So you can see why reading this story was frightening to me. I feel terrible for the trainer, the family, and most especially the other trainers and the visitors to the park that saw this terrible incident.
Posted on 02/24/2010 6:28:54 PM PST by beaversmom
Just about everyone with access to a 24-hour news channel has seen the home video of a killer whale attacking his trainer at a Sea World facility in San Antonio. The whale, named Ky, is seen repeatedly trying to submerge his trainer of 10 years—in front of a shocked audience which turned out to see a seemingly innocuous event called the Shamu Adventure.
No doubt trying to dismiss the attack as a simple rush of randy hormones, the trainer has publicly labeled it the actions of a teenage whale nearing breeding age.
To which we would say: That's exactly the point.
Ky, like every captive wild animal in the world, whether a circus elephant or a white tiger in Las Vegas, has complex physical and behavioral needs, which can never be fully satisfied in captivity. Breeding is just one of many such needs among killer whales, commonly known as orcas. They also require lots of open water and the life-long companionship of their own family members.
That's one reason why The HSUS is constantly encouraging summer vacationers to avoid marine parks: Visitors only help perpetuate this grim illusion—that orcas and dolphins are perfectly content performing in tanks that can never recreate their natural environment.
"To say that Ky's actions were motivated by his teenage hormones is a bit like saying a lion's hunting instincts are motivated by his appetite," says Naomi Rose, The HSUS's marine mammal scientist. "Well, yeah, maybe that's right. But that's not the point. The point is humans cannot predict, let alone control, these natural behaviors. The danger in thinking we can control these animals is injury, maybe even death."
The Human Factor
As the Sea World incident underscores, captive orcas present real dangers to humans. There are no firm figures on the number of orcas held captive around the world; about 50 of the whales are believed to be held in the United States, Canada, Japan, France, and Argentina. But the pressures to secure more wild killer whales remain, as witnessed by Russia's return to the captive orca business last year. And why not? Some reports say captive orcas are worth $1 million each.
Statistics documenting human injuries and deaths related to captive orcas are hard to come by. But the mainstream press has documented some cases in which humans did not fare well against the appropriately named killer whales.
In 1991, a 11,000-pound orca named Tillikum, along with two female whales, drowned a young part-time trainer named Keltie Byrne at Sealand of the Pacific in Canada. The incident was hauntingly similar to Ky's attack in San Antonio: The earlier attack occurred in front a horrified audience, which watched helplessly as one of the killer whales grabbed Byrne in its mouth and dragged her around the pool, mostly underwater. The entire incident played out over several long minutes. "The whales weren't trying to kill Byrne, but Tillikum and his orca companions didn't know that humans can't hold their breath as long as whales," says The HSUS's Rose.
Tillikum was later shipped to Sea World of Orlando where he would be implicated in another human death. A man, who had apparently stayed in the park after closing hours, jumped into Tillikum's tank in July 1999. He was found dead the next morning, naked and draped across the whale. The man's swim trunks were found in the water, and his body was scraped up, a sign that Tillikum had dragged him around the bottom and sides of the tank. (Tillikum, incidentally, is Ky's father.)
"What all these incidents tell us is what marine parks don't want you to know: captive killer whales are dangerous to people, even those who have worked with these animals for years and years," notes The HSUS's Rose. "In both episodes with Tillikum, the whale wasn't necessary trying to hurt the unintended victims, but his very size and behavior makes him a danger to people, even if the whale were just 'playing' with the people. Simply put, these are wild animals. Taming them is only an illusion; their natural behaviors will always pose a threat to the people foolish enough to interact with them."
By the same logic, people often think they can safely interact with dolphins at so-called swim-with-the-dolphin programs. This is a myth, too, says Rose.
In their joint 2003 report, Biting the Hand that Feeds: The Case Against Dolphin Petting Pools, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and The HSUS wrote, "...[M]edia reports and historic government records reveal a range of serious injuries caused to visitors by captive dolphins in interactive programs, including cuts, bruises, broken bones, bites and rakes. Because of the sheer size of dolphins and their concentration in petting pools, abrupt movements and occasionally aggressive competition for food can put visitors at risk of physical harm."
Nor are dolphins themselves safe in captivity. A four-month-old female dolphin died on Wednesday, July 28, at the National Aquarium in Baltimore; tests revealed she had a serious bacterial infection. While her mother performed in a show earlier that day, the young dolphin was the target of two sexually aggressive male dolphins, who reportedly pushed her under water for longer than she had oxygen. Experts believe the young dolphin, because of the infection, could not handle the routine roughhousing.
As The HSUS's Rose notes, "It's not unusual for male dolphins to do what they did. They do it in the wild. That's why mother dolphins separate themselves. In captivity, however, they don't have that option."
The bottom line: Marine parks are not necessarily safe places for either marine mammal or human. Patronizing these facilities only perpetuates this misconception. If you really want to see marine mammals this summer, consider booking a whale or dolphin watching cruise.
They also think laws should protect them from any legal consequences, either for doing things, or for not doing things.
To the contrary, I think that karma's a bitch.
This Killer Whale should be returned to the wild ASAP before it kills again. It doesn’t like captivity I fear, can’t say I blame him.
So has pretty much every author who has ever written anything for children. The stupidity of some of the people who watched his movies is hardly his fault.
Cetaceans are highly, highly intelligent and complex animals. Think about it. It’d be like being in prison for a crime that never happened. Holding them in captivity for our entertainment is foolish as well as cruel. I’m very sorry about this woman being killed, but that animal should never have been there in the first place.
I have no problem with trophy hunting as long as the meat is eaten. I have no trouble with fishing as long as the head is cut off as soon as the fish is tossed on the filleting board, and I’m fine with cows, pigs, chickens, etc., being slaughtered for food, as long as they are treated humanely while alive and are dispatched quickly and humanely. God gave us dominion over the animals and expects us to treat them well. Imprisoning a beautiful wild animal that has a very long life span for our amusement is sick and, IMO, evil. It’s not and never can be a domesticated animal and not what God had in mind for them or us.
That comment reminds me of the nasty remarks I used to read on sites that I intentionally avoid now.....
Indian Elephants are domesticated animals and have been so for nearly 3000 years.
I’m not being nasty just simply giving a practical theory as to why the orca did that. I had a girlfriend who was walking with me in a neighborhood and a pitbull tried to attack her. She just happened to be on her period at that time. I theory that since the dog was downwind and smelled blood it was what attracted him to her like a moth to lightbulb. You have to keep in mind that orcas are carnivorous and can smell blood in the water miles and miles away like sharks.
Yes I did.
It's a remote possibility that they may be able to taste it, but Olfactory lobes of the brain and olfactory nerves are absent in all toothed whales, indicating that they have no sense of smell.
The jury did not stop Sealand's orca shows, but the city in which Sealand is based has indicated that Sealand's lease may not be renewed. In September 1991, Sealand owner Bob Wright put the three orcas up for sale. But what marine park wants to take three orcas that killed their trainer? Even before Sealand announced the whales were for sale, Sea World was preparing an application to NMFS to import them.
Thanks for the link
You are right about individual animal characteristics. I understand that the whale that killed the trainer a couple of days ago was recognized by the staff as being more dangerous than the others.
My reference to Disney is connected to the wild exageration he employed in his presentations. Bambi the innocent, totally sympatheyic victim and the evil hunter.
I am a life long hunter. I can’t count the number of deer I have harvested. When I see a deer I think about venison chops, roasts and hamburger. I also believe that the anti-gun sentiment that has developed in America over the years is to a degree connected to the false depiction of animals.
Like I said, I would love to spit on Disney’s grave. He is gone so I can’t spit in his face.
Mostly thanks to the NRA, which knocks itself out promoting the idea that guns are for "sport", primarily hunting. The Second Amendment is NOT about hunting!
So you can see why reading this story was frightening to me. I feel terrible for the trainer, the family, and most especially the other trainers and the visitors to the park that saw this terrible incident.
They’re dolphins, not sharks.
Keeping thse animals in tanks to do tricks or for show is not only dangerous...it’s CRUEL!! I felt horrible for the zoo elephants, I could scream for the panthers, tigers kept in 10 by 10 cages on the side of the road for entertainment off florida hiways and get ticked off for these poor dolphin or whales kept captive in a tank their whole life. Some people are so blinded to empathy...
I think most people....not just vegetarians or animal rights people realize those animals are VICIOUS and need to be in their own natural environment...not a small cage. I like the way some of the zoos have expanded their land so the animals can roam more freely...but then again they drug them....which is wrong too.
Humans are animals too....and dogs, cats, etc do have personalities. It’s a shame you never experienced that.....you missed alot.
What’s stopping you?
At least you didn’t repeat the urban legend that Disney was frozen...
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