Its been all over the news since yesterday (when I first saw it anyway) about the trainer that was killed by one of the killer whales. I don’t get it, what are they waiting for? If it was a dog, it would be put to sleep, if it was a bull it would be put down. I suppose people are concerned about the whale, its not a domestic animal so it never should have been put into a fish aquarium for people to watch in the first place. Its learned a behavior and its not good (three incidents now)… it can never be released, they should put it to sleep… and hopefully learn from it. If people want to see a wild creature, go into the wild to see it… or watch a flick about them.
Think about RabidDingo’s post with the list of rules… objects that choke children and wearing seat belts etc… what are people thinking when they do the things they do? Have you ever seen how a large cat observes its prey… their focus is INTENSE… take your kids to a zoo and see what the big cats are focusing on… keep your children close. People are strange… they speak with forked tongues… or they just make rules for other people.
I’m sure you’re right Keith. That doesn’t make it right though does it? Having money or worth seems to be able to make it right to break a lot of rules doesn’t it. Oh well, common sense is the best rule and thats the rule I would follow, it would’ve been cut into steaks by now if it were mine, or at the very least a large hole would have been dug.
Once could be an accident.
Twice might be a fluke.
Three times… its a trend… I believe this whale is a serial killer. Its time (overdue) for a fish fry. jmo…
Bud runs a tight ship, cost cutting measures are all over their company.
ROFL at the fact that they are using this one for breeding.
Yeah, that outta work out well…
Put it in a truck
Drive it to Vancouver Island
LET
IT
GO
Why is it at all the animal’s fault that he did what comes naturally to him? It’s a wild animal, in captivity - trained like a circus animal. When the animal acts “natural” - we’re shocked and call for it’s murder. BTW: they just said 2Million is the animal’s worth.
I know everyone thinks of Flipper when they see a Dolphin/Porpoise but they can be a NASTY ANIMAL
NASTY
Besides humans and chimps Dolphins are another known mammal that kills for the sport of it.
I agree partially, its not the animals fault… he has become what he is because he is captive. Killer Whales don’t “normally” attack humans in the wild though, they are actually very intelligent and more curious about humans than thinking of them as something to eat. But with that said, I’m only gaging that on the many documentaries I’ve watched. I love documentaries, particularly about wildlife. This whale can never be released, sad to say, he is likely to repeat his behaviour in the wild. jmo…
Well, at least in the wild he wouldn’t have a tasty human snack standing on his nose as he performs acrobatic maneuvers for several hours a day. This is a six ton predator with a mouthful of very big teeth. If you play around with them long enough something bad might just happen.
To quote Chris Rock, “That tiger didn’t go crazy, that tiger went TIGER. A tiger on a unicycle, now THAT’s crazy.”
Killer whales eat a lot of roughly human-sized mammals. Put it in a tank with a human-sized mammal that you don’t want it to eat, well… don’t act all shocked when the predictable occurs.
No, I’m not suggesting they let it go at all. I’m saying they should keep it. The fact that the killer whale has now officially killed shouldn’t change anything. What’s the difference between “Will probably kill someone” and “has killed someone?” Nothing. It was a killer before, it’s a killer now, and it will always be a killer.
Anthropomorphising the whale only introduces moral dilemmas.
Let the thing go off Vancouver Island or Alaska somewhere and let nature takes its course.
Its not going to go all Jaws III and move down to Cali and start eating surfers
Just a point in fact - Killer whales do frequent the CA coastline. I would hazard a guess that they don’t attack surfers because their bellies are full of gray whale. You don’t take potshots at the rabbits when there’s a bull elk in front of you.
Also a fun fact - I’ve actually seen a mommy Orca teach her young’uns how to hunt by trapping a baby gray whale in the shallows with the Orca pod standing guard at the perimeter, while the juvenile Orcas went in over and over to try to take the gray down as a pack.
They are highly intelligent, utterly ruthless creatures. But they’re still just creatures.
But a rogue will teach some juveniles a new food item and tactic along those same coastlines. From one of the quotes today, “never leave fish to find fish.”
This I know, look up the LA pod, I think they are bloods ;D
However, if the whale from Sea World is put way up in Alaska where during the Salmon run when it could join up with another pack I dont think Cali surfers have anything to worry about
I think a big part of why we envision them as gentle creatures is their looks. The black and white “paint job” has a sort of cute cuddliness to it, moreso than a shark. Silly, but I imagine it is a factor at least.
There was a slightly amusing South Park about this last season. Anyway, I bet if they harvested this whale and sold the meat to the Japanese, they could at least get a pretty penny for it, if not recoup their losses. The Japanese aren’t particularly squeamish about eating anything that swims.
The funniest/saddest thing I read was a news report that said the trainer “drowned” in an “incident” with the whale. Like there was this accidental happening that occurred during a minor verbal dispute with the whale or something. They can’t just say what happened, the whale attacked and killed the person. Not a huge deal, I don’t fault the animal particularly, but they shouldn’t be putting trainers into a pen with it any more and charging for admission. We put dogs down every minute of every day. This is no different except for all the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
