Sorry, Travis, my friend. That’s a straw man. The whale was in a supposedly family-friendly environment, supposedly regularly interacting very directly with humans. It knows the humans aren’t food. This one has now killed three people. If they don’t destroy it, they need to cut it loose in the ocean somewhere.
Contrary to popular belief, killer whales do not routinely kill human beings.
It’s clearly a dangerous, flighty, temperamental animal that is unfit to be around people. Three funerals prove that.
And you know this "fact" how? You interviewed the whale, maybe? He sent you a text-message?
Killikum killed two other humans, and was sold specifically as a BREEDER ONLY, with NO HUMAN CONTACT.
Seaworld violated that proviso, and they will now pay out MILLIONS.
You're projecting human reasoning onto this whale. We've evolved the idea that killer whales don't attack humans because humans aren't their typical prey. But the same should hold true for other predators; lions, tigers, bears, etc. And yet we have seen enough of those types of attacks as well.
These are predators that have evolved over millenniums. Just because they haven't normally attacked humans doesn't mean a mistaken act won't trigger an impulse. While I agree that this whale should be returned to its proper environment instead of being destroyed, I can't agree that cavorting with predators is a sound practice.
It acted on pure instinct. It doesn’t “know” anything in the sense we know things.