Tragedy Strikes Sea World

Earlier this afternoon, a trainer at Sea World was tragically killed by a 12,000lb killer whale following a noontime show. Snatching the trainer from a poolside platform, the killer whale thrashed the trainer underwater, killing her as a horrified audience watched on. As horrific as this accident is, it reiterates the fact that there are certain animals that SHOULD NOT BE HELD IN CAPTIVITY. Killer whales are just one of those animals. In my opinion, no facility in captivity is large enough to hold an animal of that size and allow it to have a normal, happy and healthy life.


Following the initial news of this tragic accident, many details regarding the incident and those involved began to unravel throughout the day. Two details I found to be the most shocking were:

1. "Because of his size and deaths of the past, trainers were not supposed to get into the water with this whale.
2. Only about a dozen of the park's 29 trainers worked with him."

So not only has an incident like this one occurred in the past with this orca, but this whale is found to be so untrustworthy in the mind of trainers that only a limited number of staff members deal with him. My question to Sea World then is, why have they not decided to get rid of the whale earlier? After looking at this animal's history and track record, why would they be so bold and risk the lives of their staff to keep a whale who clearly does not belong there. (Don't even get me started on my opinion in that all marine life should not be in captivity.)

Watching the media coverage throughout the day on this accident not only saddened me but it made me absolutely furious. Furious at that fact that animals like this are in captivity, furious that they kept this whale after it had killed a trainer previously, furious over the surprise of this occurrence (the whale has killed before, plus he is a whale for goodness sakes) and furious over the size of the tanks these animals are kept in. Tanks the size of a football field are nothing when a whale is 10-20 feet tall, weighing 12,000 lbs. Its ABSURD.


Yes this is a very tragic accident and my heart goes out to the trainers family, but you have to understand that these are animals are not meant for captivity. They are meant to swim in the ocean with thousands upon thousands of miles worth of space. They are not our lap pets who do things on command. They are animals who are on the top of the food chain who can turn on you in a matter of a split second no matter the environment. No animal is ever trustworthy, not even your own dog. You should never feel comfortable around large animals because you never know what could set them off.

So my advice to Sea World:

1. According to the news, "they are unsure of what to do with the whale in question." My suggestion is DON'T ENDANGER ANOTHER FACILITY BY GIVING THEM THIS WHALE. INSTEAD PLEASE RELEASE IT BACK INTO THE WILD.
2. Get ride of your large marine animals. Release them back to where they belong. If you were a true animal lover you would realize the importance of this action.
3. Watch Free Willy and learn from it.