Shamu Eats Trainer!

[GrueSam]

Probably things he would do if he was out in the wild with other orcas...instead he is in captivity and has to play with a human.

Exactly, Jen.

They are SO freakin' smart.

And with that come incredible boredom. And resentments...

 

[creecher]

They knew the job was dangerous when they took it, cluck cluck cluck cluck. Right Fred?

 

[Fives]

reading Jens post made me wonder how long would a killer whale that has been kept in captivity last if it were ever set free. i would think its chances of survival are pretty thin as it never needed to hunt for its food or know how to fend off predators, if any.

 

[Jen]

Exactly, Jen.

They are SO freakin' smart.

And with that come incredible boredom. And resentments...

makes me sad

I think the only animals that should be captive are those who have been injured and couldn't survive on their own. Or perhaps were human raised because their mother abandoned them. More like sanctuary zoos....rather than capturing strong healthy animals that were surviving just fine in their own habitats.

 

[GrueSam]

They knew the job was dangerous when they took it, cluck cluck cluck cluck. Right Fred?

Yep Rick, they do. Just like I did and I still do.
But they don't get paid *nearly* what they ought to. It's nowhere near enough.

makes me sad

I think the only animals that should be captive are those who have been injured and couldn't survive on their own. Or perhaps were human raised because their mother abandoned them. More like sanctuary zoos....rather than capturing strong healthy animals that were surviving just fine in their own habitats.

95% of animals in zoos are born in zoos.

I know Sea Worlds around the world have a fairly good birth rate but I am not sure just how good.

We do need children to get excited about animals and conservation since it will be their job one day. And seeing them in person really does do the trick. But with animals like orcas? I'm not sure at what price. Or for their humans, either...

But then, I am biased- orcas are one of my most favorite animals.

 

[Jen]

Yep Rick, they do. Just like I did and I still do.
But they don't get paid *nearly* what they ought to. It's nowhere near enough.



95% of animals in zoos are born in zoos.

I know Sea Worlds around the world have a fairly good birth rate but I am not sure just how good.

We do need children to get excited about animals and conservation since it will be their job one day. And seeing them in person really does do the trick. But with animals like orcas? I'm not sure at what price. Or for their humans, either...

But then, I am biased- orcas are one of my most favorite animals.

Well that makes me feel a little better. I do think Seattle has one of the best zoos anywhere....they aren't in cages and have big massive spaces to roam. Pretty amazing to see...though sometimes it does make me sad. Though I guess they have it easy...dont' have to worry about food or predators. Still...to never know the wild and be a wild animal...something just doesn't seem right about that.

Anyway, next time you are in Seattle and if you have time we should take a boat tour/cruise around the San Juan Islands. You can see lots of Orcas there. There's even Orcas Island - an island I hope to one day have a vacation home on.

 

[-Super Hans-]

All hail wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_orcas

found it an interesting read.

The practice of keeping orcas in captivity is controversial, and organisations such as the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society campaign against the captivity of killer whales. Orcas in captivity may develop physical pathologies, such as the dorsal fin collapse seen in 60–90% of captive males.

The captive environment usually bears little resemblance to their wild habitat, and the social groups that the killer whales are put into are foreign to those found in the wild.[1] Critics claim that captive life is stressful due to small tanks, false social groupings and chemically altered water. Captive killer whales have been observed acting aggressively toward themselves, other killer whales, or humans, which critics say is a result of stress.

 

[creecher]

Yep Rick, they do. Just like I did and I still do.
But they don't get paid *nearly* what they ought to. It's nowhere near enough.



95% of animals in zoos are born in zoos.

I know Sea Worlds around the world have a fairly good birth rate but I am not sure just how good.

We do need children to get excited about animals and conservation since it will be their job one day. And seeing them in person really does do the trick. But with animals like orcas? I'm not sure at what price. Or for their humans, either...

But then, I am biased- orcas are one of my most favorite animals.

I was being a smart alec wasn't I? Yep. Didn't mean to offend anyone, but usually do. Animals are totally unpredictable and therefor dangerous, wild or tame. I know the pay isn't adequate, but I know you don't really do it for the money either. I don't get paid enough but at least you like your job I bet. Slightly off topic, have you seen 'The Cove'?

It's a topsy turvy world alright. I can see that places like Sea World need such animals to attract funds to continue their good scientific research, but how much do they need? When does commercialism outweigh the needs of the individual animal. It's unacceptable that these 'institutions' don't limit the amount of time an animal is kept in captivity. They ought to be a release program in place, with rehabilitation and documentation on it's success rate etc, because, as alot of you have stated, 'Who knows how long they could exist in their normal habitat?'

 

[Valfar]

I remember watching this one eons ago.

 

[Deckard]

When I was a little kid, I got to feed the dolphins at the Sea World show. I didn't use myself though.

 

[daikkenaurora]

It's about F'ing time. That trainer was an a**hole. probably tasted like a fishstick.

 

[GrueSam]

Well that makes me feel a little better. I do think Seattle has one of the best zoos anywhere....they aren't in cages and have big massive spaces to roam. Pretty amazing to see...though sometimes it does make me sad. Though I guess they have it easy...dont' have to worry about food or predators. Still...to never know the wild and be a wild animal...something just doesn't seem right about that.

Anyway, next time you are in Seattle and if you have time we should take a boat tour/cruise around the San Juan Islands. You can see lots of Orcas there. There's even Orcas Island - an island I hope to one day have a vacation home on.

Let's do that, definitely!

I was being a smart alec wasn't I? Yep. Didn't mean to offend anyone, but usually do. Animals are totally unpredictable and therefor dangerous, wild or tame. I know the pay isn't adequate, but I know you don't really do it for the money either. I don't get paid enough but at least you like your job I bet. Slightly off topic, have you seen 'The Cove'?

Haven't seen it. I'm guessing I should?

That's right- we don't do it 'for the money'. And none of us is paid enough.
But I'm telling you- Sea World trainers get paid disgustingly low for what they do...

I remember watching this one eons ago.

LOVE that movie and have literally seen it too many times to count!

 

[Jeremy K9]

This video pretty much sums it all up. It's a very educational video, and reminds me why I don't go to places like this.

https://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=marine-mammals&Player=wm

 

[Agent0028]

Dunno, sounds like the guy that drowned was either drunk or dumb as hell getting into a tank with Killer Whale.

And I'm guessing the 2nd is a different Whale, at least that is what I inferred from the article. And that guy didn't die, but had a broken foot.

That's correct. The guy stayed in the park after it closed. He was breaking the law himself. Doesn't make it okay that he died, but its hardly the whale or SeaWorld's fault.

makes me sad

I think the only animals that should be captive are those who have been injured and couldn't survive on their own. Or perhaps were human raised because their mother abandoned them. More like sanctuary zoos....rather than capturing strong healthy animals that were surviving just fine in their own habitats.

I'm not 100% certain but I think that all SeaWorld's animals were either rescued because they were injured or born in captivity, often descended from an animal that was rescued due to injury. Also SeaWorld does alot of rehabilitation and releasing of animals who have been injured.

While keeping them in captivity is a controversial issue with both sides having excellent points, I personally think SeaWorld does alot more good than bad.

 

[Darth Madden]

Sorry to hear that, but it's what happens when you try turn wild animals into pets for amusement. I'm not some big animal rights nut or something, but they're called wild animals for a reason and should be left in their natural enivronment where they belong. Watch them on the Discovery Channel.

Bingo, thats exactly what I was going to post.

 

[creecher]

Haven't seen it. I'm guessing I should?

It's a documentary about the cove the Japanese wont allow anyone to see. Basically, Richard O'Barry, the guy who trained flipper, teams up with other activists to infiltrate The Cove. The Japanese fishermen herd dolphins into the cove. Special guests, from Sea World and other like institutions, select dolphins to use as attractions in their respective facilities, at a cost of around $200,000 each. The rest are slaughtered and sold for around $600 each.

It goes on to show that killing dolphins for meat is not only wrong, it's unhealthy. People from surrounding villages, eating this meat, often wrongly labeled, suffer from the mercury poisoning.

 

[agen_kolar]

I'm no PETA fan, but I'm okay with Sea World mostly because they do a lot of rehabilitation and such. Animals should be in the wild, no doubt, but the few that we keep in captivity in some cases can save a species from extinction or at the very least help educate humans. Not to seem crude, but this audience got the ultimate lesson - that animals, tame or not, are wild.

I feel bad for the trainer and her family. I know a couple of people who knew this woman, but I haven't gotten to speak with them about this yet. She did know the risks, though. Of anyone, she above all knew the power these animals hold. She probably knew she was screwed when the ordeal began, sadly enough.

Also I resent that these whales have been nicknamed Killer Whales, and are being referred to as such during this tragic time. They're Orcas. It seems insensitive to be calling them Killer Whales when one just mauled a woman. Not to mention they aren't whales, but technically the largest species in the dolphin family.

 

[Bamboota]

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[The Ween]

https://www.latimes.com/news/nation...orlando-shamu-injury-20100224,0,5560011.story

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmazingA...ner-sea-worlds-shamu-stadium/story?id=9932526



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They're called wild animals for a reason. Poor thing probably just had enough!

 

[Deckard]

Jack Hanna and the owner of Sea World are the only 2 people I've seen express any remorse over the trainer. Everyone else says poor whale.

Whales and Pandas. They can get away with ____ing anything!