Is it right to confine wild animals within concrete walls and train them to serve man’s amusement? Making the argument that some beasts cannot be domesticated, to defend Sea World’s killer orca showing his untamed nature, is to sell mammal brains short. In the wild, Orcas seize and subdue their prey to eat it. They’re called killer whales, not dunk-the-irritating-human-until-she’s-dead-then-play-keepaway-with-the-body whales. In the wild, Orcas don’t have jailers who force them to labor.
Wild animals don’t work for a living and Tilikum is apparently leading an insurgency against animal slave drivers.
Which is not how Sea World tells it. Their experts suggest that Tilikum mistook the trainer’s ponytail for a toy and then likewise her resultant submerged body.
SeaWorld is being incredibly disingenuous when it claims to know only about their killer whale’s criminal record while in their custody. In reality they bought the infamous Tilikum in a fire sale, when a Canadian marine theme park had to close due to pressure from animal rights groups. Public concern began because a trio of orcas were acting up, the result of which was two dead humans. The full story is detailed in an upcoming AK Press publication, Fear of the Animal Planet: The Hidden Story of Animal Resistance by Jason Hribal, the relevant excerpts can be read at Counterspin The Struggle of Nootka and Tilikum and How Orky and Kasatka Almost Sank Sea World. Alexander Cockburn concludes Feed Pete Peterson to the Whales.
