37 replies to this topic

[maggies_minder]

heard on the news today that authorities think the whale was confused by the womens hair shaking around as she talked to the crowd, and it mistook this for the signal to come out the water and grab something, that being here unfortunately!

[davidv]

Tilikum the whales third person. Serial whale killer. Tilikum is selling the book rights for a bigger tank.

[jake cooper]

Making animals perform tricks for entertainment ..... Brilliant. Is it any wonder the Killer whale is *drunk* off.

[davidv]

Another sad case years ago in Shirley by Solihull area on the Stratford Rd. The big shop had a Shark in a small tank to pull customers in to buy there dear K.Carp.I think that one died.No fun seeing that poor fish.

[secondopsman]

As an avid scuba diver and a past 3 times visitor to sea world i can honestly say as good as the sea world show is/was i still prefer diving with the seals at the Farne Islands in there natural surroundings doing what they do best.
Pete

[*Raz*]

Its what you get for messing with nature, anything smaller than the ocean is captivity for a whale, immoral and cruel. Not that i think she deserved it.

I agree, plus there's a big clue in the name . . . . . don't ever try to tame anything whose name has the word 'killer' in it

agreed

The whale had killed before.

Dont get me wrong, its pretty amazing to watch, I watched it when I was a kid, but its not natural (like a lot of things in this world) and the pools really arent that big.

Sad though, poor woman.

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Well its likely that most of you guys have never been to Seaworld in Orlando and most likely most of you guys will never go there. I have been there (got to go for free....Military Appreciation), I have watched that Killer Whale during one of those shows. It was AWESOME to see. To be 100% accurate Killer Whales aren't even whales.....they are in the Dolphin family (orca). I think it is a shame that this happened and nope....I don't think for a second it had anything to do with captivity. That specific Killer Whale attacked a trainer back in 1991 when it was owned by a company similar to Seaworld. It seems it's just this whale......or I mean Dolphin. You get the point. If you ever get the chance to go to Seaworld in Orlando then first....you MUST eat at the Olive Garden (the one that is next to the Restaurant with the Monster truck parked in the grass) and finally you MUST go on the Arctic Expedition thing they have just to see the Walrus down there. That Walrus is so hardcore, when he swam past the glass you could literally "hear" the bass resonating through the water as he swam by. He was scaring the kids on purpose too. Little kids would be standing by the window and the Walrus would swim straight for the window acting like he was going to hit it head on, at the last minute he would pull up and THAT is when you could hear the loud bass reverberate through the water. Followed a bunch of little kids screaming in fright. It was great. I am the eggman....koo koo ka chew.

*edit* I see some of you have been there.....did you see the Walrus!?

We didn't say that being in captivity provoked this attack at all, its the fact that if this animal wasn't confined to the space, being messed with in the first place then it would not have happened, there's protection against animals being used as circus entertainment, this is no different, its purely to entertain, there's no research going at this specific sea world and its just not very nice. Its a bit like you having to live your life in just your house after being free in the world since you were born.

Edited by Mini-Mad-Craig, 26 February 2010 - 04:05 PM.

[shedonwheels]

We didn't say that being in captivity provoked this attack at all, its the fact that if this animal wasn't confined to the space, being messed with in the first place then it would not have happened, there's protection against animals being used as circus entertainment, this is no different, its purely to entertain, there's no research going at this specific sea world and its just not very nice. Its a bit like you having to live your life in just your house after being free in the world since you were born.

It's an amazing show and the killer whales have such a rapport with the trainers and they truly seem to love it which is why this is a shock. A killer whale is a killer whale, it's not going to do anything it doesn't want to do. I agree with the notion that no tank is going to be big enough to house a killer whale compared to the ocean but they do a bloody good job of it at Seaworld, the tanks are far from 'glorified bathtubs'. Also the vast majority of the animals at Seaworld are either rescue cases or born into captivity. They certainly don't go out and pluck innocent killer whales out of the ocean and truck them up to the next show. If you walk around the park you'll see almost every tank has a story about the animal's past and there are tons of rescue programs in place which aim to release the animals back to the wild eventually.

I totally agree though, the killer whales should not be in captivity and I think Seaworld should make more of an effort to try and get them back out to the wild. Sadly you can't just plonk a whale that's been in captivity all it's life straight out in the ocean! It'll be interesting to see whether that's what happens with this particular killer whale...

Oh, can we all stop arguing about Craig's fishys!

Well its likely that most of you guys have never been to Seaworld in Orlando and most likely most of you guys will never go there. I have been there (got to go for free....Military Appreciation), I have watched that Killer Whale during one of those shows. It was AWESOME to see. To be 100% accurate Killer Whales aren't even whales.....they are in the Dolphin family (orca). I think it is a shame that this happened and nope....I don't think for a second it had anything to do with captivity. That specific Killer Whale attacked a trainer back in 1991 when it was owned by a company similar to Seaworld. It seems it's just this whale......or I mean Dolphin. You get the point. If you ever get the chance to go to Seaworld in Orlando then first....you MUST eat at the Olive Garden (the one that is next to the Restaurant with the Monster truck parked in the grass) and finally you MUST go on the Arctic Expedition thing they have just to see the Walrus down there. That Walrus is so hardcore, when he swam past the glass you could literally "hear" the bass resonating through the water as he swam by. He was scaring the kids on purpose too. Little kids would be standing by the window and the Walrus would swim straight for the window acting like he was going to hit it head on, at the last minute he would pull up and THAT is when you could hear the loud bass reverberate through the water. Followed a bunch of little kids screaming in fright. It was great. I am the eggman....koo koo ka chew.

*edit* I see some of you have been there.....did you see the Walrus!?

TrailofDeath- that ride is amazing! The one with the simulated helicopter ride at the beginning? I went on it with my 6 year old nephew and he was convinced it was real, I think if I'd been six I would've been too!
We're going to Florida again next year-can't wait!!