Posted on 11/12/2013 7:02:00 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
No stranger to performances, SeaWorld must put on a very different kind of show today in what could be a make or break day for the aquatic entertainment giant.
SeaWorld Orlando is asking a panel of three judges on a federal appeals court to overturn safety citations and a ban instituted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration restricting the ability of humans to interact with killer whales during performances.
The injunction was instituted after the death of veteran trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010, when Tilikum, the orca she had worked with for years, dragged her into the water and killed her in front of horrified viewers.
OSHA said the company violated the general duty clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, saying it exposed its workers to a known hazard in the workplace. SeaWorld was slapped with a $75,000 fine for three safety violations, including one “willful” citation. After SeaWorld appealed that decision, an administrative law judge last year downgraded the “willful” complaint to “serious,” reducing the fine to $12,000.
Crucially, the judge sided with OSHA’s findings that keeping humans out of the water with killer whales unless there were physical barriers would reduce the risk of serious injury or death.
(Excerpt) Read more at m.sentinelsource.com ...
Ever hear about them targeting Disney or Universal for destruction? No?
Hmmmm. Interesting.
Ever hear about them targeting Disney or Universal for destruction? No?”
Incident with Gibson Guitars being singled out immediately comes to mind.
Clearly, Team Sea World has to recruit overt bull-dyke lesbians to interact with the creatures. No foul, then.
For some reason, that’s exactly the type that are the keepers of the elephants at our local zoo...
Shamu Shamu. Actually the trainers stand on a slope and the whales can easily scoot out and grab them. The trainers also ride around on the whales. It is very dangerous and IMHO unnecessary. I went years ago with my tun 6 year old granddaughter and I sure would not have wanted to see anyone killed or injured. When we were all chanting Shamu it felt a bit like the Roman colosseum. In a good way. LOL
So does this mean nobody can work in the ocean? There are no barriers between them and the scary monsters of the ocean.
Please see the documentary Blackfish. Tilikum had killed 2 other trainers in other parks, and Sea World Orlando did not give this info to their trainers, including Dawn.
It will absolutely change your mind on whether killer whales should be kept in captivity. I suspect within two generations, we will look back with disgust and say, What were we thinking?
Those ladies at Sea World look pretty feminine to me.
Tip: Your 2 yr old daughter WON’T think it’s neat to be splashed by the whale...
Just a tip...
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And sometimes, a government action is just a government action.
SeaWorld is putting dollars over safety and OSHA is right to step in on this one, as SeaWorld has shown a reckless disregard for the safety of their staff.
I don't see anything in Art 1 Section 8 of the Constitution that gives the federal government any authority over workplace safety.
That's properly a function of the State. Which also has an OSHA.
The feds need to go back into the Constitutional box.
/johnny
If you are a trainer and you don’t know the inherent dangers of dealing with animals any animals. (a Charolais bull put me in the hospital for 3 weeks) and OSHA has to tell you. Then you probably voted for Obama.
I almost put in the caveat about whether or not you agree with OSHA’s charter is another discussion. The fact is, under the charter they do have, right or wrong, this is a no-brainer and not some act of political oppression.
There are dangerous acts performed every day - some with animals and some without animals. Cirque Soleil comes to mind. I think these acts are in a separate category than say factory safety and OSHA has no role here. How does one accept a job interacting with “killer whales” and not understand there is danger involved?
If it was really that dangerous there would have been a lot more people killed.
I hope the ban stays in place and SeaWorld goes out of business. These animals are deeply intelligent, social creatures and they don’t deserve to spends their lives in concrete tanks.
Dolphins May Be Dumber Than We Think
excerpted paragraph:
"For more than 50 years, the dolphin has been viewed as an especially intelligent creature, grouped together with human beings and great apes. But now a dispute on the subject has erupted among scientists, and the smart aleck of the seas may end up being just an average mammal. "We put them on a pedestal for no reason and projected a lot of our desires and wishes on them," says neuroethologist Paul Manger of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. According to the professor, the claims that dolphins have a particularly complex brain, use a sophisticated language, are self-aware and can use tools are nonsense."
Swimming in an enclosed tank with a marine preditor whose name starts with the word “killer” ...what could go wrong?
Well, I don't think he was being serious - check his 'nom de plume'.
Hmmm.
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