# Fla, USA: orca *Tilly* drowns 40-YO trainer @ SeaWorld performance



## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Whale kills trainer at Fla. SeaWorld - Yahoo! News Photos

Whales and people: Tilly is not to blame for this avoidable tragedy | Psychology Today

preventable, avoidable - sad + stoopid; profit won over logic. 
:nonod: i am sorry for the woman; i wonder if Admin told her that 
Tilly was sold with the understanding that he would NOT perform?

how much money did Tilly make for the park since purchase? 
how much was that womans life worth? :blush2: a dirty shame. 
now what will they do with Tilly?

thats a 10,000-pound animal who eats meat - *protein.* 
hes not a cheap pet; he needs special care; his tank is filtered, treated, pH-tested, cleaned; he gets bloodwork done; his skin checked for scrapes + knocks (tanks are harsh on marine-mammals); his mouth + teeth examined for health.

* *slaughter him + sell the meat in Japan? * 
* *slaughter him + serve the meat to poverty-stricken Americans?* 
* * sell him to ANOTHER entertainment venue?*

or... How about... 
**  Release him to the wild - where his family still lives? * 
is it cheap? not to do - but it saves the next DECADE or two... or three!... of food, vets, maintenance, staff...

i vote for RELEASE - let him go home. *they have made their money off him - 
he is not happy in captivity. also, needed husbandry is difficult with a whale who has already killed someone; 
rather than neglect him, set him free. *


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

YouTube - Sea World Trainer Killed By Killer Whale

this clip is the best short-summary i;ve found;

there are several conflicting statements; 
one says the woman was standing by a holding-tank and was pulled in - the orca reached for her 
+ took her at the waist, shaking her so violently that her shoe flew-off.

the other that she FELL or SLIPPED into the tank, which is quite different.

another eyewitness said that the trainer was *describing the show they were about to see*... 
i don;t know if she;d be doing that by a holding pen? or if that would be in the main-arena. (the witness did not specify.)

SeaWorld made the statement within a hour or two that the trainer had DROWNED - 
if the orca was shaking her like a terrier does a rat, there will have been far more potentially-lethal injuries; 
spinal injury, internal bleeding, crush-trauma, head-trauma including shaken baby syndrome (brain striking the skull), etc. 
those cannot be identified without an autopsy.

notice in the comments - 
------------------------------- 
one woman said that she was there in Nov-2009 and *none of the whales would perform*, quote - 
that they ignored all cues and swam about; that to me sounds as tho trouble has been brewing for quite some time. :---(

another comment said the whale was **500 kilos**. oops... thats only 1100 pounds. 
math error on a big scale...  Tilly is over-10,000# or 5-tons... more than TEN * TIMES 500-kilos.

this is very sad event; Sea-World has a lot to answer for, IMO. 
why he was being used in interactive shows, for just One.

--- terry


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## Dirky47 (Oct 20, 2009)

What a horrible news. It makes me frown today.


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## Clare7435 (Dec 17, 2009)

They should try leaving the real wild animals where they are then eh.....they saw this coming....but as usual the money was more inportant.......I'm sorry for the trainer of course...but something's got to give, I've seen those shows and they're unfair.
Clare xx


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

the show must go on... :mad5: 
Deadly orca attack prompts debate - Environment- msnbc.com



> EXCERPT -
> _Orlando SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau was rubbing Tilikum from a poolside platform on Wednesday when the whale reached up, grabbed her ponytail and dragged her underwater. She died from multiple traumatic injuries and drowning.
> SNIP...
> Former SeaWorld head trainer Thad Lacinak... (said)
> ...


a game!? say what?! he is described as having shaken her like a rat in a terriers mouth - 
that is not *play* in the normative sense - orca ARE aware that humans are an air-breathing species! they can easily scan heart + lungs; they know that we are alive, not floating toys or seaweed ropes.

orca ARE intelligent + aware - 
one captive bull pressed his forehead against his pregnant mate, then beat his head against the tank-wall; 
that day, her calf;s heartbeat had stopped - the infant was stillborn. 

orca KNOW the diff between toys + living-things; the fact that they play with a seal, a penguin, etc, before KILLING it does not make that prey-animal a literal toy, an inanimate object.

IMO describing such a serious attack as *play* is disingenuous + deliberately misleading to the general public. :nonod:

Whale trainer death tied to mating, isolation - Discovery.com- msnbc.com 


> "It is my understanding that he is often kept by himself," she said. "That is not natural. Males in the wild generally live with their mothers and other family members. Such social contact is critical to their development."


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

http://tinyurl.com/2bcqykx

this is one of the clearest, LEAST hysterical + most factual articles i have yet seen.


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## Acacia86 (Dec 30, 2008)

I still can not get over the fact they treat this all as a brush off......i am not on about the human (no offence to anyone) i am on about the Orca........

This whale was obviously seriously stressed just like all the others that are kept in tiny confines and yes they are tiny compared to the expanse of the ocean in which they swim in when they are FREE   no poxy tank no matter how big will ever compare to the ocean.

These beautiful, WILD, majestic, stunning, sensitive mammals are still being cooped up like this......it breaks my heart. They are one of favorite animals of all time. Always have been, and to see them so restricted and forced it truly heart rending.

What the fu*k is up with humans? Why do we not allow them all to be just as they should be instead of making sick shows that try to flaunt them and make ££££££'s   

In fact Norway do boat rides to see them in the WILD swimming in their pods FREE as they should be. And they make money, no denying, so why not do this then as long as it done to the respect and welfare of the animals everyone will ''win'' so to speak

I get so mad (as you have guessed!) to see such truly beautiful *truly wild* mammals treated like a domestic animal. They is NO fine line there is a huge canyon of difference.

While i understand it MIGHT have been done in the past for learning about the species, it did in fact help to conquer some human species misunderstanding about the ''killer whale'' but there is absolutely no need these days. It is possible to chip Orcas in the wild and follow and learn from that.

Its a disgusting money making scheme thats all. Nothing more nothing less. The public need seriously educating.......

Thats all folks!! Sorry for going on and on and on and on and on.........its somehting i am very very passionate about! :thumbup:


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