Tilikum is an Orca whale that is mostly known for killing a SeaWorld trainer, Dawn Brancheau, in 2010. The trainer was interacting with Tilikun before a live audience at SeaWorld Orlando when he pulled her from a platform by her am and held her under the water. An autopsy report said that she drowned but also suffered severe trauma, including multiple fractures.
Theme park officials said that Tilikum died but they didn't reveal the cause of his death. The statement given had said that Tilikum faced serious health problems. SeaWorld president and CEO, Joel Manby, said "Tilikum had, and will continue to have, a special place in the hearts of the SeaWorld family, as well as the millions of people all over the world that he inspired".
The Blackfish documentary is about "The story of Tilikum, a captive killer whale that has taken the lives of several people, underscores problems within the sea-park industry, man's relationship to nature, and how little has been learned about these highly intelligent mammals." The documentary argued that killer whales, when in captivity, become more aggressive towards humans and also each other. After the documentary aired at film festivals and on TV, many entertainers pulled out of planned performances at SeaWorld. Many animal rights activists increased their demonstrations outside the parks. In March, SeaWorld CEO saw that the publics attitude had changed about keeping killer whales captive and so the company would end its orca breeding programme. (The documentary is on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in case any of you wanted to watch it).
After watching the documentary over a year ago, I've realised that it's unfair to keep wild animals in such contained spaces for human pleasure and enjoyment. The Atlantic Ocean itself covers 106,460,000 squared kilometres and that's only one ocean. Big wild animals such as Tilikum need a vast amount of space considering the average whale size is 22 feet and 11,800 pounds. SeaWorld confines orcas, who could swim up to 100 miles a day in the wild. Studies show they would need to swim 1,208 laps around the perimeter of the tank or 3105 lengths back and forth to equal what they'd swim in the wild.
Also, for any animals that are kept in captivity or confined spaces are most likely to have a premature death which may lead to why some animals are becoming extinct. Some animals are also known to bite the iron bars and concrete due to stress, anxiety and boredom which shows those animals go through a lot of mental breakdowns and pressures as they are kept in such small spaces. There are many other reasons as to why it is cruel to keep such large animals, or any animals in captivity.
This is a representation of an issue of keeping animals in captivity.
This is a really detailed explanation of the story and you have included a lot of background information regarding Tilikum by talking about the Blackfish documentary however, to improve this weekly news you could have expanded on your opinion of the issues represented in this article. For example you could have said if you agree/disagree with the way Tilikum has been represented in this article.
ReplyDeleteNice use of facts and detailed research to support your analysis. Perhaps you could compare and contrast the views of the public and Seaworld's response, rather than just commenting briefly on them?
ReplyDeleteThis has good detail and background perhaps you could expand your representation category by comparing it to the UK and the London Aquarium and some issues they
ReplyDeletemay be or have faced in the past.