Trainer killed at Seaworld

[Mr.X]

Do you know why PETA and HSUS exist? They are lobbying organizations. They don't give a flying phucht about animals. Do your research.

I agree. The Humane Society (along with PETA) are often bizarre. Let's wait a few days for them to chime in.

As per the whale - it's property of Anheuser Busch and really falls into the corporate lap. Since the whale easily cost several million dollars (revenue/stud/investment) we'll probably see this repeat offender receive some type of isolation within their sprawling organization. This will ensure an even crazier, more violent whale.

X

 

[vladimir]

Terming this an attack is ENTIRELY wrong. If youve ever seen dolpins, orcas in the wild or in captivity you would realize that they are playful beings (yes, even orcas with their massive "killer size")

If this was an ATTACK as the media would have us believe, where is the predation? There isnt any. The trainer didnt die to an orca attack. The trainer died in an accident involving an Orca.

If two men beat me with baseball bats in an alley they have attacked me, whether or not they rob me or otherwise prey on me as well. There doesn't need to be predation for it to constitute an attack. We are perhaps gulity of anthropomorphizing--or perhaps plain ignorance--when we characterize dolphin behavior as "play," with connotations of innocence. It may indeed be play to the dolphins, but it is often quite deadly to their playthings. Here's an interesting (old) article on the subject:

Evidence Puts Dolphins In New Light, As Killers - NYTimes.com

But scientists, following a trail of bloody clues, are discovering that dolphins are far from the happy, peaceful creatures that humans think they know.

Growing evidence shows that the big animals, up to 12 feet long, are killing fellow mammals in droves, wielding their beaks as clubs and slashing away with rows of sharp teeth. Dolphins have been found to bludgeon porpoises to death by the hundreds. Unlike most animal killers, which eat their prey, dolphins seem to have murderous urges unrelated to the need for food.

 

[Rescue Diver68]

I agree. The Humane Society (along with PETA) are often bizarre. Let's wait a few days for them to chime in.

Yeah, PETA must be finished protesting the evil people at the Westminster Dog show by now. That was time well spent. Sarcasm meant.

 

[DebbyDiver]

Yeah, PETA must be finished protesting the evil people at the Westminster Dog show by now. That was time well spent.

PETA murders dogs. I'm sure they'd love to murder the orca as well but they don't know what to do with it...the carcass wouldn't fit in a dumpster.

 

[DanBMW]

Why are we surprised when wild animals behave as they are supposed to? This was ( man's label) a killer whale and it acted as they all do from time to time. We should not be placing wild animals in a cage.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

Hi Lock Washer,

What you say about whales born in captivity makes sense; I hadn't thought about the fact that Tillikum was never in the wild. I was just automatically thinking he had been captured and taken out of his real, wild life, and I was trying to think about how they can justify that, when you can't even approach closely in a small sailboat lest you disturb them (and rightfully so).

I suppose if that's the case (Tillikum born in captivity, property of Sea World)), then Sea World really does "own" a domestic animal. It's just.... ugh.... watching a video yesterday of one of the orcas "pacing" around a small pool just got to me.

We should be more concern about what is going in the ocean with killer whales, than what is going on at Sea World.

If my comments gave the impression that I'm more concerned about what's going on at Sea World than in the ocean, please forgive me, because that's not the case at all. I'm concerned about both.

B.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

They do kill for fun. It was an attack. Premeditated murder. Read up on them.

( I might say justifiable homicide as it was being kept in captiivity.)

I had more the impression that Tillikum was playing with the humans, and that they drowned as a result. Perhaps that's wrong? I'm not saying the humans didn't die, but what I mean is that it was not a predator attack/eat sort of thing.

I am definitely not even close to an expert on orcas (I just appreciated them when I was in British Columbia), however, so I will defer to experts as to whether this "playing" is actually the way they kill their prey.

 

[bracscued]

All captive whales should be freed. Dolphins, too. I do not support $$$ these parks. They should all be boycotted.

 

[DixieDolphin]

What you say about whales born in captivity makes sense; I hadn't thought about the fact that Tillikum was never in the wild.

Just to set it straight, Tillikum was wild caught. He was captured in Iceland in 1983. He was approximately two years old at the time.

If you ask me, with a very young capture age like that, plus 27 years of captivity, he's definitely not a viable release candidate in any case.

 

[idocsteve]

Why are we surprised when wild animals behave as they are supposed to? This was ( man's label) a killer whale and it acted as they all do from time to time. We should not be placing wild animals in a cage.

We should be more concern about what is going in the ocean with killer whales, than what is going on at Sea World.

The word "should" has no practical application in everyday life.

Who says we "shouldn't" place wild animals in cages? You? Why not? Because it isn't "nice?" Who says we "should" spend more of our time "doing this or doing that"?

Humans are the top of the food chain, we have the intelligence and capabilities to do pretty much whatever we want to, to any other living thing on the face of this planet, and in fact, in one way or another, that's what we are doing, as the planet and it's resources are slowly destroyed due to man's greed and ignorance.

That much said, are you gonna tell me there's some guiding force that's gonna give the human race some sort of planetwide smackdown and say "YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT!"

Nope, it aint gonna happen. There's no such word as should, people are gonna do what they're gonna do and you can argue whether it's "right or "wrong" until you're blue in the face.

And you'll never find an overwhelming majority that will agree with you (or disagree with you) one way or another.

That's just how it goes.