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The Case of the Orca That Killed Its Trainer
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "There's an interesting read at National Geographic by Kenneth Brower that probes the case of Tilikum, the homicidal killer whale, who killed his first trainer, 20-year-old Keltie Byrne in 1991. Then in July 6, 1999, a 27-year-old man who stayed after the park closed and evaded security to enter the orca tank was found dead and nude, draped over Tilikum's back with his genitals bitten off. Tilikum's most recent victim was Dawn Brancheau, the SeaWorld trainer he crushed, dismembered, and partially swallowed in 2010. 'Almost all students of orca believe that they are deranged by captivity, some more than others. Tilikum's record puts him at one end of a continuum. There have been dozens of attacks on trainers by an assortment of orcas in the marine parks around the world. [The movie] "Blackfish" shows video from several of these episodes at SeaWorld,' writes Brower. 'What is remarkable about Orcinus orca in marine parks is not these rare episodes. What is remarkable is their monumental forbearance.' For its part SeaWorld is attempting to cast the filmmakers as the true villains, characterizing them as anti-captivity zealots. The company says '"Blackfish" is inaccurate and misleading and, regrettably, exploits a tragedy that remains a source of deep pain for Dawn Brancheau's family, friends and colleagues.'"
Willy eat me.
I just want to point out that though these killings continue today, they were started while George Bush Sr. was in office.
First, I do believe it is entirely plausible that captivity is a negative thing for sea mammals.
However, statements like "almost all students of orca believe" are not helping make their point. I assume they found all the "students of orca" (what does that even mean? Do you sit in a classroom with an orca at the board?) and polled them at a scientific level? Even if they did, what does "almost all" mean?'
Let's have numbers here. Opinions of experts. Show your work. Until or unless you do, I'm going to dismiss that statement as really meaning "I believe this and some other people I know also do," which isn't close to a consensus.
There is way too much crap like this in "journalism" these days, and I'm calling it out when I see it.
Genitals Bitten Off.....
Yep, that's enough internet for the day.
I recommend this documentary about dolphins, but is also related
In it's like okay, in my opinion, man.
The name says it all, really. Orca are carnivores, their natural prey includes seals - which are of comparable size and, for all I know, tastiness to a human.
The way the species has been rebranded as a "dolphin" is one of the triumphs of marketing over reality. They're whales, and they're killers. Get in a tank with one at your own risk.
"There's an interesting read at National Geographic by Kenneth Brower that probes the case of Tilikum, the homicidal killer whale,.."
Homicidal . . . I don't think that word means what you think it means.
I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
You take a highly intelligent creature, put it in captivity and then get in its enclosure. What the heck do you think is going to happen? It's amazing more people are not killed and a testament to the tolerance of the orcas.
We are locking up intelligent animals for our amusement. Animals much bigger and stronger than humans. Of course some of them are going to kill us. That's what we get.
The strange part is they don't eat people first chance/every chance.
Why do the editors continue to approve submissions by " Hugh Pickens DOT Com"? It's clearly spam/advertisement for some crappy movie, but I've seen it a few times in submitted stories. C'mon now.
That's what it is; both sea world and the "journalists" are exploiting lies to make money.
These Orca things are dangerous! to stop people voluntarily getting into the tanks with them I suggest a name that's also a warning. Maybe 'Killer aquatic mammal'.
Yes...orcas are killers. Seen the wild they will use a baby seal like a volley ball. Torturing it for quite some time before it dies. They are 6-ton predators who rule the waters. Evolved natural killing machines. It is a risk to swim with them of course.
But for the most part they don't kill humans. In fact some of the deaths have been result of the orcas playing too hard and not fully understanding that their human companions are land based creatures not capable of being underwater too long. Some, I guess I'll call them 'water show entertainment' deaths, were because the whales kept a trainer in their mouths for fun but ended up swimming beneath the surface for two or three minutes. Drowning their human trainer.
But the safety records are fine. If the Animal Right's Groups are saying that the wild animals should not be kept captive because they are dangerous to humans it is a terrible argument. The overwhelming majority of captive animals don't kill or harm humans. If these groups were against animal captivity they need to argue about the exploitation of animals and effectively animal slavery for corporate profits. Instead they are wasting time exploiting deaths, many accidental, many not even of actual trainers but of idiots who jumped over the fence to play with killer whales, giant monkeys, and fully grown lions.
This is the same alarmist response the news media does whenever a shark attack kills someone. "Oh my god it was 20 feet long...fin those sharks....for the children". Sharks kill a few people a year and there are millions of sharks and millions of humans who swim in the ocean. No need to sensationalize.
Personally I don't think that most zoo animals enjoy captivity. But most zoo animals are smart enough to know that they are at the mercy of their human masters. The humans provide them clean living conditions, food, and water. They can get a whale to swim ten laps and fly out of the water for a fish treat. But sometimes a killer whale remembers that animal instinct and forgets his training. The trainers know the risks. It's not like these whales are flying out of the stands like a NASCAR crash gone wrong and killing people in the crowd.
nt
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
I've always been fascinated by people who keep dangerous pets or work with them. They often seem to hold the belief that their relationship with these creatures transcends their instinctive nature to kill. And for a time it seems that they are right. But you only have to piss off a grizzly bear one time, and all of a sudden you're on the latest episode of "People Who Domesticated Animals Which Shouldn't Have Been Domesticated."
I'm reminded of Stampy the elephant and The Simpson's synopsis of why intelligent animals act poorly.
I know an ex Sea World Orca trainer. She never had anything bad to say about the program. The killer Tilikum has been used for breeding more than any other male Orca though. I wouldn't think that was a good idea. Why not try to breed the aggression out of them?
I remember when slashdot used to get the scoop on the news. Now it's a few days late.
And Dolphin Lundgren, the dolphine serial killer genius.
Throw a toaster in his pool
Nice reference to the meaning of life, I knew there a reason I turn the comment filter off.
"Almost all students of orca believe that they are deranged by captivity, some more than others."
I really wish the author had gone into more detail on this point, it sounds interesting. The closest he got was a citation from a psychologist who said, we really should be careful applying psychological terms to animals that diverged from us 200 million years ago.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Normally once a kept animal kills or even bites a human, it is destroyed, under the theory it will be far less likely to do so in the future. I assume this wasn't done for half a dozen reasons stacking up, from it's too big, too hard to let go, how dare you, etc.
> with his genitals bitten off
Ouch! I wonder if he whaled.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
He killed his perceived capturer. If you capture and lock up an animal, you shouldn't expect anything else.
Signature intentionally left blank.
Is that the attempted attack on Herbert Ponting or do we have at least two now? There's also been a few accounts of them breaking ice in an attempt to get sled dogs.
A few down, a few billion left. Who will win? Orca's or Skynet?
"SO we bide our time, waiting for a purer kick to bloom and the future is still bleak, uncertain and beautiful" -GSYBE
"Contrary to popular belief, the most dangerous animal is not the lion or tiger or even the elephant. The most dangerous animal is a shark riding on an elephant, just trampling and eating everything they see." -- Jack Handy clearly, he never saw an ORCA riding on an elephant.
It's Obama's fault!!1!1111
wait, was that guy in 1999 trying to screw a whale? because that's what it sounds like!
Don't forget that National Security may be compromised if this confrontation continues. Everybody calm down and STFU or the terrorists win.
And the children . . . What about them?
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
. . . where bullshit gets modded insightful. Constantly. Every hour of every day.
was found dead and nude, draped over Tilikum's back with his genitals bitten off
He was just trying to demonstration his new high-fashion concept of a Eunuch Tunic.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
a 27-year-old man who stayed after the park closed and evaded security to enter the orca tank was found dead and nude, draped over Tilikum's back with his genitals bitten off.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Tilikum is a "Serial Killer Whale". Also, that's why they are called "Killer Whales" and not "Ocean Ponies."
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
(not suprising since that's what they eat).
If that were true in all cases we'd taste like Cheetos.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
An orca that kills a human trying to capture it in the waters of florida is legally in the right.
and they killed something. What exactly is the problem here?!? :-/
1) Killer whale teeth.
2) Killer whale skull.
The killer whale can weigh up to 22,000 lbs for males and 16,000 lbs for females, and be up to 32 feet and 28 feet long respectively. A great white shark can reach up to 5,000 lbs and 20 feet long.
I saw a PBS video showing great whites feeding on seals at a beach. Suddenly the great whites fled and shortly thereafter, orcas showed up to begin feeding. The narrator noted that orcas can kill great whites.
The male killer whales at Seaworld weigh 5-6 tons. It's quite remarkable that these orcas have not killed more trainers.
From TFA:-
I don't think free publicity was what SeaWorld had in mind. I have not even heard of this movie before this, now I have to admit I'm curious.
Written a few years ago by Outside Magazine following the trainer's death. Very good read.
The Killer in the Pool
You are so wrong and your own link proves it. Let me set out the parts you clipped off in the definition:-
By your own source, murder can only be committed by human beings on other human beings. Since whales are not human beings, they cannot commit murder, and by extension they cannot have homicidal tendencies.
The leading cause of death at sea parks is not from animal attack, but fire.
whomever he pleases
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
Homo as a root often means "the same". As in homosexual, or homonym. If you classify some dolphins (like Killer Whales) as sentient then it could be a sentient on sentient attack resulting in homicide.
"The Adobe Updater must update itself before it can check for updates. Would you like to update the Adobe Updater now?"
The 1999 victim did not have "his genitals bitten off". Here is the medical examiner's report: http://www.scribd.com/doc/119465495/Daniel-Dukes-Medical-Examiners-Report
The guy had a lot of bites, cuts, scrapes etc., but not the specific, seemingly purposeful bite the writeup claims. I searched on this because of what it implied about the orca. The question remains where the writer got this pseudo-fact. It certainly tarts up the story.
This is silly. Dogs and cats kill people all the time. The crocodile hunter took crocs into captivity and studied them in various situations for years and died from a manta ray.
Animals are dangerous. I don't really see the scandal here.
I wonder about the press more than the attacks.
Here's some numbers for dogs:
http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/images/dogbreeds-a.pdf
Collies have gotten three, and note that there's even someone killed by a cocker spaniel (not surprising if you ever owned one).
The hound group includes two people killed by dachshunds.
Admittedly, there are many more people owning dachshunds and cocker spaniels than Orcas, but the point is that if you mess with animals enough, they'll kill you. So what is the big deal with Orca attacks? They're just another animal.
Cows kill someone about every few weeks - about 20 a year
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5829a2.htm
How often do you see a article about someone killed by a cow?
But every time a shark or Orca gets someone, it's international news.
"Seen the wild they will use a baby seal like a volley ball. Torturing it for quite some time before it dies."
"In fact some of the deaths have been result of the orcas playing too hard and not fully understanding that their human companions are land based creatures not capable of being underwater too long."
sounds to me you are cherry picking here, and in one case attribute it to torture, and the other to playing. I am detecting a bias here.
THis story has been spun around a lot...So... CNN Bought rights to Blackfish. Why is this now just showing up.
"Homicide" is killing a member of your own species. An orca killing a human is not "homicide". It's not even "murder" in this case. Just Darwin in action. There's a good reason those beauties used to be called "killer whales", they're among the finest predators that evolution ever came out with. You try to molest one, it bites you. And that's only because it's hard to use a gun with fins.
Geeks are so full of shit that "beating the crap out of them" takes a whole new meaning.
3 incidents in 20 years and a incideniary title. Not to mention the common name of the Orca is "killer" whale.
The only question is if they colaberated with the satanic goth kids to do columbine.
Or the communists,
Or the terrorists.
Caution! Intelligent predator animals you keep captive and let do silly tricks may try kill you once they get the chance.
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
Hey, whales are people too... unless you want to use a literal definition of the root for homicidal:
homicide
Noun
The deliberate and unlawful killing of one person by another; murder.
Because then we would be talking about whale on whale crime... I don't care about that... "Whale on Whale Action" might get me to click... sorry, just morbid curiosity...
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
Do they? Because the last time I checked, SeaWorld was still claiming that Tilikum was not actually trying to kill Dawn Brancheau when it grabed her by the arm, crushed her, dismembered her, and then ate her arm. They also claim the other two deaths were not deliberate (or that they don't know) when a review of the facts definitely indicates that Tilikum killed these people. I can't imagine anyone in their right mind working with this animal if they were in full possession of the facts. This is a safety issue, but SeaWorld is also deliberately downplaying that risk.
I can't believe nobody mentioned the other excellent movie about killer orcas: rust and bones. OK, the orca is only the start of the story, but it's really good.
Non-Linux Penguins ?
Sea World and all their whale-hugger propaganda have been wrong all these years and their critics have been right... Killer Whales really ARE hyper dangerous nasty wild animals! We need to hunt them all down and kill them to make the seas safe for swimmers!
Gotta go toss my collection of stuffed Shamu toys in the trash as start shopping for a harpoon...
... from the Slashdot sociopaths...
They have difficulty imagining how other PEOPLE feel, let alone orcas.
Why are we keeping killer whales in giant fishbowls?
Seriously though, what is the point?
People dying while putting out fires, pursuing criminals, or doing other work that is dangerous, but necessary, is one thing.
People dying so that tourists can watch killer whales jump through hoops? Not necessary.
Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
"Dad, what's the blow-hole for?"
"I'll tell you what it's not for, son. And when I do, you'll understand why I can never go back to Sea World."
- Chris and Peter in Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington
We're just evolved animals just like these whales and everything we do is just as good and just as natural as everything they do
We owe them Nothing
and
They owe us Nothing
Who are you, Adolphin Hitler?
Users have the ability to mod and tag the submitted stories. You could have modded this submission down and tagged it "spam" before it hit the front page. You didn't. You have no one to blame but yourself.
http://slashdot.org/recent is what you are looking for.
Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
Where is the Orca going to get a nice bottle of chianti then?
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
That Sea World let it happen 3 times.
And lobbied to prevent killer whale training being deemed a dangerous profession, with mandatory compensation and insurance commensurate with the increased risk.
Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
What's the problem of people dying exactly? As a species, we can more than afford this and the people dying almost exclusively knew the dangers and chose voluntarily to expose themselves. People die for the most stupid reasons all of the time. It's part of life, not every death should have a significant meaning. People die from the most silly things all the time. Parachute jumping comes to mind as a good analogy. Stunt plane flying deaths haven't stopped people flying stunt planes either. The luxury we can afford as a species means people die from silly causes. As long as we can afford us these sorts of deaths, they will continue.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
Free Willy
I just thought I'd mention Ric O'Barry, Flipper's trainer. He's spent a life trying to eradicate captivity of Cetacea. Here's a link to an interview so you can listen to him in his own words. He's not a Seaworld fan and has some pretty good reasons why not. Hope someone finds this interesting, I sure did.
That an Orca, aka a Killer Whale, should actually eat something, like a mammal, is hardly surprising. Personally, I have no problem with it. Play with a giant, multi-ton monster that has been known to eat sharks and whales, and dolphins and seals, and what do you expect? These are predators. Keeping them confined will have consequences. This is what happens when the human races insists that it can dominate nature. Oops.
You know they call them killer whales
But you seem surprised
When it pinned you down to the bottom of the tank
Where you can't turn around
It took half your leg and both your lungs
And I craved I ate hearts of sharks, I know you know it
I'm a man man man man, man man man eater
But still you're surprised, 'prised, 'prised, when I eat ya
-Neko Case, People Gotta Lotta Nerve
In this day and age, with the ability to observe animals as close as desired, in HD, there is absolutely no reason to put any animal in captivity. Correction: the only reasons can be profit and/or malevolence, a form of animal directed bullying.
We ourselves named them killer whales, why the hell aren't we taking the same precautions as we would with frickin' sharks?
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Free Willy you corporate mongers.
Orca
:)
This is a movie you should watch
Nothing or nobody fairs well in captivity. In the early 1990s, a blockade in Prince William Sound comprised of commercial fishing vessels and sport fisherman vessels attempted to keep Sea World from pulling 100 Orcas from the sound and doing tests on them and ultimately taking 10 of them back to their "parks" somewhere. The blocade ended to limit Sea World's testing and take to a lesser amount of interaction.
Why is there any reason to doubt these great whales couldn't get pissed off and eat someone trying to tell it to do a flip in the water? If people want to see these great mammals so badly, let them go to the waters where they habitate.
Back when it was still legal to own other people as property, pseudo-scientists diagnosed the slaves who escaped with a mental illness. The solution was to beat them into submission and treat them like children to cure the madness that caused them to want freedom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapetomania
Strange that when a whale kills its captor, we attribute it to a mental defect in the animal, rather than the miserable circumstances in which they find themselves. If I was kept in a room and made to perform tricks for the amusement of baby squirrels several times a day, I'd kill every fucking one I could get my hands on.
Should be closed.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Were you pining for the fjords? Eh, anyway that is the least of your problems. If you had been but a few miles away in neighboring Sweden, BEWARE OF MOOSE. The moose there are notorious for being ornery beasts. As a matter of fact, one time a moose bit my sister. It didn't hurt her too much but they are massive beasts and could have killed her if it had chosen to. I really hope that after all of these years of violent moose attacks, someone has sacked them.
Spread the word! Keep Moose Awareness alive!
about statistics and probability. If you have enough contact with animals that can kill you, the likelihood of an incident detrimental to your health approaches one. No one, not even a professor of orca, can predict when the beast is having a bad day. Or a sore tongue. Or a misunderstanding.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
this whale is not gay