals who are put into captivity is in some cases, they can become violent. If you take pitbulls for example, they are known to violently attack people and cause injury.

In the case of this incident, I'm not surprised because that killer whale had killed two trainers in the past and he was allowed to stay. The question is, do we release him? You know that there are consequences if that were to happen because he won't be able to survive since he lived in captivity for over 25 years and he simply doesn't have the instincts to survive in the wild. Another con to keeping him at Seaworld is that he can potentially kill another trainer like he did in the past, so in both possible outcomes, it's a big lose lose situation.

My suggestion is probably not use him for shows and put him in a bigger pool, but I just don't know... I'm pretty much neutral on this situation.
 
Captain Hobo. said:
I think you should put him in the ocean so he can be free and be with his own kind.
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However, I don't think they can do that.

While I have seen such shows at SeaWorld, I don't think it's good for the psyche of the animal.

I don't have a problem with animals in captivity, provided they were either rescued or born there and have semi-realistic habitats.

You look at really good zoo or places like Disney's Animal Kingdom and the animals have really well designed habitats. Habitats that aren't just visually appealing to us, but habitats that can lead to a somewhat realistic life on a small scale. Rocks, dens, foliage, pits, lots of space, etc.

The whales do not. Just a tank. A bare tank. Rocks? No. Sea foliage? No. Realistic movement of water? No. They swim in a circle and then do tricks. It's different than other animals, even the animals at SeaWorld (like...I dunno... turtles?) where they're treated like animals. The whales seem to be treated like pets when they're much more.

Now....with Tilikum...

SeaWorld was aware that Tilikum was a danger. Tilikum does not play well with humans. Tilikum was brought to SeaWorld from Sealand primarily as a breeder. And that has worked. He's the most successful sire in captivity with 13 offspring.

Trainers were also kept out of the water Tilikum. His part in the shows was splashing the audience with his tail. The trainer never goes in the water with him, like they do other whales.

You have the largest orca in captivity and it's a pretty damn good breeder, which is why you brought it over to begin with. You know it has a bad history when it comes to people. You keep your trainers out of the water with it. Why not go just that little bit further and don't put it in shows or in special events like "Dine with Shamu" where the incident occurred. Just keep it as a breeder. It took down your best trainer and two people prior. You have to do a better job at keep Tilikum away from humans.
 
That's sad.
They really need to release that whale.
 
emoBill™ said:
Okay, first of all that article is completely freaking wrong.

It's not Tillikum's fault and it sucks that they think it is. He was only acting on instinct and it's not like he intentionally wanted to murder someone. If they put him down, I am going to be well beyond angry. And I totally agree with the above post (La Foudre). He should not have to be kept in that teacup. But they can't let him out into the ocean now because he doesn't know how to catch his own food.
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As a rule of thumb, press releases lose many important details on the way to print, so I'm not too shocked.

The more detailed story sounds reasonable, It wouldn't suprise me either if someone horsing around in the crowd was fooling around, or one of the other trainers on stage wasn't paying attention and accidentally spooked the animal.

Sometimes, animals just get fed up with doing those kind of acts, add in a highly unstimulating environment, and an animal becomes stressed, prone to panic and can lash out. A show like the one Sea World does daily can be very taxing on an animal's mental stability.

There's probably more than one issue here. It's clear though that this animal needs to be retired from doing shows. What Sea World does with animals when they can't perform anymore, well that depends on Sea World. Personally, I think the animal should be allowed to live out his life away from the spotlight. I don't think there's a trainer on that staff that would want to see the whale get euthanized, but maybe that's naive.

He won't be going out into the wild. There's absolutely 0% chance. Sending an animal out there to compete in a community they have never known is in some ways more cruel than the merciful blue syringue.
 
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Even though he can kill, he is not as strong as the other wild Orcas. Releasing him in the wild would ensure that he would be dead in a matter of months, due to not having enough energy/experience to work alone, or encroaching on others 'territory'.

A life expectancy of a Trainer/Zoologist/Marine Biologist is forty. There are rarely any people that work with animals that can easily kill them live to be past fifty. I'm not saying to wave this off, but she knew what she was doing, and tempting your luck for so long, you're bound to have that ****** day.


I personally see nothing wrong with SeaWorld, or that Orca. Or the woman. Best of wishes to her relatives.
 
I think everyone's opinion would change if they knew how nature works. Things kill other things. It's nature. And no, I'm not saying that's an excuse for the whale. Still, it's instinct. The way the universe works is the weaker will die to the stronger. Instinct can't be prevented.

Also, to those who say that the whale should be killed, I'd love for you to explain why. Justice? Pathetic excuse. Fairness? Again, pathetic.
 
You can't release him into the wild. Period. He will have no idea what do do to survive. Can we move on from that please?

Anyway, I can't imagine why all of you could possibly think that captivity is so bad. You get an unlimited supply of food, attention, and affection. The alternative is a brutal struggle, in the wild, with other whales, for a limited food supply. I guarantee that these whales aren't missing anything.

That said, the entire point of Seaworld's whale program is to raise awareness about Orcas and bring them into the public mind. It's not to be evil gremlins that lock up big animals in little cages. The amount of good Seaworld has done for ensuring the continued well-being of the species is probably immeasurable.

In this particular case, I would agree that they should and probably will put greater emphasis on security in regards to working with the whale (if I'm not mistaken, he wasn't doing shows anymore, but I may be wrong). However, putting him to sleep would be outrageous. As has been said, it's a dangerous business, and ultimately there will never be a perfect safety record when working with animals. What happened was sad, tragic even. But that trainer was doing something she believed in enough to risk her life.
 
txteclipse said:
You can't release him into the wild. Period. He will have no idea what do do to survive. Can we move on from that please?

Anyway, I can't imagine why all of you could possibly think that captivity is so bad. You get an unlimited supply of food, attention, and affection. The alternative is a brutal struggle, in the wild, with other whales, for a limited food supply. I guarantee that these whales aren't missing anything.

That said, the entire point of Seaworld's whale program is to raise awareness about Orcas and bring them into the public mind. It's not to be evil gremlins that lock up big animals in little cages. The amount of good Seaworld has done for ensuring the continued well-being of the species is probably immeasurable.

In this particular case, I would agree that they should and probably will put greater emphasis on security in regards to working with the whale (if I'm not mistaken, he wasn't doing shows anymore, but I may be wrong). However, putting him to sleep would be outrageous. As has been said, it's a dangerous business, and ultimately there will never be a perfect safety record when working with animals. What happened was sad, tragic even. But that trainer was doing something she believed in enough to risk her life.
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There's a difference though between captivity and performance. I don't personally, see a problem, when the habitat exhibit tries to be very organic. However, that's not the case with the whale tanks which also need to be bigger and deeper.

SeaWorld does do great things, even with whales, but I think management just dropped the ball. This whale was brought to Orlando for breeding; it should not have been on show for this dining event.
 
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