Tilikum Tragedy

March 3, 2010  
Filed under Opinion

An audience at Sea World watched in horror on Wednesday as a Killer Whale trainer at Sea World was dragged through the water, limp and lifeless in the mouth of the whale Tilikum. A Shamoo show gone wrong, what started as a fun filled calm show ended in the death of 30- year trainer Dawn Brancheau.

How did this happen? What set this performing whale into an aggressive and deadly frenzy?

According to trainers and staff at Sea World, this particular whale has a violent history and is responsible for the death of one other trainer and another’s serious injuries.

Why then is this killer still being held in captivity and still performing, still putting the trainers and the public in danger?

No one seems to have the answer to that question, and Sea World’s Web site is not responding to any comments at the moment.

I think that this just shows that aggressive animals that clearly do not do well in confined arenas should not be forced to perform and be held in captivity. After the first trainer incident with this individual whale, the staff at Sea World in Orlando, Fla., should have been given an incentive to find a way to reintroduce the animal to the wild. Cleary it is capapble of hunting and killing for itself. Some people think that the whale woruld perish in the wild if it was released because it would not know how to take care of itself.

Porpoises are very intelligent creatures and they are underestimated. If Tilikum was released into the wild near a neighboring pod of killer whales, I am sure he would adjust and learn how to live in the wild.

The death of the female trainer at Sea World is a tragic incident, but I think it was kind of expected. Keeping a huge powerful animal like a whale in captivity for 30 years and forcing it to perform constantly would obviously make the creature irritated, it is not surprising that the whale snapped, it was only a matter of time. Killer whales belong and have the right to roam the ocean and be free in the wild in their natural habitat.

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Haley Butler

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