First and foremost, my condolences go out to the family of Dawn Brancheau. She was the Sea World employee who was recently killed by a captive killer whale at the park. This is a horrible incident and I cannot imagine what her family is going through. The only words of encouragement that I can offer is that she died doing what she loved most - working with whales.
Now, that all being said...how the hell did all this happen?? This whale has been in two OTHER incidents that resulted in deaths. It's highly unlikely that the whale did this deliberately or with intent, more than likely the whale was just "playing" around and didn't realize what he was doing. But folks...he's a KILLER whale. Let me restate that, he's a KILLER, that's KILL-ER, whale. He wasn't named for his playfullness.
It's such a shame that animals/mammals are taken from the wild and trained to be domestic. Their natural habitat is NOT in a cage, aquarium, etc. so why is it a shock when violence happens? Remember that lady who had her face mauled by a neighbours chimpanzee? Why the hell was this lady allowed to have a chimpanzee as a pet?! Why can't we have a rule that outlaws stupid people?
So what's going to happen to the whale now? I haven't heard definitively but my guess is they are going to put him to sleep. What a shame. It's not his fault this happened. In fact, the trainers didn't even go into the water with him because they didn't feel it was safe. So if he wasn't safe to swim with - why have him???? Wild animals should be just that; WILD! As in, not captive, not a pet, not a trained toy. A majestic beast that should be allowed to roam free.
I'm very sorry about the incident...but let's place the blame where it needs to be - on Sea World. I'd like to know why they decided to purchase a Killer Whale that had a history of violence for their family shows. That doesn't sound like a very wise move to me. He should never have been captured in the first place. And after that first incident he should have been released as it was unsafe to keep him.
It's happening too often that people/companies are making the decision to purchase wild animals only to have the relationship end in tragedy. What do people expect? You aren't supposed to have a wild chimpanzee! Killer Whales are not supposed to be kept in captivity. Great White Sharks aren't supposed to be in aquariums. These are wild creatures people - let's keep it that way.
All together now, let's say it loud: FREE WILLY!!!!!
Cheers,
LW
