An Orca Whale at a Sea World, Orlando sadly proved today why they are called Killer Whales. Telly the whale took the life of a 40-year-old, female, senior trainer.
Telly, however, was allegedly involved in the death of a part time trainer 1991. He was also believed to be involved in the death of a man in 1999. Perhaps, he is a serial-killer whale?
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/22659901/detail.html (Photo: Local 6 News)
Witness Victoria Biniak said she saw the deadly incident from a viewing area.
"The trainer was explaining different things about the whale and then the trainer that was down there walked away from the window. Then Telly (the whale) took off really fast in the tank and he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing (her) around," Biniak said. "He was thrashing her around pretty good. It was violent."
Biniak said the attack was so violent that it caused the trainer's shoe to fly off [...]
Killer whale expert Nancy Black said the whale could have been playing and the incident could have been an accident."They are very intelligent creatures. They have emotions, and feelings. Maybe it was unhappy in the situation, maybe it was bored," Black said.
Telly, however, was allegedly involved in the death of a part time trainer 1991. He was also believed to be involved in the death of a man in 1999. Perhaps, he is a serial-killer whale?
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/22659901/detail.html (Photo: Local 6 News)
This is a sad story all around. It's sad for the trainer, and it's sad for the whale that is living in a prison.
Enough said.
Oh btw. I laughed.
I am sure the trainer cared for the whale, but just like the story of the chimp that ate the face of the lady a while back, some animals will always have an inherent danger to them. Who are to think we can always control an animal 50x bigger than us. Only because stuff like this hasn't happened more often we are lulled in to a sense of safety.
Even when respect is given they are still wild predators at heart.
As for the comment comparing euthanizing a dog to what they should do to the whale..Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years to be our companions, whales have not. They need to just let the damn thing be, of course someone gets to foot the bill since we yanked it from the wild to begin with.
People think they can keep wolves, big cats, apes because they love and "understand" them. Right up until a tragedy happens. i saw Ivan the ape that now lives at ZooAtlanta once while he was living in a shoddy mall in WA. 28 years in a dark corner of a store, alone. A tragedy in itself.
Is a jumping whale show at an overpriced amusement park worth a life? Three lives? Maybe we need to quit playing with fire. Learn to appreciate them as they should be, in the wild, from a long and safe distance.
more power to the porpoise. i hope it was premeditated by Tilikum and the other orcas. while he should be punished for killing the trainer, his point (of course my assumption) has been made: we don't belong in a fish bowl.
this is only the beginning, people. keep this crap up and we're gonna have a real life planet of the apes.
felix - i will NOT hang my head for someone i DON'T know, that just makes no sense.
But to exploit their intelligence for cutesy tricks is a phenomenal waste, to ever assume such a powerful and extremely intelligent animal is "tame" is absolutely stupid, and to keep them in enclosures so small is cruel.
My sympathies go to the family, but I feel the same way toward this as I do toward the loss of astronauts: they know and accept the dangers of the job, and they died doing something they thought worthwhile.
Yet a (large) part of me congratulates the orca. Humanity could use the lesson that nature can still f*** us up.
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How is a killer whale a business?
According to the Internet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_Assessment, with the current situation included.
People have an inherent value.
A risk that is impossible to manage is inherent risk. A killer whale is impossible to manage. A killer whale is an inherent risk. Quantitative risk assessment (public health risk assessment in this case - lives are involved) requires calculations of two components of risk: R, the magnitude of the potential loss L, and the probability p, that the loss will occur, both of which can be very difficult to measure. Pardonez-moi, s'il vous plait (excuse me). The magnitude of potential loss is the loss of a human life. The probability that loss will occur has been established 3 times, with the death of 3 people.
For public health and environmental decisions, loss is simply a verbal description of the outcome, such as increased cancer incidence, incidence of birth defects, or a killer whale gone amok. The killer whale was viewed as possibly depressed, and some of the whales were not obeying instructions. The "risk" is expressed as: .
If the risk estimate takes into account information on the number of individuals exposed (daily killer whale show) , it is termed a "population risk" and is in units of expected increased cases per a time period. If the risk estimate does not take into account the number of individuals exposed, it is termed an "individual risk" and is in units of incidence rate per a time period (3 dead people). Population risks are of more use for cost/benefit analysis; individual risks are of more use for evaluating whether risks to individuals are "acceptable"....WHOA!!!! Is it acceptable for people to die? How many people can die before it becomes unacceptable to keep the killer whale.
The annualized loss expectancy (dead people) is a calculation of the single loss expectancy (one human life) multiplied the annual rate of occurrence (3 times), or how much an organization could estimate to lose from an asset (the killer whale) based on the risks, threats, and vulnerabilities. It then becomes possible from a financial perspective to justify expenditures (pay off the dead people, fines to government agencies, , etc.) to implement countermeasures (reaffirm SeaWorld image via ads) to protect the asset, the killer whale.
I can imagine the discussion going on in the corporate board room regarding the issue of whether the killer whale is a liability or asset?
Peace to Dawn.
But I see it as just any other risk of that particular job- If you willingly and by your own choise work with big and/or dangerous animals like elephants, whales, lions, poisonous snakes or scorpions, bears or even small greatures like ferrets, porcupines, rats or ... wombats, you have to be prepared to get damaged, hurt, bitten, poisoned, squashed, drowned, killed.
For that, you cannot blame the animal, because in the end that just is what that animal does- An elephant will have a bad temper at some point. A tiger will charge at some point. A poisonous snake will bite. A scorpion will sting, a ferret will bite. An orca will -if even in play- drag you down and be dominant. A dog or a cat will at some point make clear it's had enough and retalliate. But if a big animal retalliates- smaller beings can die and in any case will get hurt most likely bad. That's just how it is- Occupational hazard and nothing more. Tough luck or bad judgement on the part of that woman.
Let's just hope that it won't happen that often again. That's all. But it will happen again- people working with -big- animals will be killed by the animals they work with. Inevitably.
I believe man's desire to entertain and make profit of animals in captivity, have lost a perspective, of that these creatures have feelings and emotions just like humans. Their desire to be back in their natural habitats is more overwhelming than we realize. An example is if we are in prison, our desire is to be FREE again.
"That tiger didnt go crazy, that tiger went TIGER, riding a tricycle...now THATS crazy!"
Fault would be on the trainer for that one.
It's an intelligent animal, not a puppy.
They don't realize that humans can't hold our breath as long or take the damage they dish out during "play".
Kill the whale?? No... Maybe give the trainer a darwin award.
You morons that think the whale should be killed are the same type of idiot that thinks we should kill sharks or bears that attack people in the wild.
It would be different if the animal was stalking you on the street and killing people, but when you go into their domain, you life is fair game, and you are the only one liable...
I think it would be cute either way...
I've seen bears in zoos and in the wild, still a magnificent animal, you just need to give it respect.
Same thing with dolphins, cute, sure... Cuddly even, why not?
Kill you by accident rather easily, yep, you bet..
This animal (I believe its name is Tilikum) was not one bred in captivity. It is, according to reports, a member of an Icelandic pod that was captured when it was younger. The Orca is, without doubt, one of the most complex and sophisticated animals we share our world with. With this comes its ability, and WISH, to hunt for food requiring an inate aggression that in the wild leads it to hunt seals, whales (hence its misnomer name 'Killer Whale' - its not a whale at all, it is a dolphin) and even great white sharks. Quite why we should be surprised that an animal that has been plucked from its possible 1,000,000 square kilometer habitat only to be placed into a 'pond' then acts in an aggressive and possibly frustrated manner is beyond me.
We should use this tragic event as a stark reminder as to our place on this planet and question whether we should keep such animals such as this in such confined spaces for little more than our own amusement.
(Have we all been sad for the appropriate amount of time now? OK then: A friend of mine commented: "I hate to say it, but he isn't a Doctor Whale or an Accountant Whale.")
They're not exactly cuddly friendly creatures in the wild and I'm sure they probably keep some of that instinct in captivity.
And everyone suggesting it should be put down.... how stupid can you get?
Remind me again why we keep doing this? It's not like teaching a whale to balance a ball on its nose acually counts as conservation or education anymore.
If you really wanted to try to preserve a rare species in a captive enivronment, there are a lot of ways to mimic a natural setting while avoiding human contact. Better for the animal, better for the keepers.
If you own a dog that bites, chimpanzee that kills, or any other animal considered dangerous, you can't keep it, yet Sea World can. I'll never go there again, and yes, I used to go quite often.
Two more words: willful ignorance.
Watch the documentary The Cove. Even though it's about the killing of smaller dolphins, a small bit talks about the kind of $$ the Japanese "fishermen" get for animals sold to aquatic parks all over the world.
If you have any love or respect for animals, what happens to the dolphins will break your heart. If you have half a brain in your head, what the humans are willing to turn a bind eye to will astound you.
I think it's absolute trash that creatures like this are kept in such tiny living "accommodations." It's a prison for animals, and I don't blame them for killing humans when they have the opportunity.
Seaworld definitely shouldn't have used him as a performing animal. Trainers have to be prepared for anything when working with wild animals, but this guy had a history. Negligence all around.
This animal should be kept alive and away from human contact. Releasing it into the wild is just stupid - it's lived most of its life in captivity. Keep it behind the plexiglass. Don't go near it.
. this isnt a wild animal. this is a captive born animal. Who most likely (like lots of dogs) wasnt properly trained, and respected, by its original trainers way back when.
. the death of the man, was a homeless man who snuck into the tank after hours to swim with him. Naturally, that animal would defend itself and home, much like my 2 shepherds would if you decided to come to my home when I wasnt there.
. sea world uses its animals (much like every zoo animal out there in accredited zoos nationwide) for educational purposes. They arent going out there and getting every orca, however the things they learn with their animals, they take out into the wild, and continue their missions by doing so. Yes, their animals put on a show, but its only variations on natural behaviors ( an orca will breach out of the water, so the only difference in the show, is that he will do it on command, and the animals are being positively reinforced with food) The money charged for admission, furthers their educational and research efforts, which saves animals in the wild lives, not just orcas. Look at what they are doing for manatees, for example, they have manatee rehab :)
. lets also keep in mind PETA, LIKES what Seaworld is doing. PETA, doesnt want the animal killed, PETA is very happy with the treatment of all the animals at seaworld, and understands their mission statement. This would be a HUGE PR launching platform for them, but what was their statement? THEY APPLAUD Seaworld, and on TOP of it, they support elephant guns being available to all trainers who are trained to use them to protect the sanctity of human life.
. to the best of my research knowledge, an animal born at seaworld has never done anything like this, so they must be doing something right.