SCHERERVILLE, Ind. — The sister of a SeaWorld trainer killed in Florida by a whale says the woman loved the whales like children and wouldn't want anything to happen to the one that pulled her into the water.
Trainer Dawn Brancheau grew up near the northwestern Indiana town of Cedar Lake. Diane Gross of nearby Schererville says her 40-year-old sister's passion for marine life began at the age of nine on a family trip to SeaWorld.
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Brancheau was rubbing the whale named Tilikum after a noontime show Wednesday in the Orlando, Fla., attraction when the whale grabbed her and pulled her in, killing her. The park said it hasn't decided yet what to do with the whale.
Gross tells The Associated Press that news of her sister's death "hasn't sunk in yet."
Brancheau was leisurely rubbing a killer whale from a poolside platform when the 12,000-pound creature reached up, grabbed her with its mouth and dragged her underwater. Despite workers rushing to help, the trainer was killed.
Horrified visitors who had stuck around after a noontime show watched the animal charge through the pool with the trainer in its jaws. Workers used nets as an alarm sounded, but it was too late. Brancheau had drowned. It marked the third time the animal had been involved in a human death.
Brancheau's interaction with the whale appeared leisurely and informal at first to audience member Eldon Skaggs. But then, the whale "pulled her under and started swimming around with her," Skaggs told The Associated Press.
Some workers hustled the audience out of the stadium while the others tried to save Brancheau, 40.
Skaggs said he heard that during an earlier show the whale was not responding to directions. Others who attended the earlier show said the whale was behaving like an ornery child.
Skaggs left with his wife and didn't find out until later that the trainer had died. The retired couple from Michigan had been among some stragglers who stayed to watch the animals and trainers when the accident occurred.
"We were just a little bit stunned," said Skaggs' wife, Sue Nichols, 67.
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100225/NEWS/100225003/Ind.-family-mourns-SeaWorld-trainer (http://www.indystar.com/article/20100225/NEWS/100225003/Ind.-family-mourns-SeaWorld-trainer)
This same animal has been involved in at least two other incidents that have resulted in human death. Get a clue folks, turn him loose! :yes: :spooked:
Whatever they decide, I hope euthanasia isn't on the list of options. :no:
Quote from: Sandy Eggo on February 25, 2010, 03:11:56 PM
Whatever they decide, I hope euthanasia isn't on the list of options. :no:
THAT would just chap my hide! :rant: :rant: :rant:
This just leaves me nearly speechless.
What is there about "The Ocean Is His Home" do they not understand?
One thing that is NOT on my bucket list - swimming with Shamu!
FREE WILLY!
Imagine that. A killer whale actually killed someone. Who would have thought that could happen?
Quote from: kimmi on February 25, 2010, 06:51:49 PM
One thing that is NOT on my bucket list - swimming with Shamu!
FREE WILLY!
Quote from: followsthewolf on February 25, 2010, 04:49:02 PM
This just leaves me nearly speechless.
What is there about "The Ocean Is His Home" do they not understand?
Exactly!
Now I understand that this particular whale has spent the majority of his life interacting with humans. I also understand that in the wild these animals travel in familial pods, and turning him "loose" may in reality be a death sentence for him. But turning him loose is also providing him with a chance too. A chance to adapt and interact with others of his kind, and nature; as nature intended him to do.
There have been releases of Killer Whales in the past, although most of the cases I know of returned the whale(s) to their former pod. I am not sure if this particular whale has spent its entire lifetime in captivity or not. . .
It certainly is a case that cries out for justice, and a rethinking of just how humanity utilizes these animals and why. Entertainment is certainly the least possible justification for taking a 12,000 pound animal that in nature has the ocean as its habitat, and restricting it to a few thousand gallons of water space for its entire existence. . .
How cruel are we for doing such a thing simply to entertain ourselves? :confused:
Quote from: ? on February 25, 2010, 07:10:30 PM
Imagine that. A killer whale actually killed someone. Who would have thought that could happen?
Yeah. . . In nature they take seals and toss them about like rag dolls. Funny how we so closely resemble a seal in the water; and how both killer whales and sharks make the same mistake. . .
In researching this topic I discovered that Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and many other nations have established whale, and killer whale, sanctuaries just for these types of cases, as well as for those of the species that happen to frequent the places.
I also discovered that the whale in question here was indeed captured from the wild as a young calf, and has spent a quarter century swimming around in a space that equates to restricting a human being to a space the size of a bath-tub. In that time he has sired upwards of 17 calves, some of which survived to a life in captivity.
This whale needs to be freed. Sea World and others have made millions in taking advantage of him; all the while camouflaging the effort "in the name of science". There is no scientific information to be garnered from a whale splashing people on command, and swimming and jumping through hoops, that has not already been obtained via the quarter century of time he and others like him have been subjected to this cruelty.
They can be and are studied in the wild, within their own habitats; and this is how scientific knowledge should be obtained moving forward.
This animal must be free, and humanity should demand his freedom forthwith! :yes:
Could he survive in the wild at this point in time?
Has he become TOO domesticated for the elements of nature?
Quote from: Henry Hawk on February 26, 2010, 10:51:15 AM
Could he survive in the wild at this point in time?
Has he become TOO domesticated for the elements of nature?
That's what the sanctuaries are for. They could also attempt to return him to his pod if they can locate it.
I heard some people who specialize in marine animals on tv today and their feeling is that this particular animal cannot be returned to the ocean and survive because it does not know how to hunt. It would starve because it has been hand fed for so long.
Quote from: Anne on February 26, 2010, 11:20:30 PM
I heard some people who specialize in marine animals on tv today and their feeling is that this particular animal cannot be returned to the ocean and survive because it does not know how to hunt. It would starve because it has been hand fed for so long.
Sanctuaries, some of them, specialize in these types of animals and can help them acclimate.
We all are aware of the fact that animals are very sensitive to things like Earthquakes, etc., and can sense them before the actual events. Given what has transpired in Chile this morning, I am now wondering if this had any part in this whale's behavior. . .