See article:http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=061130&cat=news&st=newsd8lnec980&src=ap
It appearsthat humans had better watch it! Killer whales can get nasty-so why does SeaWorld peddle this image of benign, loveable dolphins and killer whales? i wonder what will happen when an enraged animal kills a human handler-would this be justice? :o
They’re called Killer Whales fercryinoutloud! How much more of a clue do people need that humans might be a tempting meaty menu item for them?
There have been trainers killed by whales…it’s a risk they take by getting in the pool.
Whales are not pets. Seaworld, unfortunately, incorporates unnatural things into their “shows”; music, lights, loud noises. It causes problems. If the whale decided that the trainer wasn’t going to make it, there is absolutely nothing anyone can do once the trainer gets in the pool.
It’s unfortunate that people decide, risking the lives of their children, to go the “petting” areas of some aqua shows. It only promotes them.
Holy crap, KILLER WHALES are dangerous?!?!?! :eek: :eek: :eek:
:rolleyes:
The article mentions that the whale HELD the trainer under water-doesn’t eh stupid brute REALIZE that humans NEED to breathe? Or was he just being playful?-kinds like when my dog grabs my wrist and holds it?
Interesting this should show up now. The Yahoo News this morning highlights attasck by sea lions:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061129/ap_on_sc/marauding_sea_lions_9
“I was a clean and scrub man; we called each other in the c&s union. I scrubbed the inside of the Killer Whale Tank. And after a while the boys in the c & s, the clean and scrub, we just made it sorta one word. Killerwhaletank”
I, for one, welcome our Cetacean Overlords.
I’m sure the animal knew what it was doing. Despite its name, the killer whale (or orca) is the largest member of the dolphin family. And dolphins are renowned for their intelligence. It’s believed they are on a par with the great apes. Whatever its reasoning, the orca knew its trainer needed air to breathe, and that it was putting the trainer’s life in danger.
Yeah, like they should rename them “Death in a Black and White Tux Whales” or some such, so it’s obvious to anyone getting near them that they can pose some sort of hazard to life and limb. Maybe put some warning stickers on their tails?
killer whales are what they are: one of god’s most magnificent creations. so are great whites, but i don’t see hollywood or sea world portraying them as warm and fuzzy. neither are killer whales.
ever seen nature footage of them decimating a pod of seals? nasty. brutal.
sea world has pissed me off for years with how they portray killer whales and dolphins. dolphins can be cruel to others even in their own pods. not too warm and fuzzy, either.
as previously noted, killer whales ARE NOT PETS and neither are dolphins and should never be treated as such.
not only that, they aren’t and cannot be domesticated like we do with cats, dogs and horses – altho a big dog or a horse, if sufficiently motivated by something, can definitely ruin your day.
sea life is to be appreciated - at a distance. have we all forgotten steve irwin so soon??
irwin got too close and it got him killed. of course if he’d left the barb alone and gone straight to an ER, he might still be with us.
i’ve swum with stingrays (even accidently startled a couple out of hiding on the sandy ocean floor, nearly giving me a heart attack in the process), moray eels, barracudas and sharks and never had a problem **because ** *i was at a distance.
at about 25 feet down on one dive, i’ve been close enough to shake hands with a blacktip reef shark on one occasion, but that was because it came to investigate me. not the other way around (we looked one another over, liked the status quo the way it was, and then went our separate ways).
i cringe when i hear parents at the indianpolis zoo’s aquatic exhibit talk about going to pet the ‘nice killer whales.’ jesus, people, do you ever do your homework?
my nephew wanted to do the same and i told him no and then WHY he wasn’t going to go pet the nice killer whale. after he digested that (he was 10), he saw my point.
Watchout for the Killer Whale…! :eek:
Rocklobster…lobster…
Oh, I dunno. Even if the Orca knew that the trainer was in the class of creatures that needed air to breathe, whether through Orcapomorphization (to coin a phrase,) or through deductive reasoning, it might not realize that it needed to breathe every minute or so.
Certainly people roughhouse with each other sometimes by pulling them under and holding them down (however ill-advised?) Perhaps the killer whale thought it was playing a little prank and didn’t know how much the trainer needed air?
Then again there is the possibility it did know, definitely.
There was an incident something like this a few years ago. An onlooker caught it on video underwater and it appeared on one of the video shows. A woman was snorkeling among orcas in the wild, and one of them unexpectedly dragged her very deep in the water. She didn’t drown, but IIRC it was close.
I can’t find that video online, but here’s a more recent video of a different kind of problem in a theme park http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rECvv1z5aSE.
Surely it has seen its trainer swimming in the tank and knows that the trainer can’t stay underwater for very long before needing to surface again.
I remember hearing a story like this a while back where an orca pinned a trainer to the floor tank. Turns out the trainer had been secretly abusing the whale.
SeaWorld doesn’t peddle an image of benign or (exclusively) lovable killer whales. SeaWorld communicates that Shamu is powerful, majestic, mysterious, playful, and silent.
Trust me: if Kasatka was enraged as you insinuate, Ken Peters would would be chum within seconds. Killer whales can get a little testy and a little rambunctious, as do any animal, domesticated, wild or human.
The second part: “would this be justice?” Do you think the handlers are poking these animals with sharp sticks or something? I’ve spent a lot of time with these people and I can guarantee you you will not find people (as a whole) who care more about these animals. Let me be specific: I’m not talking about caring about “animals” in the abstract, I’m talking about the fact that these trainers know and care about that specific creature with the same degree of love, respect and appreciation that the rest of us extend to our domesticated pets. So again, I ask: justice for what crime?
Maybe, but not at SeaWorld.
These elements are indeed unnatural to the natural habitat, but it is wrong to say that these killer whales are not thoroughly accustomed to these elements.
This is true. But if a whale was “deciding beforehand” that he was going to kill a trainer, he would be exhibiting those signs of unruliness long before the show starts, and would be sidelined.
“Risking the lives of their children” is a gross exaggeration. And what does a petting area unfortunately promote?
I strongly disagree that Kasatka was out deliberately harm Peters. Note that the trainers spend a great deal of time underwater with the animals and have been trained to deal with the strong currents, cold water and generally hold their breath for longer than you or I probably could. The whale is used to seeing people underwater for more-than-split-second periods. And as it turns out, Kasatka didn’t hold Peters underwater for longer than he could hold his breath.
I’m sorry to hear SeaWorld offends you. Honestly. I do agree that whales and dolphins can be cruel. But does that aspect sum up the totality of their behavior? The fact of the matter is that these very same whales and dolphins actually do like to interact and even play with humans. Do you regard your own personal friends and family based exclusively on only their worst or most dangerous traits?
True. For the record, SeaWorld doesn’t claim to domesticate their animals. Many of the animals are intelligent, but none of them are pets.
I got to pet one of the killer whales in Orlando. For obvious reasons — especially with the killer whales — these are highly controlled situations. They are not taken casually and when you’re close enough to touch one you are never more aware of their power and presence. It’s not taken lightly.
I searched around on youtube but couldn’t find the video. IIRC, they were pilot whales, not orcas. She was “swimming with these magnificent creatures” (i.e. pestering wild animals 50 times her size) when one grabbed her ankle, pulled her down 30-40 feet, then pulled her back up again before letting her go.
The really infuriating part is that she didn’t seem to learn anything from the experience. To her, the fact that the whale pulled her back to the surface just proved that they’re huge cuddly friends that love to have us come and play with them.
I expect it got all mixed up over the fish-mammal thing - I’ve heard it’s a really common misconception with whales.
I can’t help but compare this to the elephant that killed “her beloved caregiver” in Tennesse. Try to ignore the PETAesque aura.
Apparently she approached or touched an injured eye too quickly, and Winkie…how embarassing to be killed by an animal named Winkie… knocked her down and stepped on her.
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I was referring to the incident linked in the original post, that regarding Shamu and the unidentified trainer. I’m sorry if I was unclear about that.
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I wasn’t ascribing any motives to Shamu. I was pointing out that dolphins are generally regarded as being self-aware animals. And animals that are self-aware (including humans, apes and, dolphins) also possess an awareness of other creatures around them. I was making the statement that Shamu undoubtedly knew his trainer could not hold his breath underwater for as long as an orca, no matter how much training and experience the human has. I also recognize the trainer lived through the incident due to his experience (12 years at Shamu Stadium) and relationship with Shamu. I was not giving the opinion (although I may have inadvertently given that impression) that Shamu deliberately intended to hurt his trainer. Although the article made it quite clear that the trainer had to “calm” the animal. I was just making the point Shamu is not a “dumb” animal and certainly is intelligent enough to know a human’s limits and capabilities underwater and certainly was capable of intending harm to his trainer if he desired.
I believe I was attempting to make the same point, even if it didn’t initially come across that way.