I'm no expert but I do know there is a difference between Transient whales and the whales in pods off our coasts. Transient Whales kill seals and large prey. Our local pods feed on salmon. I'm not sure of the differences in looks. Does anyone know where Tilikum was captured from. I'm curious to know if he was from a pod or transient. Either way doesn't really matter. Whales don't deserve to be in fish bowls.

"Many of the Dawn Brancheau's friends say the last thing she would want is for anyone to harm Tilikum, that she loved the killer whale that took her life."

This reminds me not so long ago of women working with elephants on a sanctuary that was killed by one of the elephants. One difference though, the elephants were in the sanctuary as a consequence of being used by humans.Tilikum was still being used by humans.

Killer Whale Attack? Time to Free the Orcas.

The fatal and tragic attack on a Sea World trainer by a captive killer whale in Orlando, Florida, should reopen the debate on whether the large, intelligent mammals should be kept in captivity.

The media has created a feeding frenzy around this tragedy, with teases of "why they're called 'killer' whales," and using breathless leads to paint an image of a killer whale tearing apart the trainer like a seal, when the victim -- again, no excusing or defending the whale -- was reportedly drowned. They say "crowds" gasped, and then report only two dozen tourists lingering after a show. It makes one wonder if they were called "zebra whales" for their black and white patterning, would the press have the same kind of field day with the story?

The undisputed fact is that there are no reported attacks on humans by killer whales in the wild, unlike lions, tiger, sharks, or othr predators who will attack and kill humans in the wild and in captivity. Indeed, pilot whales and bottlenose dolphines have a reputation for aggression in the wild with humans. But not wild killer whales, despite the increasingly close interaction between orcas and scientists, tourists, and thrill-seekers. Somehow, in the transition between ocean-dweller to the fishbowl of a performance arena, a small percentage -- and it is a very, very small percentage -- of orcas have attacked their trainers.

I'm not defending Tilikum, a twenty-foot six-ton male who has been linked to two other deaths in two separate parks. For all I know he is the orca equivalent of a serial killer. But the fact remains that killer whales, a deep ocean predator of the open seas, are being kept in chlorinated fresh water tanks of such size and depth that, proportionately, they might as well be confined in the equivalent of a cetacean SuperMax cell. If humans are known to crack under the strain of imprisonment, should we not expect the same of this brainy species?

Which begs the question: Does a species that research shows has its own unique language and dialects among pods, that has documented teaching behavior passed between generations, whose brain is complex enough to process multiple dimensions of sound and sight, and who is built for the open water, deserve to be subject to the bounds of concrete tanks? Is there something inherent in their conditions that, for lack of a better word, drive some of them crazy?

I understand the argument that "displaying" them will help preserve them in the wild by building public support and sympathy. And there may be more than some truth to the fact that the iterations of "Shamu" and "Free Willy" have helped publicize and demystify the killer whale. But in a world linked by the internet, is that justification valid in the twenty-first century? Even before the advent of instantaneous global communication, Jane Goodall's studies of the wild chimps in Gombe did more to create educate the public than all the godawful monkey islands in zoos. How many billions of people can or could follow oceanic research of orca pods on the net today?

To put it plainly, the corporate exhibiting of killer whales today in show parks is for pure and simple profit. Any "research" claimed by these overpriced popcorn and hotdog purveyors has barely more credibility than the so-called "research" conducted by the Japanese whale-killing ships in the Antarctic.

Let's not just free Willy. Let's free them all. Or, at the very least, stop the harvesting of wild killer whales and let the last generation of captive orcas live and die in peace, without the stress and harassment of performing. Many of the Dawn Brancheau's friends say the last thing she would want is for anyone to harm Tilikum, that she loved the killer whale that took her life. No greater good could come out of this tragedy than for compassion, wisdom, and grace to guide our response. It is, after all, the human thing to do.

Posted By: Michael Yaki (Email) | February 24 2010 at 09:34 PM

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/yaki/detail?entry_id=57923