SeaWorld Whale Became "Neurotic"

According to a veteran whale trainer, interviewed by CNN today, whales become "neurotic" when in captivity. I agree with this opinion, as they are ferocious creatures that are essentially being confined. What were the whales' crimes to be confined, other than wearing white after Labor Day.

Tillikum, the whale responsible for the death of SeaWorld trainer, Dawn Brancheau, has been in captivity for 30 years, after being captured off the coast of Iceland. He's clearly been getting tired of it and lashing out via violence, which spelled three deaths in separate incidents.

It was reported he shook Brancheau violently. He was clearly angry. Park visitors also reported yesterday, the whales were not cooperating before the incident transpired, refusing to follow instructions during the show.

This supports the Judiciary Report's claim from two days ago that such wild animals do not like being told what to do. They are only cooperative at times, because they are captive and feel they have no choice, if they wish to be fed and cared for.

However, Tillikum is being kept confined at SeaWorld for money, as he is worth millions to the company. Once again, the Judiciary Report is not knocking SeaWorld, but the whales should not be in captivity. God did not design them for it.

Biologists: Killer whales 'neurotic' in captivity

February 25, 2010 9:25 p.m. EST - ...Spectators who had attended the whale show before Brancheau was killed reported that the whales were not behaving -- "they weren't following instructions," Lori Miller, SeaWorld visitor, said.

This suggests that the whales had something going on socially among themselves, Ventre said. "It's probably reasonable to suspect that something going on amongst the whales themselves may have triggered the frustration," he said.

Ventre speculated that there may be more restrictions placed on who can work with the whale, but it's unclear whether much can be done -- someone still has to feed Tilikum 300 pounds of fish a day, administer medication and perform other daily tasks with the animal. Tilikum is also part of an artificial insemination program, which means someone has to roll him over and extract sperm from him.

"This is one of the inherent risks of working with animals like orcas or elephants, or walruses or even California sea lions," he said. "This kind of stuff happens."

http://www.cnn.com