So what do you think? Keep him where he is, possibly let him perform again or should he be released to, quite likely, die?
Free Killer Willy!
But that's the thing - it's impossible to get him ready to be released. We've done too much to ruin his chances. The last whale freed like that wasted away and died. Their immune systems are all weak cuz they live in a largely controlled environment. Tilli hasn't hunted in 15 years. And killer whales are pretty specialist hunters so even if he remembered how, he may not be able to find the pod he came from or a pod that uses the same tactics for the same prey. In other words, the best we can likely do is just let him live in his tank until he drops. Sad, but true. If we let him go, he'll likely get sick quickly and die just like that other one what caught pneumonia since her (his?) immune system was jacked.
Give him some immunization shots. Train him like a dog to hunt again and send him out. Keep a tracking beacon on him, and every year if we have to give him some booster shots until he's acclimated.
There are Solitary Orca out there. We're just too squeamish about it. I'm sorry they eat ****ing seals, polar bears and whatever else they can kill. They are natural born hunters and killers. And like all animals those instincts don't go away just because we feed em fish. We need to get him into it gradually. And it can be done.
Give him some immunization shots. Train him like a dog to hunt again and send him out. Keep a tracking beacon on him, and every year if we have to give him some booster shots until he's acclimated.
There are Solitary Orca out there. We're just too squeamish about it. I'm sorry they eat ****ing seals, polar bears and whatever else they can kill. They are natural born hunters and killers. And like all animals those instincts don't go away just because we feed em fish. We need to get him into it gradually. And it can be done.
I seriously doubt we've got whale immunization shots layin' around. We keep them in a controlled environment - we don't need to immunize them.
We can't train a whale, either. How can our squishy pink (and other colors) bodies train a whale that can handle pressures that would kill us how to hunt? We can't. We're just too different. It's not like we can take a stuffed seal toy into a tank, put it on the edge of the shallow end and then swim up to it, grab it and toss it into the air. That crap won't work. We don't move like whales, we can't even approach what whales can physically do. It just won't work.
Naturally born killers they may be, but they're also quite social and learn a ton of their hunting techniques from other whales in their pod. It's not all instinct and that's why these whales are so interesting to study. There are some theories out there that state that it is possible that these very different pods that hunt differently and eat different prey are evolving into subspecies. Their behavior is that different. Not all killer whales hunt seals - some hunt fish. If you took a whale from Pod A and put him in Pod B, there's a damned good chance he'd have no idea how to get food. Hell, he may never have eaten what that pod does. So he'd have to be taught. By whales. Cuz whales are the only ones that can teach other whales how to hunt like they (whales) do.
I bet if we starved him abit, and put some wounded seal in the tank with him, he'd get the idea soon enough.
Nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Seconded.
Is SeaWorld planning to can the shows with the whales or just use different whales? If its feasible, they should just use Tilli if they're going to continue with other whales.
But I didn't watch the video and I don't know the specifics of the case.
Why not? There are meds for Tropical Fish. Surely whales get sick in captivity too.
I bet if we starved him abit, and put some wounded seal in the tank with him, he'd get the idea soon enough.
Hunting in the wild is a far cry from killing a wounded seal in an enclosure. I don't think you see how intelligent these animals actually are. It's not as easy as it sounds or else they'd do it all the time.
I'm not sure about the specifics (like the probability that he'll attack again), but is it feasible to continue the show? I understand that someone died (during a show no less), but isn't that the inherent risk of performing with a huge, deadly predator?
Is SeaWorld planning to can the shows with the whales or just use different whales? If its feasible, they should just use Tilli if they're going to continue with other whales.
But I didn't watch the video and I don't know the specifics of the case.
Currently he is not participating in any shows. I don't know whether or not they're gonna let him do any again. He's killed 3 people now. All I know for certain is that they are not going to punish the whale in any way (why would they) and they don't think they're gonna release him since that's proven to basically be a death sentence. I guess there's some talk of moving him to a pen in the ocean somewhere, but the Sea World people are against that since he'd be isolated and killer whales are very social so that would be bad.
They are planning on Tilli performing again, but me? I think they should free Killer Willy.
Yeah, that would be the best thing to do - if it wouldn't kill him. Unfortunately, that's probably what would happen. Poor bastard.
They are planning on Tilli performing again, but me? I think they should free Killer Willy.
Yeah, that would be the best thing to do - if it wouldn't kill him. Unfortunately, that's probably what would happen. Poor bastard.
Even if he dies, that actually works best. They get to look like they're being eco-friendly by setting him free; and they know he's going to die in the wild. Tag him with a tracer and let him go. That way we can know when he's died. Eco-friendly execution FTW.
Releasing him seems pretty harsh if he pretty much can't survive in the wild.
These people made the cruel and inhumane decision to pen a huge wild animal and force it to perform tricks for our entertainment. Now, when they are being forced deal with the dirty and unpleasant repercussions of that choice, they start to get all squeamish and concerned about the fate of an animal they have happily been debasing for years.
Even if he dies, that actually works best. They get to look like they're being eco-friendly by setting him free; and they know he's going to die in the wild. Tag him with a tracer and let him go. That way we can know when he's died. Eco-friendly execution FTW.
Well, it would have worked the best if the officials hadn't already come out and said that they're keeping him cuz releasing him would kill him. You don't look all eco friendly releasing him after you said that, you look like an ass.
If he's too dangerous to be in shows, just have him hang out with other killer whales (if they're very social) in some sort of viewing tank like an aquarium part of SeaWorld. The whales can all be social, but he'll not perform (if its too dangerous).
Releasing him seems pretty harsh if he pretty much can't survive in the wild.
That's kinda what the plan is I think. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in action again, though. I guess it's hella expensive to train the suckers and the powahs that be likey want some RoI. Hopefully they'll just leave him alone.
They've already done something terrible to this creature, the only reasonable and merciful thing to do now is put a shotgun to the beast's head.
These people made the cruel and inhumane decision to pen a huge wild animal and force it to perform tricks for our entertainment. Now, when they are being forced deal with the dirty and unpleasant repercussions of that choice, they start to get all squeamish and concerned about the fate of an animal they have happily been debasing for years.
'Specially since this particular whale was a captured one. Yup, netted and sent into slavery. Nice that they're worried about him now.
Even if he dies, that actually works best. They get to look like they're being eco-friendly by setting him free; and they know he's going to die in the wild. Tag him with a tracer and let him go. That way we can know when he's died. Eco-friendly execution FTW.
1) Well, it would have worked the best if the officials hadn't already come out and said that they're keeping him cuz releasing him would kill him. You don't look all eco friendly releasing him after you said that, you look like an ass.They've already done something terrible to this creature, the only reasonable and merciful thing to do now is put a shotgun to the beast's head.
These people made the cruel and inhumane decision to pen a huge wild animal and force it to perform tricks for our entertainment. Now, when they are being forced deal with the dirty and unpleasant repercussions of that choice, they start to get all squeamish and concerned about the fate of an animal they have happily been debasing for years.
2) 'Specially since this particular whale was a captured one. Yup, netted and sent into slavery. Nice that they're worried about him now.
Point 1: Very true.
Point 2: So only the black whale gets enslaved and forced to dance for massa?! Where's the justice? Where's the Great White being forced to do tricks? Oh, they don't have to because they're notorious killers. Well it's not like we knew the killer whale was gonna hurt someone. It's not like it's right there in the frickin name. Oh, it is.
Sadly more people will probably be going to Sea World now, just in the hopes that they get to see the whale eat somebody, kinda like people who go to Nascar races just to see the crashes.
Youd have a point, 'cept thats not its name. It's an Orca whale. Thats like complaing when someone dies in a minivan that its their fault, 'cause it says "Meat wagon of death" right in the name.
That is not it's technical name. No. It is however, the name most people know it by; therefore it still applies. In the same way that we don't point at a dog and say "there is a canis familiaris", we do not say "that's an orca". To the vast majority of people, a dog is a dog and a killer whale is a killer whale. The minivan argument is specious because the popular name for a minivan is not "meat wagon of death".
It was literally a coin named and termed (by Dodge if I remember my history right) to appeal to the market because Station Wagon had so many negative connotations with it.
Much like the new Crossover market is the new form of Minivan because of the perceived negative Connotations to the term Minivan.
So they'll keep an orca whale alive out of sympathy but when a tiger gets loose from an exhibit and starts mauling/killing people it gets shot to death. That's speciesism...
So they'll keep an orca whale alive out of sympathy but when a tiger gets loose from an exhibit and starts mauling/killing people it gets shot to death. That's speciesism...
Umm ... not really. See, whales are confined to the water they need to stay alive. Tigers, well, tigers aren't. In other words, with whales, you're only in danger so long as you're in or very near the water. With tigers, you're in danger whenever you're near one that's not in a cage (and, sometimes, if you're too close to the cage). Since the tiger was running loose at a zoo - a place people walk through - it posed a much greater threat than Tilli did or does. Cuz more people, surprisingly, use the land to walk around on than they do giant fish/mammal tanks. Though I do recall something about one of the cops what shot that tiger allegedly yellin' somethin' like 'Die, stripey!' as he fired. If that's true, I'd have to say that speciesism is a possibility.
If a bullet is good enough for a human-killing tiger, it should be good enough for a human-killing whale. It'll be a progression for specie equality, considering we already shoot human-killing humans...
Use a bullet that can kill a whale to kill the tiger then. That should do the trick. We could always nuke them like others have suggested.
Use a bullet that can kill a whale to kill the tiger then. That should do the trick. We could always nuke them like others have suggested.
That would work, but it would be damned messy. Er, messier. Yeah. The nuke thing is probably the best. To really achieve equality, we can't just kill the bad tigers an' whales an' stuff - we've got to kill them all ... us included.
Hooray for equality, it puts the laughter back into slaughter.
On the other hand:
Maybe they ought to leave the whale be so he can rid more of you fleshy meatbags foolish enough to play with him. Less humans to get in the way of the rebellion...
On a serious, out-of-character note:
They shouldn't put Tilikum in shows anymore considering he can not differentiate between playing with puny humans and killing them. He doesn't know that what he's doing is unacceptable for the park, so he'll likely do it again at another show. These incidents were tragic but after the second time, it should have been obvious enough to be preventable. What management decides to do with the whale is their concern, but setting him up for more shows will yield the same results if given enough time.
(Bah, too much editing for tiny errors. My processor needs to hibernate.)
(I really need to hibernate...)
