: Orca Love

Tilikum, the killer whale.

Tilikum the killer whale has killed. Again. Despite his name having meaning in Chinook as 'friend', (also named after the Tilikum boat) the marine predator is no stranger to making the news headlines in more ways than one. Aside from the fact this majestic creature is beautiful to watch on any level, let alone up close and personal, it also must be first noted this is a killer whale. A wild animal much like that of a lion or tiger. It has animal instincts.

Tilikum has taken the life of 40 year old Dawn Brancheau. Before we get into the criminal record of this animal, let's find out who Tilikum is. The orca was captured of the coast of Iceland in 1983 at the age of 2 years old. He has sired 13 calves, the first being Kyuguot born in December 24 1991. Tilikum has some of the most impressive measurements I have ever heard of for a killer whale in captivity. He is simply the biggest of his kind right now in captivity. At 22 feet and six inches long, weighing in at a whopping 12,300 pounds and his dorsal fins alone being 6 and a half feet long makes him very immense in size.

Tilikum is an impressive spectacle as seen here during his performance.

Tilikum has found himself in hot water after now building a rather dreadful record for human deaths circulating around him. He is currently at three. Dawn Brancheau was the top trainer at Sea World until earlier this week she was grabbed by Tilikum by the waist just moments after she was bonding with him. He thrashed about before taking her down with him into his world, deep in the tank at the bottom is where he held her in his mouth until she drowned. Dawn was just 40 years old. To her, Tilikum was her aquatic friend. How does a friend do this?

In 1991 her also took the life of another female victim after she accidentally fell in his tank doing research. In 1999 Daniel Dukes, 27 a drifter was found naked in Tilikum's tank floating with multiple bruises on his body. Near by the tank on dry ground his clothes were found in a pile with a joint of marijuana inside them. The bruises were thought to have happened as Tilikum believed Daniel was a toy for his tank and dragged his body along the bottom of the tank. It is unclear whether the man drowned first on his own accord, or Tilikum actually killed the man by drowning him. Daniel died of hypothermia apparently, although there were bite marks on his body from the whale.

Tilikum has become lost in a swirl of controversy over the killings. But it he really to blame? I question now, and have before about the condition of wild animals held captive in zoos and pens alike all over the world. What if we were to be held captive and taught to perform. Is this what we want? No. So what do the wild animals want? Most likely not to be put in funny little hats and forced to jump through hoops I am sure. I would guess they want what we want. Freedom. What freedom does Tilikum have in a tank equivalent to that of a bathtub? Examine the picture below for a minute.

As you see from the above photo, Tilikum has not a lot of room to maneuver for a whale who can easily swim up to 100 miles in a day. This animal has deep psychological damage. It has been studied in primates and humans alike. Confinement drives one to a severe state of depression, boredom and anger. Tilikum has displayed this. He has never been trained to be with humans. To him, a human in his tank is a play toy. He should not be held accountable for something we have created. Snatching up natures wild animals and driving them to the point of insanity.

They had looked at having Tilikum put down. This is a horrible thought, to think to cover up mans mistake by taking the creature out back in a pasture and putting a bullet through it's head is disgusting (though it wouldn't be done this way). The head people at Sea World have vowed Tilikum will not be put down. So they have decided the show must go on. So who will the fourth victim be? Another trainer? A child? Can we do what was done to Keiko the killer whale who was a star in Free Willy? Set free on the coast of Ice Land. He didn't fair well, he only kept coming back to find humans. He later died of pneumonia. Iceland doesn't want Tilikum due to his criminal record.

So Tilikum's future rests in the same hands of the people who brought him into the world of captivity. His demise will only rest on whether or not he can survive the wild on his own. Or whether or not he kills again. We didn't really expect someone to bring in this whale and jump on his back and yell go did we? We don't go jumping on lions and gorillas backs asking them to perform tricks in the jungle. So why are we removing them from their habitats and getting them to do things they really don't want to do and expecting nothing will come of it except revenue for a large corporation?

Sea World and other zoos alike should be ashamed of themselves. Tilikum is not the only orca who has killed. Nor will he be the last.

Dawn & Tilikum. Best friends?