Trauma of capture affected former Victoria killer whale Tillikum, says psychologist

Psychologist believes killer whale affected by capture, life in captivity

By Judith Lavoie, Times ColonistMarch 7, 2010
Traumatic capture in Iceland as a baby, separation from his family and almost 30 years of imprisonment have likely left a killer whale that killed a trainer last week with post-traumatic stress disorder, says a psychologist who specializes in human-animal relationships.

Gay Bradshaw, executive director of the Kerulos Center in Jacksonville, Ore., writes about Tillikum, who lives at SeaWorld Orlando but was previously in Victoria, in an article that appears online in Psychology Today. She says the terror of capture, fishbowl conditions at SeaWorld and indignity of frequent semen collection should be looked at through the lens of psychology and neuroscience.

"If Tillikum's case had passed the desk of a psychiatrist or other mental-health specialist, it would reveal that he conforms to a diagnosis of PTSD or, more specifically, complex PTSD," Bradshaw wrote.

"Tillikum suffered shock and relational trauma from the capture, disrupted development and chronic stress under constant threat during imprisonment."

Last week, Tillikum killed SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau after grabbing her ponytail and pulling her into the pool. In 1991, he was one of three whales at Oak Bay's Sealand of the Pacific that killed 20-year-old trainer and marine biology student Keltie Byrne after she slipped into the pool. In 1999, the body of a 27-year-old man was found draped over Tillikum's back after he apparently jumped into the pool overnight.

Bradshaw said in an interview that science demonstrates that orcas -- with brains four times larger than humans, an evolved matrilineal culture and complex social behaviours with laws and ethics -- are vulnerable to psychological trauma.

"That humans are unraveling their society to the point of undermining the most profound ethics of their society is dreadful," Bradshaw said.

"Who are we that would condemn another to a life of terror, denigration, abuse and profound suffering with no reason other than we can and desire to do so?"

While she admits she's not an expert in deciding what should happen with whales such as Tillikum, Bradshaw believes captivity and captive breeding programs must stop.

Sea pens, where whales are still fed but have the ability to form relationships, might be the best option for some already in captivity, she said.

Howard Garrett of U.S.-based Orca Network said many are questioning the wisdom of using captive orcas for entertainment in the wake of Brancheau's death. He hopes SeaWorld will retire Tillikum to a bay pen in Iceland as a smart public relations move.

"If they choose to keep Tillikum, they'll have to isolate him more than he has been since his capture in 1982, which could tip him further over the edge and make him more hostile or suicidal," he said.

If that happens, there will be a massive loss of goodwill which, with the loss of Tillikum as the primary stud, could spell the end of SeaWorld, recently taken over by a new owner, Garrett said.

It is uncertain whether Brancheau's death was a result of aggression or a desperate attempt to grab and keep a companion, he said.

"There is a striking similarity in the three deaths he has taken part in. In each case, he kept hold of the deceased and refused to allow the body to be taken away."

Either way, the whale's mental health is shaky, Garrett said.

"What happens to the orcas, so exquisitely evolved to move great distances in vast surroundings as lifelong members of complex social worlds, when they are removed from their natural settings and families or born in concrete bowls and confined for life in minuscule, featureless cells?"

jlavoie@tc.canwest.com

1992: Crane hoists Tillikum from Sealand pool into water filled tank on a flatbed truck.
Photograph by: Ray Smith, Times Colonist