New article on Tilikum (Sea World) and the history of killer whales in entertainment

[roomthreeseventeen]

I thought since this was a podcast discussion for so many weeks that some would find this interesting. Outside Online magazine.

 

[UrsulasShadow]

Really good and complete story.

It makes me so very sad, though. Tragic on several levels.

 

[SugarSpice]

Wow! That was a very long and complete article. Very sad though. I still haven't convinced myself to watch The Cove, but it's on my Netflix list.

 

[hmonkeyruns]

Thanks for posting that article. It really is a sad story for the orcas and for the humans.

I vacationed in the San Juan Islands last summer and spent a lot of time watching the orcas and learning about them in the local museums. I had such a great appreciation for the animals after that trip and I was horrified by the tales we were told about them capturing the young orcas.

I think the combination of that trip, the Tilikum incident and the posted article are enough to keep me away from Sea World forever.

 

[dalt01]

for any of you who aspire towards it......................THAT is a writer.

 

[cathie1327]

Wow. The whole situation has just been sad from day one and I hadn't really known how to feel about it. I still don't. But knowing Tili's past and where he has come from really adds a whole new level of thought to everything that's gone on.

Still so sad.

 

[challer]

Dear G*d!

You know, I had already made my decision last summer not to step foot in Sea World again. This helps me to confirm my choice.

 

[wishspirit]

I went to Seaworld 2 weeks ago, and it was for the last time EVER!

I came away feeling depressed, and saddened. The only real highlight was the Pet's Ahoy show, where they take rescued cats and dogs, and really seemed to care for them and train them well.

I was personally appalled by the shows. My recollection of the shows when i was a child was of trainers doing stunts, but they also taught us about the whales. For example how big they are, what they eat, how old they can live to be, etc.

This time, they told us NOTHING. Just some sentimental nonsense about 'believing' in sea animals. They have a captive audience to actually teaching us about these animals, but instead they try and make it into an emotionally lead show where they made intelligent animals perform circus tricks for a clapping public. They didn't even tell us the names of the animals performing!

At one point I saw 12 dolphins (either calves, their mothers, or moms-to-be) in a tiny pool, with no entertainment. It made my heart break! Most of them had scratches or marks over their skin. This in comparision to the Living Seas at Disney (I know I am a Disney fan, but I also used to be a Seaworld one), where those 4 dolphins were pristine, not a scratch on them! Plus the talk given by the Disney trainer was actually informative about their life there, she stayed to answer my questions, we got to see them do natural behaviours. I felt much more informed in my 10 minutes in the living seas, than I did in a whole day at seaworld!

I was also angry at the way they are making money by allowing people to feed the dolphins at Dolphin Cove. Now don't get me wrong, I know they have to make a profit. But last time I was there, it was at 2 select periods of the day, and the whole area was accessible to people who were both feeding, and not feeding alike. Now it seems to run in a constant stream, with most of the area to view them from above taken up for people paying to feed them. It just felt like a way of pressuring you to get a closer look, and I didn't like it!

I also felt there was a lot less information in the enclosures than I remember, I would really like to know more, but the information was basic and sparce. Not much of an education programme. You can make this information really fun and interactive (which they did well for the frogs, even if the cages were small), why not extend this out?

I just think Seaworld doesn't know what it wants to be anymore. It is trying to be too much like a theme park, which I think is a dangerous way to go with the amount of doubt in people's heads about keeping marine animals for entertainment. I would feel much happier if I was given more information about the animals and what their everyday lives were like.

I am sorry if you don't like my summation of my time at Seaworld, its just my opinion. But my money will not be going back there again!

 

[WLfan]

Thanks for sharing this article. Very informative!

 

[dalt01]

Dear G*d!

You know, I had already made my decision last summer not to step foot in Sea World again. This helps me to confirm my choice.

a little OT but why did you put the asterisk in the word God instead of just saying it? not calling you out on it or anything it just struck me as strange. i am a curious type is all.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

a little OT but why did you put the asterisk in the word God instead of just saying it? not calling you out on it or anything it just struck me as strange. i am a curious type is all.

A lot of people (I know a lot of Jewish people, specifically, but probably some others) don't write out the whole word out of respect/not taking the name in vain.

 

[challer]

a little OT but why did you put the asterisk in the word God instead of just saying it? not calling you out on it or anything it just struck me as strange. i am a curious type is all.

A lot of people (I know a lot of Jewish people, specifically, but probably some others) don't write out the whole word out of respect/not taking the name in vain.

Bingo.

 

[LoodlesNoodles]

That was a very informative, emotion stirring, interesting article. Thanks for sharing.