1 Killed At SeaWorld

[Nicole220]

I really hope they don't put Tilly down. He didn't choose this life, he didn't want to be put in a tank and perform. Give him a nice home away from show life, away from the public. But he shouldn't be put down because of this.

 

[Mouse Man]

Yes I agree that the whale should not be put down. I totally agree with you that the whale however needs to be moved out of the show life and from people.

 

[EvanAnderson]

He would die in the wild. He wouldn't know how to find food.

My theory is that the guidelines for dealing with this particular whale will be re written. Before this accident, the trainers were not allowed in the tank with the whale, due to his violent history. Now I bet any interaction with him whatsoever will have to be supervised with at least 1 more person, to get help quickly, or pull them back if they fell in to the tank or anything else. I don't know how else they are going to deal with him. I feel bad for the whale, its human interactions are going to be very limited.

 

[a2grafix]

am curious to know why the reported eye witness accounts contradict the statement made by sea world...

A few hours after the tragic accident, the statements contradicted each other because SeaWorld and the county sheriff were conducting their own investigation.

It was later learned that, several hours later, the trainer was snatched and thrashed around in front of the noon-time performance.

http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpp/news/national/SeaWorld-trainer-killed-by-whale

 

[Piebald]

My friend showed up and said the scene was a bit more gruesome than the media and Sea World are making it out to be (obviously).

That being said, I send my prayers out to her family and friends. I also feel for any who witnessed this incident because I imagine it is traumatizing to say the very, very least. I really hope no kids witnessed this especially.

 

[Courtman]

Condolences to the trainer's family, must be a terrible time for them. Can't have been pleasant for the audience to see either.

I wonder if anyone could answer if the show was the normal "Believe" show, or the slightly odd one I saw while over there in January - where there were 7 killer whales in the main show area at all times, and effectively all they did was swim around, jump a bit and then a gang of them splashed the crowd. The show was just 15mins long at maximum. I believe one of the rear pools was closed for maintenance, which could be why, but all the trainers were around the pool - and not IN the pool at any time. We assumed at the time it was because of the fact that swimming with 7 killer whales was't going to go down as one of the brightest things ever to do.

Magnificent creatures, this serves as a stark reminder that they are Killer Whales though and should be treated with the utmost caution and I'm sure Sea World will look thoroughly at this incident.

Image taken January 22, 2010 at the Shamu Stadium, Orlando.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

So sad.


Thoughts go out to the family and colleagues...........

 

[CaptainessKylie]

I believe it happened at The Cove, which is where Dine With Shamu takes place and looking back at my photos it was Tilly who was used to perform in that part, whilst at least while we were there. It's the pool that you get the underwater viewing. It wasn't during Believe but during Dine With Shamu, so I'm sure lots of families saw this tragedy. My heart goes out to the trainers family, and to seaworld who I'm sure will come under uneccessary fire for this. And I do hope the whale isn't a) released as he wouldn't survive, and b) put down as that is unjust. Surely Keiko's (of free willy fame) specially built tank in Oregon that they used to rehabiliate him could be used to allow a peacful out of entertainment life for this orca....very sad day.

 

[Rabflmom]

am curious to know why the reported eye witness accounts contradict the statement made by sea world...

Because when something happens quickly witnesses do not always report the same thing. For example when the pharmacy in the store I used to work at was robbed by a man who threatened them with a knife he stole in a different part of the store , the witness who saw him put the knife down his pants to walk to the front of the store described a different person than the tech who saw the man behind the knife as she quickly closed and locked the window, then the person who watched him run out of the store, then I did as I called security and notified them that a robbery was taking place. We agreed on some things but not everyone even reported the right color of shirt or that he was wearing shorts and not long pants. Some had him in tennis shoes, but he was really wearing boat shoes without socks. The policeman, a family friend, that I talked to said he had 30 different descriptions. I am sure that is happening at SW. It must have been horrible to be a witness.
My heart and prayers go out to Dawn's family, friends, coworkers, and all that loved watching her perform with the whales . She will be greatly missed.

 

[Andrew54]

Strange that they have 3 reported deaths surrounding this whale and one of them they found a homeless man draped over the top of the whale. Very odd stuff.

 

[scorp111]

They almost cancelled the show due to lack of co-operation when I went in November last year. Getting different stories on different news channels.

That happened to us in Early December, but I don't think Tillikum was out at that time. It was 3 or 4 females that weren't "cooperating". He was in the pen in the back. I have "dined" with Tilly several times.

My thoughts and prayers to the victims family.

 

[StageFrenzy]

He would die in the wild. He wouldn't know how to find food.

Orca's are pretty intelligent, if he could integrate with a pod i bet he would survive. He's a pretty big boy. I'm sure sea world could figure out something.

 

[Nicole220]

Orca's are pretty intelligent, if he could integrate with a pod i bet he would survive. He's a pretty big boy. I'm sure sea world could figure out something.

It's not that easy...

 

[Chrononymous]

Holy_________!
That is a truly horrible tragedy.

 

[kangaand2roos]

Truly horrible and my heart goes out to the trainers family and the Sea World family.
These intellegent creatures are not meant to be penned up in pools doing tricks to entertain people. They are wild animals and being that, their behavior no matter how long they have been performing is unpredictable. Even a domesticated dog can be moody and snap at people on occasions. Sea World has been superior in education of these and other aquatic animals and has helped with preservation of numerous species. I trust they will do what is right. I also believe that the trainer who obviously loved and dedicated her life to these whales would never want Tilly destroyed nor try to fend for himself in an ocean, which he probably could never survive in.

 

[sockmonkeygirl]

As a mother of another animal lover, my heart aches for Dawns Mom and family. I'm so sorry.

A whale naturally cruises 5,000 miles a year in the open sea-with his family. Maybe tank life is hard on a whale's psyche. Maybe we need to re-evaluate the true cost of entertainment.

I am truly very sorry and saddened by this news.

 

[Danhockey04]

Number one, I knew this lady, she was very nice and loved her work. I talked with her while I worked at Sea World, she loved her job and took it seriously. No one has ever swam in the same water with Tilikum, it was always left to swim alone because of its previous history. There were certain operation protocols when having to deal with Tilikum and I personally do not know if she followed them or not, she may have made a mistake.

Number two, they should not and most likely will not euthanize this orca, they may just rework the protocols to make sure this never happens again. But everyone I know at SeaWorld, employees I know that knew her is really getting more than ed off at all this talk about killing the animal because everyone is looking at it the wrong way, it's a sad situation, not a time to debate what to do with the animal. Media and all the PETA members think you know what the animal wants, but what makes you think they are better off in the wild, every time I went there, they all looked happy and were much better off in Sea World than in the wild. It's no different than a dog being enclosed in a home or a cage and taught tricks, same thing. I know she would not want any harm done to the animal, just by the way she was, it was her life work and to kill the animal, you'd be eliminating all her efforts and saying it was pointless. It was a horrible incident and it was very saddening that it happened to such an amazing and nice person, but she would definitely be very angry with the way the public and media is handling it. And it's not like she didn't know what she was doing, she was very experienced and one of a few that was allowed in the water with the orcas.

Lastly, it was a freak accident, Tilikum has had issues in the past, but that is why the safety protocols are in place. I've seen and worked shows were Tilikum would interrupt it and swim out and do anything it wants, it has had issues, but that's no reason to put the creature down, it's how it has been and is a fierce predator. But every trainer knows the risk of working with these creatures, and she never showed that fear, she loved these creatures and would want the best for them. They were part of her family and her life, if only any of you got to meet or even talk to her, you'd realize this, but people need to stop with this whole "animals shouldn't be trapped in these "prisons"". These animals live great lives and seem to love being around their trainers and by you saying to stop this, it basically takes away any and all studying of these animals and people's life work. It's like saying I'm gonna take away everything you've done with your life and through it in the garbage so it can slowly die and rot away.

 

[Kriszee1]

Number one, I knew this lady, she was very nice and loved her work. I talked with her while I worked at Sea World, she loved her job and took it seriously. No one has ever swam in the same water with Tilikum, it was always left to swim alone because of its previous history. There were certain operation protocols when having to deal with Tilikum and I personally do not know if she followed them or not, she may have made a mistake.

Number two, they should not and most likely will not euthanize this orca, they may just rework the protocols to make sure this never happens again. But everyone I know at SeaWorld, employees I know that knew her is really getting more than ed off at all this talk about killing the animal because everyone is looking at it the wrong way, it's a sad situation, not a time to debate what to do with the animal. Media and all the PETA members think you know what the animal wants, but what makes you think they are better off in the wild, every time I went there, they all looked happy and were much better off in Sea World than in the wild. It's no different than a dog being enclosed in a home or a cage and taught tricks, same thing. I know she would not want any harm done to the animal, just by the way she was, it was her life work and to kill the animal, you'd be eliminating all her efforts and saying it was pointless. It was a horrible incident and it was very saddening that it happened to such an amazing and nice person, but she would definitely be very angry with the way the public and media is handling it. And it's not like she didn't know what she was doing, she was very experienced and one of a few that was allowed in the water with the orcas.

Lastly, it was a freak accident, Tilikum has had issues in the past, but that is why the safety protocols are in place. I've seen and worked shows were Tilikum would interrupt it and swim out and do anything it wants, it has had issues, but that's no reason to put the creature down, it's how it has been and is a fierce predator. But every trainer knows the risk of working with these creatures, and she never showed that fear, she loved these creatures and would want the best for them. They were part of her family and her life, if only any of you got to meet or even talk to her, you'd realize this, but people need to stop with this whole "animals shouldn't be trapped in these "prisons"". These animals live great lives and seem to love being around their trainers and by you saying to stop this, it basically takes away any and all studying of these animals and people's life work. It's like saying I'm gonna take away everything you've done with your life and through it in the garbage so it can slowly die and rot away.

Bravo...Thank you for posting this. To even remove this whale from it's pod at Sea World would be awful for the animal. Such a social creature and to seclude it from the others would just make things worse. It would drive it insane.

This is from wikipedia "Tillikum was first sent to live at Sealand of the Pacific near Victoria, British Columbia. There, he lived with two older females named Haida II and Nootka IV. While living in British Columbia, Tilikum sired his first calf when he was about eight or nine years old. His first son, Kyuquot, was born to Haida II on December 24, 1991. Just a few months prior to the birth of Kyuquot, Tilikum was involved in an incident which resulted in the death of a female trainer. The trainer slipped and fell into the tank with the whales. Tilikum, a pregnant Haida II, and Nootka IV grabbed her in their mouths and tossed her to each other, presumably playing. The trainer subsequently drowned. The orcas had never had humans in the water with them before. Haida II and Nootka IV were overprotective of the newborn calf and aggressive towards Tilikum, who was forced into the small medical pool. Because of his huge size, Seaworld requested an emergency transfer to their facility. Tilikum was moved to SeaWorld Orlando, Florida in January 9, 1992; he has been there ever since. Sealand of the Pacific closed soon thereafter."

He never has trainers swim with him. He soaks the audience and that is his part in the show.

People that want him let out into the ocean, should research "free willy" star, Keiko. He was gradually released into the wild and died of pneumonia a little over a year later.

R.I.P Dawn. I hope my prayers for the family to heal are heard.

 

[Bairstow]

These animals live great lives and seem to love being around their trainers and by you saying to stop this, it basically takes away any and all studying of these animals and people's life work. It's like saying I'm gonna take away everything you've done with your life and through it in the garbage so it can slowly die and rot away.

I don't have strong feelings one way or the other when it comes to killwer whales in captivity, but I can see where the animal rights advocates are coming from. It's hard to argue with dorsal fin collapse.

Three other quick points: You made the anology of a dog in a cage but I'm not sure that was accurate. You take a dog out of its cage once in a while and give it a walk. Not so with a multiton oceanic whale.

As for releasing these animals back into the wild, that may or not be a viable option but I think the strongest argument is against capturing MORE killer whales and putting them in these conditions. Tilikum specifically is something of a stud whale and is the cornerstone of Seaworld's killer whale breeding program. If your argument is that captivity isn't the best thing for these creatures but is the only aternative besides starvation in the wild, it doesn't hold when you consider whales born into the tanks in the first place.

Finally, I'm not immediately swayed by the excuse that these whales are being kept primarily for important "research." Apart from endlessly redundant and irrelevant studies into cetacean learning patterns of human-designed training regimes, I don't see what else science has to gain from these animals so long as their kept in the tanks.

 

[CaptainessKylie]

I don't have strong feelings one way or the other when it comes to killwer whales in captivity, but I can see where the animal rights advocates are coming from. It's hard to argue with dorsal fin collapse.

.

This unfortunately has no sway with the arguments about killer whales being in captivity.

Dorsal Fin Collapse was seen as a bad thing cause by captivity due to the free will saga, however recent research has proved that this is nothing to do with capivity, as a number of wild orcas were found with bent dorsal fins. It was actually found that this was mainly found on male orcas with larger dorsal fins that were spending more of their time at the surface then underneath. I can't remember the exact scientific findings but it was along the lines of the water giving support to the whales dorsal fin and that the whales spending a lot of time at the surface did not get this support and therefore it would bend the fin, this is also seen with captive orcas who obviously spend A LOT of time at the surface.

I've had a look for the journal articles I read this in but can't find it anywhere, sorry, I wouldn't to give you the chance to read for yourself but will continue to look
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