Labmistress.com

By now, you have certainly heard about the trainer, Dawn Brancheau, that was killed by the killer whale, Tilikum, at Seaworld last week. This weekend, Seaworld re-opened the killer whale show, although the rules of engagement had changed for its employees, as far as being in the water with these animals.

Animal activists, trainers, and the general public have a lot to say about this event. Naturally, you would expect the initial response to be, “whales belong in the ocean.” Well, that’s a no-brainer. Now that they are successfully breeding the species in captivity, I would adamantly be opposed to plucking any more out of the ocean. It is unnecessary and cruel. As far as the whales that are currently in captivity, I think it is also cruel to try and release them if they have spent more than a few years in a theme park. Whether we like it or not, this is the environment they know, and as we saw with Keiko, they are too acclimated to people to be successfully returned to the wild. You guys remember Keiko, the “Free Willy” whale? Great expense went into his release and the whale himself returned to the shore in search of his human counterparts. He was never able to attach to a wild pod and didn’t know how to swim to the deeper depths to find food. After five years, he beached himself, apparently dead from acute pneumonia. It sounded like a great idea releasing him, but in hindsight, it was probably a mistake.

With all this in mind, I saw a picture this week of Tilikum in one of the Seaworld tanks. He is massive at 12,000 pounds, and without any accompanying story to influence me and just the visual, he’s too big to be in a tank. During his captivity, he has successfully produced many offspring, and is a valuable asset to Seaworld, so they don’t want to let him go. He was captured in 1983 at two years old, so today that puts him at around 29 years old. They generally only live about 30 years if captive, and there is the issue of him not having any viable teeth remaining, but if there ever was a candidate to be kept in an ocean pen near the shore, it’s Tilikum. He needs more room to swim, but he needs to be closely monitored by humans to make sure he gets enough to eat. Seaworld should bear the cost of this. I have no idea how much a baby whale calf goes for at market, but I’m betting it is substantial and in the millions. Tack on the percentage of admission fees associated with the whale, and they have more than earned their share over the past 18 years. Putting him out in the ocean would also ensure that no one else gets killed by him, even if it was an accident.

There seems to be a lot of strong opinions regarding these animals in captivity. What do you think is the right thing to do for Tilikum in his remaining years? Do you think this is anything other than a tragic accident? Or, do you think the animal is at fault in the three deaths caused in its past? Is there anyone that thinks the whale should have been euthanized? Personally, I don’t think the whale should be punished at all. For this part, I commend Seaworld on their position, and am pleased with how they handled everything thus far. At the same time, there is more that can be done, and it is time to put that animal’s best interest in focus.