Killer Whale tragedy sparks heated debates by Christian Hunter
Killer Whale tragedy sparks heated debates
 by Christian Hunter
 Thursday, February 25th, 2010
 New York, NY
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Killer Whales are indeed Killers and it is no surprise, unfortunately, that another tragedy has befallen the captive animal climate. As many of you may have heard, whale trainer Dawn Brancheau died yesterday when she had a mishap in the whale tank and was “attacked” by the Orca named Tilikum.

 

Tilikum, a 12,500-pound male killer whale, was captured off the coast of Iceland in 1983. In 1991 this orca and 2 mates were responsible for the death of a twenty year old woman who fell into the tank, some scientists say that this may have been a territorial issue, and in fact the whale, was trying to protect the woman from the other two, not having knowledge that holding the woman under water would drown her, a conscious thought no whale could ever have.

 

Years later, Tilikum had been sold and moved to  the Orlando facility he now resides in. In 1999 a homeless man had apparently broke into the park after hours and was found dead the next morning draped over the orca’s back, the cause of death unknown.

 

Now, the question arises yet again, should these huge mammals be held captive for our amusement. Tilikum is one of the largest of 41 Orca’s in captivity, a spokes person from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society says that people should have been warned to not continue working with this whale due to it’s history.

 

These attacks are not uncommon and have happened more recently than you think. Just 2 months ago, a trainer was killed at park in the Canary Islands. Of course the argument could be said of many things in our modern culture. From extreme sports to even exotic dishes, people all over the world seem to enjoy testing the waters (no pun intended) with themselves, or at the very least, enjoy viewing people risking their life for our entertainment. And, the other side of that coin is, while we do have a choice about putting our life at risk, is fair of us to bring carnally instinctive animals in to the arena for our pleasure as well, and even still, is fair to “prosecute” these animals when there is such a tragedy as there was yesterday.

 

Well, the debate rages on, and people from both sides are speaking up now, only time will tell, but for now, we here at Grapevine send our condolences to the families of the lost souls who have dedicated their lives to giving us the pleasure of viewing this slice of nature in our own backyard.


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Last updated by Christian Hunter - Thursday, February 25th, 2010 -  New York, NY

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