Death by a Killer Whale

It sadden me when I heard of a trainer's death by a killer whale at Sea World. Years ago while putting myself through college, I worked at Sea World. I worked for the production department at Sea World, which meant I would be part of running the shows at the theme park, namely the Shamu show, the penguin show, the water fantasy show and the dolphin lagoon show. Summers consisted of running from show to show. The animals involved in the shows would have to “work” back to back shows, which meant during the summer months there are as many as 10 to 12 shows without a break. I know Sea World has done some wonderful research on marine animals. They are involved in the clean-up of oil spills, rescue animals, and they help educate the public about marine life. My question is however, must we insist on making these amazing marine mammals do tricks for their keep? Why do they have to jump through hoops, do the hula on their tail fins, let a trainers ride on their backs? How would you feel being pent up in a tank and made to perform many shows daily? These animals are God’s gift to planet Earth. I’ve seen first-hand the frustration of killer whales having to perform and turn their frustration on their trainers. I've witnessed trainers being pushed around the tank by a very angry killer whale. I think I heard some press people say that Tilly was not angry, that he was interested only in the trainers ponytail, that he was being playful. I think not. The public must be, should be educated on the captivity of these magnificient creatures and what their daily lives are like. We must stop animal entertainment to make a buck. Isn’t keeping a large animal in confinement animal abuse? These whales are meant to travel hundreds of miles a day, what must that whale feel like when he can barely swim in the tank that he's in? Aren’t we outraged when we see how cows and pigs being confined in a small area, without any means of turning around, don’t we call that animal abuse? Aren't we outraged at the puppy mills, when dogs are caged and sold for a buck? Then why aren’t we outraged when we see dolphins trained to do the hula on their tail fins to music for public amusement? Is it because the park is a nice place to visit and that makes it ok? How would you feel if your freedom was taken away and every day you were forced to perform tricks? I think not. We must stop the animal for amusement mentality and fight for these magnificent creatures.

Not to make light of the situation, but one of my jobs at Sea World was to perform the hula while dolphins did their hula on their tail fins. I shared a dressing room with a very irate chimp. Our dressing room was the hollowed out volcano in the show. I would go in to change into my costume, with the chimp in the cage awaiting for his appearance. While changing he would jump up and down and scream all kinds of monkey chatter. On a really bad days he would take his poop, roll it into balls and throw it at me. He was an angry chimp, he didn't want to go out on water skis being pulled around the volcano by dolphins he'd rather be in his home with other primates. But day after day, he would perform his tricks and day after day, I would be pulled out in a boat after the chimp exited his stage, by dolphins and do the hula with them, while they did backflips. Back then, it was a novelty, it was an interesting job. I had little interest in animal conservation and preservation. Gads, I could barely keep my cat fed. Today is a different story. I can barely get through that Emperor Penguin movie without shedding copious tears. I can't stand to watch Planet Earth when animals eat each other, even if it is Mother Nature's way. And so, I can't bring myself to support places like Sea World and circuses that profit off animal entertainment. Sure, places like that do educate the public but at what cost?