Orca kills trainer at SeaWorld Orlando

[dudalb]

No, Quint hunted sharks. You want Nolan.

You are right, but when it comes to Whales, I will go with Ahab......

 

[CORed]

I'm sorry I have to ask WTF again. Is this to see if the orca poisoned or drugged her? I thought foul play had already been ruled out.

I think it's standard procedure to do toxicology tests any time an autopsy is performed. In this case, I guess the only information to be gained is whether the trainer's judgment was impaired in any way from use of alcohol or drugs.

 

[ugot2bekidding]

Speaking of Killer Whales, check out this amazing video.

 

[Morrigan]

Hah! I always laughed at the advertisement for Marineland where they talk about friendly! killer whales, because it was such an oxymoron.

 

[Ziggurat]

Speaking of Killer Whales, check out this amazing video.

You did the link wrong. You only need the bit after the '=' but before the '&'.

 

[ugot2bekidding]

You did the link wrong. You only need the bit after the '=' but before the '&'.

Thank you. Just curious, did that change recently? I never had a problem linking them before, maybe I just forgot how I had done them.

 

[UndercoverElephant]

Never trust an animal.

Which animal are you suggesting we should not trust?

The one which decided to do THIS?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxQxyjSEzOk

Orcas do not belong in captivity.

 

[Hallo Alfie]

I remember an episode of Blue Planet where a pod of killer whales harassed a grey whale mother and calf for hours until the calf finally collapsed from exhaustion. The killer whales then ate the calf's tongue and left the rest of the carcass.

Like people, some animals are jerks.

I wonder what whale tongues taste like?

Maybe they meant "Fowl" play...the chickens didn't look guilty.

killer chickens?
Sounds like a bad plot for a sci-fi monster movie.

 

[slingblade]

Many are calling for the animal to be "destroyed" > I disagree. This was simply an accident; culminating from mistakes on the trainers part for pushing an animal to do things it really didn't want to do.

It's the three times that bothers me. Mind, I don't know what should be done, but I'm thinking an animal that's killed three people over time needs to be away from people. Period.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

Three strikes, you're out !


Seriously, I think it's cruel to keep Orcas in captivity ..

 

[elgarak]

Orcas do not belong in captivity.

Pray tell, which animals DO?

The thing is, animals ARE kept in captivity. Some of theme are easy to keep, some, like Orcas, are not.

However, quite often there is no other ethical (whatever that means) option than to continue to keep them in captivity, like for Orcas, who are nigh impossible to release, since they either lost the ability or never learned how to hunt, and are not being able to integrate into wild-living pods. And if you have to continue to keep them, you have to do it as suitable for them as possible. For Orcas, that means as large a pool as possible, and physical and mental exercise. Taking into account that one has to spend a lot of money for this, the SeaWorld approach (making them appear in shows, which provides the physical and mental exercise, and use the profits to build them a large pool) appears to be the most ethical. (Caveat: The big problem I see is runaway capitalism, with breeding programs to expand the population to expand the show which requires more pools ...)

However, they are large predators. Close interaction with humans will always be necessary, and accidents like this one will always be a possibility.

 

[bluesjnr]

It's easy to tell when to be careful.

I would never go anywhere near a "man eating tiger".

On the other hand I have actually sat RIGHT NEXT TO a "man eating soup".

Let that be a lesson to you all.

 

[elgarak]

It's the three times that bothers me. Mind, I don't know what should be done, but I'm thinking an animal that's killed three people over time needs to be away from people. Period.

Sigh. I would call it "involved in the death of three people".

The first was the trainer in the British Columbia Theme Park. Tillikum was living with two females at the time. Neither of the three animals had ever be trained to swim with humans. The trainer slipped, and was played and toyed with. Which is quite natural behavior for orcas. Tragically not suitable for humans.

The second was a 'civilian', sometimes described as a homeless guy, who slipped into the tank after hours. Seriously? You want to fault the orca for that?

And now this incident. Which appears similar to the first. There already were special rules for Tillikum. No one swam with him, ever. During the show (which I saw last year), he was always kept separate from other orcas. Not necessarily because he was aggressive. But because he is the largest orca in captivity, and was never trained the same way other orcas were before he came to SeaWorld Orlando.

As others have said, they do not belong in captivity. But now they are, and there's no other way how to deal with them.

 

[slingblade]

Like I said, it's like I said.

 

[Ziggurat]

It's easy to tell when to be careful.

I would never go anywhere near a "man eating tiger".

Indeed, dining on endangered animals is quite off-putting.

On the other hand I have actually sat RIGHT NEXT TO a "man eating soup".

Let that be a lesson to you all.

And the lesson is, learn the appropriate use of a hyphen.

My favorite example of an inappropriately missing hyphen is the movie "Eight Legged Freaks". Could have been a moving tale about a band of deformed carnies who find strength in their friendship and shared struggle against social stigma, but apparently it's just about giant spiders.

 

[bluesjnr]

Like I said, it's like I said.

To be honest. I'm with Slingblade here with the added caveat of; if we accept that we can keep them as pets or for show or entertainment then we must place ourself as master. When and if they get to this number of human fatalities then it's time for the whale sized bolt gun, given that they cannot be released into the wild.

If you don't like it, don't pay money to see wild animals treated like domesticated pets.

 

[Sabrina]

They look like the same woman.

You be the judge; is this the same trainer?

 

[bluesjnr]

Indeed, dining on endangered animals is quite off-putting.



And the lesson is, learn the appropriate use of a hyphen.

My favorite example of an inappropriately missing hyphen is the movie "Eight Legged Freaks". Could have been a moving tale about a band of deformed carnies who find strength in their friendship and shared struggle against social stigma, but apparently it's just about giant spiders.

Hey! You pull apart my joke to make the same joke yourself. Get-your-own-script-writer!

 

[William Parcher]

The trainer slipped, and was played and toyed with. Which is quite natural behavior for orcas. Tragically not suitable for humans.

Killing human beings is not natural behavior at all for wild orcas. Toying with them (holding in mouth) isn't natural either. Wild orcas seem no more inclined to make physical contact with a human than any other cetacean. Actually, there are a few other species that have a record of harming (including killing) humans in the wild - but not orcas. They really haven't shown themselves to be dangerous in the wild even when we get into the water right next to them.

I'm not sure if there is any account of wild orcas killing a human. From Wiki...

In the 1970s, a surfer in California was bitten, and in 2005 a boy in Alaska who was splashing in a region frequented by harbor seals was bumped by a killer whale that apparently misidentified him as prey.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

............

The second was a 'civilian', sometimes described as a homeless guy, who slipped into the tank after hours. Seriously? You want to fault the orca for that?
..

I would like to be able verify the details on this.. I heard the guy died from hypothermia, and was found on the back of Tillikum ..

That would have been a neat trick; putting the guy on his back after he killed him.


Reporting that this whale directly caused the death of any of these people is irresponsible..