Time to Go Home…
I must admit I cannot fully understand the psychology behind capturing and exploiting one of the most majestic, intelligent, largest and certainly one of the most social animals on our Earth. Killer whales, or orcas, are part of the dolphin family and are known to be intensely intelligent, needing constant stimulation and challenges and most will say, are rulers of the seas. They even develop different “cultures” depending on where they hunt and reside, resulting in different target preys, hunting techniques, dialects and passing on their knowledge and techniques to their young.
What gives humans the right to capture these splendid animals and take them from their natural ocean homes and whale pods and impose on them a life of tricks training for an audience’s pleasure and applause inside a POOL? Since when did orcas and dolphins care about applause? I can’t imagine the audacity and the arrogance…
The death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in Sea World was tragic and it brings to question once again…What happens when animals as intelligent and massive as orcas become frustrated, bored and under-stimulated in an unnatural habitat and environment?
I, for one, would love to see not just Tilikum, but all the other whales, eventually released back into their natural ocean home where they belong. I can only hope that a release can undo enough of the damage of decades of captivity so that they can live out the rest of their lives as close to normal as possible.
I’ve never been to a Sea World nor any other dolphin or whale show because knowing that they are in captivity saddens me immensely. Of course I would love to see them in person…but never in a pool for a performance.
Image via CNN
