Whale Tales - Tilikum
Killer whale at center of ‘Blackfish’ dies
(CNN) — Fri January 6, 2017 - Tilikum, the killer whale involved in the deaths of three people, including SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010, has died, SeaWorld reported Friday.
Tilikum was at the center of the 2013 CNN documentary “Blackfish.”
“Tilikum passed away early this morning, January 6, surrounded by the trainers, care staff and veterinarians that provided him around-the-clock world-class care,” SeaWorld said on its website.
SeaWorld reported in March that the orca – estimated then to be 35 – may be dying. It also announced then that it would no longer house the whales at its water parks.
The company has come under fire for its treatment of killer whales since the 2013 CNN documentary.
What's best for Tilikum now, and what have we learned?
The terrible tragic death of veteran trainer Dawn Brancheau at Sea World Florida has suddenly generated a nationwide public examination of our feelings about captive orca shows. We've now seen the harm they can do even to compassionate humans, and the mental distress captivity can cause in the orcas. Google shows at least 6,892 articles on the trainer's death. No other single news event has brought out such a groundswell of emotions doubting the ethical wisdom of using captive orcas for entertainment.
Now that we've had a few days to digest the multitude of facts and opinions, what have we learned about orcas, and what's next for Tilikum? What happens to the orcas, so exquisitely evolved to move great distances in vast surroundings as lifelong members of complex social worlds, when they are removed from their natural settings and families, or born in concrete bowls, and confined for life in minuscule, featureless cells?
Sea World had special operating procedures for Tilikum. Because of his involvement in two previous deaths and his unpredictable temperament, no trainers were allowed to get in the water with him. As an unrelated male among matriarchal females he was bullied and shunned by the other orcas and was usually kept separate from them. Chuck Tompkins, SeaWorld’s curator of animal behavior, said the park's female killer whales typically want Tilikum around them only when they are sexually active. Brancheau was one of the few trainers allowed to even get near him, and by all indications had been giving him quality time and attention for at least a decade. Her sessions with him must have been very important and emotionally charged for him.
On February 24th Brancheau had been interacting affectionately and intensively with Tilikum for possibly a half hour, making sustained, enthusiastic eye contact and giving signals for all sorts of behaviors that he performed obligingly. She was stretched out on a 4-inch deep ledge on the edge of the pool, as close as she could possibly get, when he grabbed her, possibly by her ponytail, and pulled her into the pool.
"Rescuers were not able to immediately jump in and render assistance to Brancheau due to the whale's aggressive nature," says a report released Thursday by the Orange County Florida Sheriff's Department. "She was recovered from the whale by SeaWorld staff members after the animal was coaxed into a smaller pool and lifted out of the water by a large scale/platform."
Brancheau's cause of death was "most likely" multiple traumatic injuries and drowning, the report says, citing autopsy results.
Many have assumed that Tilikum attacked Brancheau, acting out of pent up frustration from decades of confinement, domination and isolation. Others have suggested he was playing with her like a toy, or was holding on to her body as a trophy.
It's not clear whether drowning Dawn Brancheau was a hostile act or Tilikum's desperate attempt to grab and keep a companion. There is a striking similarity in the three deaths he has taken part in: in each case he kept hold of the deceased and refused to allow the body to be taken away.
If we've learned anything about orcas after almost four decades of field research, now worldwide, and the entire history of captivity, it is that orcas need companionship. They bond with their families for life, through good times and bad, and share their food with family members even when starving. In captivity they tend to form ad hoc bonds and swim in unison, always attuned to one another, always communicating.
Human companions seem to be the next best to the real thing, and when offered quality time by caring humans they often build trusting relationships, as many a veteran orca trainer will confirm. It's plausible to say that after years of extreme isolation Tilikum has become neurotic, obsessive and mentally disturbed. He never learned how to relate normally and safely with orcas or humans, at least since he was plucked from his mother's side as a youngster and thrown into a life of domination and rejection by strangers, both orca and human. Brancheau showed great compassion and empathy for Tilikum, but she may have underestimated just how messed up he was.
At this point there may be no good options for Tilikum. Sea World will probably not allow staff to get anywhere near him from now on, although he'll still need dental and other medical procedures so that may be problematic. Certainly nobody will be allowed to get as close to him as Brancheau was.
Sea World is now under new ownership, the Blackstone Group, whose theme park subsidiary is Merlin Entertainments, which has a public policy in opposition to captivity for cetaceans. This incident may force the new owners to decide about the future of Sea World. If they choose to keep Tilikum, they'll have to isolate him more than he has been ever since his capture in 1982, which could tip him further over the edge and make him more hostile or suicidal. If that happens SW will suffer a massive PR hemorrhage and could lose their primary stud as well. The par's days will then be numbered in a climate of very bad will, and the new owners will be responsible.
Retiring Tilikum to a bay pen in Iceland (hopefully also conducting field research there to locate his family) would build good will for doing their best for him. But such a courageous decision would also be the beginning of the end for Sea World as we know it. Not only is he their breeding male - even with his 13 progeny orcas in captivity are dying faster than they're being born - but successfully retiring a captive orca would set the precedent that has long been feared by Sea World. Keiko proved that even after long-term captivity an orca can regain his strength, catch his own dinner and thrive in the ocean, but since his death the whole project has been declared a failure in the media.
We humans with our relatively tiny brains and short evolutionary history are in no position to judge the actions of orcas, much less make plans for them, but at this point a management decision will have to be made about Tilikum's future. It's an open question whether i's too late for him to ever return home. Not only is he emotionally unpredictable but his teeth are mere nubs after years of gnawing on gates and being filed down to prevent infections, which could make it hard for him to catch live fish. His sad predicament and the hard choices now facing Sea World present the company with perhaps their greatest challenge ever.
NEWS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 24, 2010
Contacts:
Orca Network: Howard Garrett or Susan Berta, Orca Network
E-Mail
Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research
orcasurv@rockisland.com
Ralph Munro, Former Washington Secretary of State and long-time whale advocate
Email
Death of Sea World Orlando Orca Trainer
The tragic death of a veteran trainer at Orlando Sea World from an apparent attack, according to witnesses, by Tilikum, a male killer whale captured from Iceland in 1983. demonstrates the hidden costs of captivity for these highly social mammals.
The 30 year old male orca is likely the largest captive orca, weighing in at 12,300 pounds and 22.5 feet in length. In the wild, orcas travel 75 to 100 miles per day, and live in close, socially-bonded pods. Providing a suitable, humane, captive "habitat" for a wild mammal such as an orca is virtually impossible given their size, intelligence, social needs, and the need to be constantly swimming and diving.
There have been previous cases of captive orcas becoming depressed to the point of being suicidal from the stress of living in captivity, often isolated from other orcas or forced to live with orcas from other communities. In the wild, orcas have never been known to attack or harm a human.
Tilikum has been involved in two other incidents resulting in human death. In February of 1991 at Sealand of the Pacific, Canada, Tilikum and two other orcas were involved in an attack on 20 year old trainer Keltie Byrne after she slipped and fell into the whale pool. She was dragged across the pool and repeatedly submerged. After that incident, Tilikum was moved to Sea World Orlando in 1992, where he has been kept primarily as a breeding male, with little involvement in the whale shows.
In July 1999 a man entered Orlando Sea World and hid, then apparently removed his clothing and entered the tank with Tilikum during the night. A dead, naked body was discovered in the early morning, draped over Tilikum.
As the primary breeding male for all three Sea World parks, Tilikum is a very valuable asset to Sea World, as captures of orcas in the wild have virtually been stopped and the population of captive orcas has been going down in recent years. Tilikum should not be euthanized or punished for behaviors brought about from confinement by humans; and after 27 years of captivity he should be given the chance to retire to an ocean sea pen in his home waters of Iceland to live out the rest of his life.
This incident is a reminder that orcas should be left to live their lives in the wild, and not taken from their pods, forced to live in tanks and perform tricks to entertain and provide income for humans. The education provided about orcas by marine parks is presented in a setting that demonstrates human dominance over the animals, and masks the true beauty, intelligence, and power of orcas in the wild. Observing orcas in the wild, or learning about them from multi-media means such as IMAX movies, video, and websites provides a better education about the true nature of orcas, and is better for both the orcas and humans involved.
Orca Network has worked for decades to return Lolita, or Tokitae, the only surviving Southern Resident orca in captivity, back to her home waters of Washington State to retire after spending nearly 40 years in a small tank at Miami Seaquarium. More information can be found at www.orcanetwork.org.
