Killer Whale Kills at SeaWorld – My Two Cents

It's all over the news, and the internet, so i'm sure everyone has heard about this horrible tragedy - a Killer Whale at Sea World has killed one of their trainers.

Dawn Brancheau, 40, was giving a lecture in front of hundreds of people after a display at the Shamu Stadium in Orlando when the whale is said to have pulled her in.

"She was rubbing the killer whale's head, and (it) grabbed her and pulled her in," said Chuck Tompkins, Corporate Curator of Zoological Operations at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.

Media reports have said the whale grabbed her by the waist, thrashed her about and pulled her underwater in front of an audience of visitors.

Tillikum, known as 'Tilly', which is the whale responsible for this, was also blamed for the drowning of one of his trainers back in '91 while he was performing at Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia.

Plain and simple these are wild animals, sorry mammels, and should not be left in captivity for our amusement. I mean their names say it all - KILLER WHALES. These trainers know the risks, and the responsibilities, yet they continue to do it anyway.  Now I understand that this is a rare thing as most whales only attack if they feel threatened, as do many other wild animals, but that could be anything - especially at SeaWorld.  They could feel caged, considering there living in a giant tank with no where to go, or it could be the crowds - it could be lots of things, we just don't know. The bottom line is that we need to understand that they don't know what they are doing is wrong, to them it's just survival instincts.

My condolences to the friends and family of the deceased, but believe she knew what could happen as soon as she jumped in that tank. I don't think the whale should be harmed, as it doesn't understand whats right or wrong in our society, just what they are born to do - survive.