Save The Killer Whales From Captivity!

Tillikum, the orca, killed his trainer by drowning. We don't know why. He seems to have been fond of her and, from reports, she gave him some much-needed attention. He is the largest orca in captivity and lives in a woefully small tank unfit for even a small dolphin or porpoise. There is no tank anywhere that is large enough to provide an orca with quality of life.

Tillikum is 29 years old and the largest orca in captivity. In 1991, he was on display at Sealand of the Pacific in Canada when he and two other orcas killed a trainer in their pool by holding her under water. Tillikum did not instigate the attack started by an 8-year-old female named Haida, but he joined in. After this incident, he was sold to SeaWorld.

The reputation of the three SeaWorld facilities has been further tarnished as trainers continue to be injured or killed and orcas continue to live in deplorable conditions. Orcas have bumped, bitten, grabbed, dunked and held trainers on the pool bottom, in some cases leading to their death. What has been learned by the legacy of tragedy at SeaWorld and other aquaria? Nothing it appears; however, no record exists of an orca in the wild killing a human.

Another unnecessary human death has occurred and another orca will have his life further curtailed. Tillikum did no harm to anyone before being captured from his family pod in Iceland at the age of two. We do not know what an orca thinks or feels, but it is not too difficult to imagine that living in a tiny pool without adequate exercise or your family is not unlike the life of a human prisoner. The big difference is that orcas and other dolphin and whale prisoners are innocent of wrongdoing. Their crime is being valuable.

Tillikum has no one to talk to, since orca pods have their own dialect, and even another Icelandic orca and Tillikum could probably not communicate. In addition to his small tank size, which was shown on TV after Ms. Brancheau's death, Tillikum's living conditions will undoubtedly be further curtailed. His job at SeaWorld is to splash people.

If Tillikum had been allowed to live a normal life, he would have enjoyed his family's company, hunted cooperatively, and traveled up to a 100 miles a day in open water. Instead he lives in a confined situation with poor teeth and a bent-over dorsal fin, a condition that occurs in all captive male orcas and some females.

He weighs about 12,300 pounds, is 22.5 feet long, and no facility should be allowed to hold him or any dolphin or whale. The regulations for capturing orcas and dolphins from the wild are banned by the U.S. Government. But that does not stop aquaria captive breeding programs which lead to more imprisonment and death. In Tillikum's case he has fathered 13 calves, many of whom died. Corky at SeaWorld, San Diego, had seven calves and the longest one lived was 46 days.

SeaWorld and other aquaria have made millions charging very high rates for people to watch imprisoned animals do tricks. The real majesty of orcas can only be seen in the wild or by learning about their lives from videos, movies and websites.

The very least that should be done to improve their lives is to create considerate living conditions for them. A lasting goal would be open sea pens where orcas and other whales and dolphins would retire. Such pens would require huge sums of money but aquaria should foot the largest part of the bill. The goodwill created would be immense!

They might also create more of a tourist attraction than animals in concrete tanks. Revenue from aquaria shows has dropped since 9/11 and as society rejects what is perceived as animal cruelty. These facilities are eventually going to fail, so efforts should begin to retire aquaria and put the animals in open sea pens. Animals, whenever possible, should be returned to their family pods.

What is encouraging from this tragedy is the overwhelming support demonstrated for the plight of orcas in captivity. The majority of public comments shows that people understand captivity is wrong for dolphins, porpoises and whales.

Aquaria claims of education and research have no validity. We understand the lives of orcas only because they have been studied in the wild for over 40 years by biologists. Orcas live in their social families and never leave their "pod" except by death or capture.

Keiko, star of the Free Willy films, is cited as a failed example of an orca being returned to the wild. Conclusions are not reached by one example. His Icelandic family was not located before he was returned which might have made a big difference. The Captivity – Marine Mammals section of our website gives examples of animals who have returned to the wild.

The U.S. should set an example by phasing out aquaria and no harm - beyond what has already been done to this animal - should come to Tillikum.

The Blackstone Group, with headquarters in New York City, is the parent company of the three SeaWorlds since they purchased them in late 2009. They have in their possession animals that were forcefully taken from their family pods (Tillikum and Corky, SeaWorld, San Diego). It is time to find ways to phase out aquaria and other animals for amusement diversions, such as swim-with-dolphin programs in the United States. Other countries have phased out aquaria as they recognize that enlightened people are not accepting captive whales and dolphins as entertainment.