Posted on 02/26/2010 1:30:07 PM PST by JoeProBono
Tilikum, the male killer whale that fatally injured trainer Dawn Brancheau in front of a stunned audience at SeaWorld in Orlando on Wednesday, was a breeding "stud" often housed in isolation.
Experts believe he did not kill for food, but may have been acting out due to stress and raging hormones.
While some reports have been portraying Tilikum as a particularly aggressive orca, a nearly identical incident involving another killer whale male named Ky occurred in July 2004 at the San Antonio SeaWorld.
Trainer Steve Aibel, like Brancheau, was pulled underwater by the whale, which also attempted to bite, but Aibel walked away uninjured. He later blamed Ky's "adolescent hormones" for the episode.
Marine biologist Nancy Blake told Discovery News that Tilikum could have acted out for similar reasons.
"He was used a lot [by SeaWorld] for mating, and could have even been enacting a mating behavior during the incident," explained Blake, a leading expert on killer whales who runs California's Monterey Bay Whale Watch.
According to GREMM, a Quebec-based marine mammal research and education group, intense competition may take place between male whales before mating. Males and females may also challenge each other, with females sometimes changing their diving behavior during the process.
Captured near Iceland in November 1983, Tilikum "was housed in small tanks from the beginning," said Blake. SeaWorld Orlando acquired the whale in January 1992, and put him in a breeding program shortly thereafter.
Orca, Killer Whale: View pictures, watch video, explore interactives and more.
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More at Animal Planet.com Over the years, Tilikum has sired at least 17 calves, 10 of which are still alive, making him the most successful orca father in captivity. He is also the only captive killer whale grandfather.
His captivity, frequent breeding and the fact that Tilikum was caught in the wild could all have contributed to Wednesday’s fatality, Blake believes.
"It is my understanding that he is often kept by himself," she said. "That is not natural. Males in the wild generally live with their mothers and other family members. Such social contact is critical to their development."
She said he may even have "lashed out" at Brancheau due to "stress and boredom."
Sounds like Rachael Maddow.
Well then she should have had relations more with the whale, silly. At least that is what I tell my wife when she isolates me.
What?
Never mind.
No comment. That’s best.
Lol.
ask Tiger
People carry on about how aggressive this whale is. Like any animal (even our “domesticated” critters such as dogs and cats), a whale is basically still a wild animal...I don’t care how much training or domestication he or she has had. Animals can and will revert back to their instincts and behaviors if certain opportunities present themselves.
..thought ponytails were instant death bait
Oh for God’s sake...more “How come he done it” crap and nonsense. Psychoanalysis of a friggin’ fish. He’s a killer whale people, not Lassie!!! Who was it who said the MSM has done more looking into this damned animal in 5 days than it did in Obama over 2 years?? Well he was right. Maybe some shyster can figure out a way to file a class action suit against the whale. Failure to live up to his contract or something.
On youtube you can see the video of a killer whale killing a great white shark... That’s the cutesy whootsy killer whale for you.
Stupid human!
leave the wild animals alone. disgusting to have them cooped up.
LOL!
Argh. I just realized I was making light of a tragic situation. Sometimes it is easy to get carried away and forget this isn’t an abstraction, it was a flesh and blood person who died a horrible death.
Sigh. I fall into this every so often...just not thinking.
In retrospect, the pony tail was the equivalent of an auto mechanic wearing a loose neck tie and bending over a running engine. OSHA will have the final say on this one.
Why don’t they just leave the orcas in the ocean. I feel sorry for them, basically in jail.
Exactly!
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