SeaWorld Whale's Killer Past No Secret to Staff

[RamboLiberal]

Source: CBS News

A killer whale's history of harming people was known among SeaWorld employees when the whale killed a trainer in Orlando two months ago, according to a police report released Wednesday.

The whale named Tilikum dragged trainer Dawn Brancheau underwater Feb. 24, thrashing her body with such force that her hair and scalp had to be retrieved separately from the bottom of a pool after other SeaWorld employees recovered her body.

"Tilikum's past history is that when he obtains a person, he does not let them go," are the words one detective used to paraphrase part of an interview with Laura Surovik, an assistant curator of animal training at Sea World.

The incident in Orlando marked the third time Tilikum had been involved in a human death. Tilikum was one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer in 1991 after the woman lost her balance and fell in the pool at Sealand of the Pacific near Victoria, British Columbia. Tilikum also was also involved in a 1999 death, when the body of a man who had sneaked by SeaWorld Orlando security was found draped over him.

A spotter who worked with Brancheau, Lynne Schaber, told a detective she "knew Dawn Brancheau was in trouble" when she saw the trainer pulled into the water "because Tilikum is a 'possessive' animal," the detective wrote. "He normally keeps things that he has and will not release them," the detective wrote.


Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/28/national/main6441309.shtml

[LakeSamish706]

1. Maybe this is a good time to release him back into the wild where he belongs!

On Edit:

More likely than that, we will euthanize him and that will make everyone feel so much better. The killer is gone.

[TZ]

2. You realize that he'll likely die if released right?

Google what happened to Keiko. Not a happy story. Orcas don't do well in the wild if they've been in captivity long time. I suppose death is better than captivity? :eyes:

[LakeSamish706]

3. I'd much rather he be given that risk than to just euthanize him. There are many

experts out there that know about Killer whales and they may be able to find his pod if given the chance. I know that there are a number of experts in and around Vancouver Island, BC. that do this sort of thing.

And to add, I fucking hate many Human Beings.. and certainly question the word "Human" in that two words. Why can't we just leave animals in there own world?

[ret5hd]

4. Because...

Humans are a 'possessive' animal. We normally keep things that we have and will not release them.

[Doremus]

6. Which is the happier story:

Swimming free and exploring thousands of miles of ocean (which Keiko did do after his release), or dying a slow death penned up in the equivalent of a 8x10 prison cell?

I'd prefer the former. You?

[leftyladyfrommo]

5. They can't just release him. He wouldn't make it.

And he is worth a ton of money as a breeding animal - something like 2 million dollars. That might be wrong but its a lot. If I remember right you can't take killer whales out of the wild anymore so he is very valuable.

But they do need to respect him. He's huge and he's a breeding male. That is always an iffy situation. He should never have been put in the situation they put him in.