Foo - SeaWorld trainer killed by killer whale

Linky to CNN here (http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/24/killer.whale.trainer.death/index.html?hpt=T2)

My condolences to the family of the trainer. :(

KILLER whale. (Hint, hint.)

Lest I get labeled an animal activist nut, I'm not; I'm omnivorous. Furthermore, condolences to the family of the trainer.

Nevertheless, Cetacea are highly intelligent animals that should never be kept in what is essentially a pond. Watch The Cove.

Wow...

My condolences to the family.

And, I'm really sorry, but this paragraph from the article made me laugh at the irony.

"The incident occurred after a show called "Dine with Shamu," said Paula Gillespie, who attended with her daughter."

Dine with Shamu, indeed.

why are her employers blaming her?

they say she fell in but the witnesses all say the animal jumped out and took her. What disgusting corporate ass covering and in the same breath as paying tribute to her.

Sad,
strangely not surprising.
The whale was just doing whale stuff.
wild animals are wild animals no matter where you keep them
this is why my mother wouldn't let me have a raccoon when I was growing up.

If I understood the article...didn't they say this Orca had killed someone before?

If I understood the article...didn't they say this Orca had killed someone before?

3 times before isn't it? no wonder they are covering ass.

3 times before isn't it? no wonder they are covering ass.

uh, it's called a "killer" whale? I'm glad it's still alive - if it were a lion, tiger, or bear (oh my!) the zoo keepers would have killed it after the 1st kill, which has always bothered me... people who get killed by zoo animals are usually somewhere they don't belong (like, inside a fenced enclosure).

The whale did what it's species do. The trainer knew this about the species in general, and this whale in particular. I guess she thought she had made friends with the whale.

I guess she thought she had made friends with the whale.

I really hope this comment was meant to be sarcastic.

Some animals do fine in captivity...dolphins for example. Others, not so much. Killer whales don't belong in captivity doing silly tricks for our kids amusement any more than lions do. The only ones at fault here are the powers that be at SeaWorld. You could argue that the trainers know the risks and so on but the bottom line is they shouldn't even be using this species and most especially this particular animal as he has a history of using humans as seal pups. Shame on SeaWorld...Stick to the dolphins.

I really hope this comment was meant to be sarcastic.

kind of.... sometimes people that work with danger day after day forget how one tiny misstep can spell disaster, and one might suppose that could have happened in this case; if a person works with an animal whose hunting technique is to slide into the shallows to grab food, that person should never turn their back on such an animal while even NEAR the shallows. Knowing that the whale is capable to lunge, the trainers and all other personnel working near the whale should have some healthy idea about how far back to be before they can feel safe turning their back on the whale.

What I'm saying is, my impression of the people who work with these animals is that they do not view them as killers..... but, naturally, they are.

uh, it's called a "killer" whale? I'm glad it's still alive - if it were a lion, tiger, or bear (oh my!) the zoo keepers would have killed it after the 1st kill, which has always bothered me... people who get killed by zoo animals are usually somewhere they don't belong (like, inside a fenced enclosure).

The whale did what it's species do. The trainer knew this about the species in general, and this whale in particular. I guess she thought she had made friends with the whale.


so what you are saying is "serves her right". her employers are totally correct and she only has herself to blame. nice. are you a shareholder of seaworld?

Maybe they'll come out with a 'trainer' figure to accompany the avenging narwhal playset (http://www.mcphee.com/shop/products/Avenging-Narwhal-Play-Set.html).

Could just change the clothes on the mime from the unicorn set (http://www.mcphee.com/shop/products/Avenging-Unicorn-Play-Set.html).

What I'm saying is, my impression of the people who work with these animals is that they do not view them as killers..... but, naturally, they are.

Ah, so you work side-by-side with these trainers?

I've been riding horses for 16 years, and I never forget that these are animals that can kill me; however, I've made mistakes and I've been hurt. That doesn't mean my respect for them was "forgotten" in that moment.

It's time for this "entertainment" to stop. This whole Shamu show biz is just crap! Leave the whales where they live naturally.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d126/telehammer/orca4.jpg

Some animals do fine in captivity...dolphins for example. Others, not so much. Killer whales don't belong in captivity doing silly tricks for our kids amusement any more than lions do. The only ones at fault here are the powers that be at SeaWorld. You could argue that the trainers know the risks and so on but the bottom line is they shouldn't even be using this species and most especially this particular animal as he has a history of using humans as seal pups. Shame on SeaWorld...Stick to the dolphins.


Killer Whales are dolphins;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whale

I'm saying that this trainer made a mistake, and was killed. Seaworld certainly did not encourage the whale, did they? How can you blame the company for what it in the animal's nature to do? That's like blaming the Olympic Committee for having a fast luge track when that poor fellow from Georgia made a mistake and got killed. Some things are just inherently dangerous, and the timid among us don't usually do those things, the more adventurous hopefully understand the dangers and take precautions. Taking precautions, though, will not guarantee survival - - I am just glad that one of your riding mistakes did not kill YOU!!

Seaworld is now reporting that they think that the trainer's long pony tail may have brushed the whales nose when he approached her for affection or interaction of some sort. They say the whale grabbed the pony tail and pulled the trainer into the tank. Sounds like a tragic accident. I have heard of similar things with lion tamers getting bitten, or alligator trainers, when sweat drips off their person and into the lion or alligator's mouth, triggering a bite response. When you place things outside their natural order, their will be unforeseen and often tragic results.

so what you are saying is "serves her right". her employers are totally correct and she only has herself to blame. nice. are you a shareholder of seaworld?

I'm not saying "serves her right" - I'm saying **** happens

Sad,
strangely not surprising.
The whale was just doing whale stuff.
wild animals are wild animals no matter where you keep themthis is why my mother wouldn't let me have a raccoon when I was growing up.


Bingo. BTW, My mom did let me keep a Racoon as a pet, till it grew up and bit my hand 'cause I wouldn't let her out of her room. :twitchy: Yes, she had a whole room set up for her complete with a large tree to climb, logs that I would hide her meal worms in, a closet with two sleeping levels, running filtered water, a huge tub I would fill with clean water daily for her to splash around in, and full natural light from four windows, she was fed raw oatmeal, a variaty of fruits and veggys, dry and wet dog and cat food, fresh fish heads, and cray fish three times daily, and I took her out in the yard like 4-5 times a day, she was really friendly and would give me huge hugs when a put my arms out to her, the little ho still bit me! :lol: So I decided it was time to let her go into the wild. :(

It's time for this "entertainment" to stop. This whole Shamu show biz is just crap! Leave the whales where they live naturally.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d126/telehammer/orca4.jpg

Yeah, the Japanese will thank you for it.

Killer Whales are dolphins;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whale


Yup yup, and lets not forget that a dolphin (as most know them) are killers. http://luna.pos.to/whale/gen_art_killer.html

I can’t really blame the Orca. If I was taken from the ocean while roaming free and plopped into a concrete prison cell for four decades I would probably want to kill one of my captors every once in a while too.

+1 on watching The Cove.

Sea World has the money and resources to return this animal back to its habitat, but I am sure they will just use it to make this whole story to go away.

I'm not saying "serves her right" - I'm saying **** happens


well i'm saying **** happens if you act irresponsibly...i.e. keeping a wild animal and then keeping that wild animal after it has killed more than once already. Let it go. it is unsuitable for captivity. By keeping it, it is not only cruel to the animal but endangers the employees.

well i'm saying **** happens if you act irresponsibly...i.e. keeping a wild animal and then keeping that wild animal after it has killed more than once already. Let it go. it is unsuitable for captivity. By keeping it, it is not only cruel to the animal but endangers the employees.

This ^^^^ makes entirely to much sense for some people to understand it.

Stick to the dolphins.

What makes dolphins better captives than whales? They're similarly intelligent. Watch The Cove and see what the original trainer of Flipper has to say. The only thing you won't get with dolphins is they probably won't eat you (whole anyway).

What makes dolphins better captives than whales? They're similarly intelligent. Watch The Cove and see what the original trainer of Flipper has to say. The only thing you won't get with dolphins is they probably won't eat you (whole anyway).

no, they'll just paddle you back and forth with their flippers.....

Killer Whales are dolphins;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whale

Duh...You know what I meant.

What makes dolphins better captives than whales? They're similarly intelligent. Watch The Cove and see what the original trainer of Flipper has to say. The only thing you won't get with dolphins is they probably won't eat you (whole anyway).

I've not seen the cove yet, only the previews. I was already aware of the atrocities going on there before the movie...hell, everyone was I'd hope. They make out like it's been some dirty little secret but it hasn't. I wasn't aware of the flipper trainer bit as it's not in the previews but I'll watch it. I can't say that I've heard of too many dolphin...exuse me...bottlenose dolphin attacks on humans. Not saying there havn't been, just given the years of interaction with them it seems pretty unusual. I don't think any of them should be captive but if you're going to do it then use the ones with the better track record. SeaWorld just wants whatever makes a bigger splash in the water. :rolleyes:

I'm saying that this trainer made a mistake, and was killed.

That's far different from saying she didn't view this animal as a potential killer. Making a fatal mistake does not mean she didn't understand the risks.

The only way these animals will be returned to the wild is if people stop going to places like this. That said, the one positive side of keeping these animals captive is that we learn so much about them. Unfortunately, most people don't care about conservation and education--they just want to see the show. :(

FREE WILLY!


*yes, I mean the whale....but freeing my willy works too*

:lol: Only you could pull that off!

Wait... that didn't sound right...

What makes dolphins better captives than whales? They're similarly intelligent. Watch The Cove and see what the original trainer of Flipper has to say. The only thing you won't get with dolphins is they probably won't eat you (whole anyway).

They taste better? They are smaller? They are feeble minded and easily fooled into be intelligent for fish? They do not have Killer in there name? They get along with other types of animals, seals, sea lions, everything but sharks? They tell amzingly funny knock knock jokes?

Knock knock
Who's there?
EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE
EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE Who?
EHHHHEHHHHEHHHH

Hysterical!

:lol: Only you could pull that off!

Wait... that didn't sound right...

:roflmao:

They taste better? They are smaller? They are feeble minded and easily fooled into be intelligent for fish? They do not have Killer in there name? They get along with other types of animals, seals, sea lions, everything but sharks? They tell amzingly funny knock knock jokes?

Knock knock
Who's there?
EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE
EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE Who?
EHHHHEHHHHEHHHH

Hysterical!

okay, that may well be one of the funniest things I have read in a long time. I may have to go downstairs and buy a pint of milk, come back up 18 floors, open BF, take a sip of milk and reread it, just so I can spit milk on my monitor.

Personally these types of shows never did anything for me. It is sad when a person dies. I do believe that when an animal kills a human it should be destroyed (depending on circumstances of course.) If the orca accidentally squished someone... no you do not destroy it. But if it intentionally attacked, it needs to be destroyed IMHO. Yes you can make an argument that people put the animal in a position to enable it to do so. To be honest I expect I will get slammed for expressing my opinion but there it is right or wrong. I truly wish they would have removed the animal after the first incident.
.

I truly wish they would have removed the animal after the first incident.
.

They did, he got removed from Canada to Florida.

why did they buy an animal that has proven it can kill and should not be in captivity?

why did they buy an animal that has proven it can kill and should not be in captivity?

Because it can make a bigger splash than the ones they already have. ;) Honestly, who knows? He's like the problem child they ship from one foster home to the next. :rolleyes: He needs to be released.

Yes you can make an argument that people put the animal in a position to enable it to do so.
.

Yes, that's exactly the aguement I'd make. I won't slam you for your opinion though. (even if I disagree with it)
I hope everyone would agree it should have been released after the first time. Sadly, it will probably just be shipped off to another aquarium.

They did, he got removed from Canada to Florida.

That is kinda like saying "Ok drunk driver you cant drive anymore unless you get different car?" Maybe they felt like the Orca just hated Canadians? That is just insane!

It took 6 yrs of training to get Willie/Keiko ready to be released, and he was only 18ish when they started (vs >30 for this guy, Keiko died at ~25 after 1 yr of freedom). They better start soon if they're going to do it.

That's far different from saying she didn't view this animal as a potential killer. Making a fatal mistake does not mean she didn't understand the risks.

The only way these animals will be returned to the wild is if people stop going to places like this. That said, the one positive side of keeping these animals captive is that we learn so much about them. Unfortunately, most people don't care about conservation and education--they just want to see the show. :(

I agree that most of these animals might be better off in the wild - but this wasn't (from what I hear on the news) a "wild" animal - it was born in captivity. How ANY of that makes it Seaworld's fault is beyond me. This trainer knew the risks of working with these animals - she wasn't some minimum wage new hire with no training. People get killed at work all the time, for all kinds of reasons. It doesn't automatically make it the company's fault. This whale was either playing, or it went postal - doesn't matter.

What makes dolphins better captives than whales? They're similarly intelligent. Watch The Cove and see what the original trainer of Flipper has to say. The only thing you won't get with dolphins is they probably won't eat you (whole anyway).

FYI an Orca is a Dolphin not a whale...

That's far different from saying she didn't view this animal as a potential killer. Making a fatal mistake does not mean she didn't understand the risks.

The only way these animals will be returned to the wild is if people stop going to places like this. That said, the one positive side of keeping these animals captive is that we learn so much about them. Unfortunately, most people don't care about conservation and education--they just want to see the show. :(

Ever consider that without these shows there would be no money for education and conservation? I don't like the captivity thing either but it gives the public a flavor for an incredible animal. It peaks the public interests and sparks the desire to contribute money to conservation.

uh, it's called a "killer" whale? I'm glad it's still alive - if it were a lion, tiger, or bear (oh my!) the zoo keepers would have killed it after the 1st kill, which has always bothered me... people who get killed by zoo animals are usually somewhere they don't belong (like, inside a fenced enclosure).

Not always. An experienced handler at the Miami MetroZoo made a horrible and fatal mistake in 1994 when he walked onto the tiger paddock, apparently ignoring a very large sign that said that the tiger was on display. My wife was working on her MS at U of Miami med school and saw the x-ray. Basically the spinal coloumn in the neck was snapped at a 90 degree angle. Anyways, one of the first things the zoo said was that the tiger would not be put down as it only had done what tigers do.



kind of.... sometimes people that work with danger day after day forget how one tiny misstep can spell disaster, and one might suppose that could have happened in this case; if a person works with an animal whose hunting technique is to slide into the shallows to grab food, that person should never turn their back on such an animal while even NEAR the shallows. Knowing that the whale is capable to lunge, the trainers and all other personnel working near the whale should have some healthy idea about how far back to be before they can feel safe turning their back on the whale.

What I'm saying is, my impression of the people who work with these animals is that they do not view them as killers..... but, naturally, they are.

That's the theory with what happened in my account above. Guy was 20 years experienced and probably just followed routine without really looking.

These animals are predators. Expecting them to not be is ridiculous.

I agree that most of these animals might be better off in the wild - but this wasn't (from what I hear on the news) a "wild" animal - it was born in captivity.

No, he wasn't. Tilikum was captured at the age of two.

Not sure if that was directed at me, but I'm not saying this is Sea World's fault.

Ever consider that without these shows there would be no money for education and conservation? I don't like the captivity thing either but it gives the public a flavor for an incredible animal. It peaks the public interests and sparks the desire to contribute money to conservation.

Tricks don't need to be performed to garner interest and raise money. I remember going to Sea World in San Diego a couple years ago. They weren't doing shows for killer whales that day, but there was still plenty of interest in them, and people watched them just swimming around and screwing around with the birds. :D