Free Willy?

So as I watch the news I'm watching about the war that has been going on now for almost 13 years now, the Olypic games, and of course, the Sea World trainer drowning incident. Out of all of these, the one that catches my eye the most is the Sea World. Now don't get my wrong, of course the war is on my mind, considering the fact that I have many, many friends who are in the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force, and many of them are already in Afghanistan or about to go. The Olypic games I have watched since I was a little and I always dreamed of being an ice skater, but living in a small town in Texas that doesn't have an ice rink and it never ices over (except for this year, we have had 4 snow falls this winter) then I've always known that this dream was out of reach. Now Sea World, however, has always been one of my favorite and most fascinating places ever. I have only been twice in my life, once when I was 8 and once when I was 14. I've always loved the water and Orcas, one of my favorite movies is still Free Willy. As I watch all of these reports on this trainer who got drowned by the 12,000 who has also been linked to two other deaths, it makes me curious. So I decided to use one of the greatest seach sites we have now days, google, to look up more information on this issue. I have a few thoughts about it, one: why is this Orca still around humans, two: why are humans still wanting to be around this Orca, and three: why is this issue front page news? As I stated before I live in a small Texas town, people are always getting hurt and killed by animals. Yes I realize this however is not a "normal" animal, bears, hogs, panthers, and such animals like these are known preditars. I wrote an essay one time in 6th grade over Orca Whales. I found out that there is no known Orca killing a human in the wild, much less in a so called "safe" environment such as Sea World or some other aquatic park. But we do know that the Orca whale is the most dangerous sea life mammal out there, even though before now we have never really heard of one hurting humans, we can't say that it could never happen. The movie 'Free Willy' in a way in misleading. The Indian, Randolph, tells a story of how a lost Indian carved an Orca out of wood, and this Orca saved his life, in a nutshell. Now this leads children who are 3 or 4 like I was when this movie to come out, the think this is the most magnificant animal, of course in the swimming in the summer time I would act like a femal Jesse and I would "ride" my blow up Orca whale around the swimming pool. Oh how I remeber those times, I was so young and innocent and they were some of the best memories I have being a child. The point I'm getting to is that as children we are shown that these amazing creatures are wonderful, extrodinary, and if we're lost at sea, they will come and save us. I'm older now and I still think that Orca whales are wonderful and extrodinary animals. I know now though that I won't most likely get saved by an Orca while being lost at sea. Now the point of this blog is to comment on some of the comments that I have been reading on some of the articles. People are saying that this animal should be killed, some say it should be released, some say that it is all Sea Worlds fault and they Sea World should be boycotted. I don't believe that Tilikum (the Orca's name) should be put down. I'm not quite sure if releasing into the wild would be such a good idea since he has been in captivity so long. I don't think it is Sea World's fault completely. Now to comment on all of these points that I have made here. This Orca should not be killed. As humans when we kill another person, so do believe that that person should be killed also. As humans we have a consceince mind and know what we are doing. Orcas are incredibly intelligent animals, but they don't have the emotions and consceince that we humans have, therefore this Orca could've have possibly been looking for attention, trying to play with Dawn (the trainer), or he could've possibly known what he was doing. We can never know exactly what his mind was going through, considering that Orcas can't speak in our language. Now as far as being released. This might not be the right answer either. He has been in captivity for quite some time. About 20 years now. You don't expect Charles Manson to come out of prison and act like a normal human being and live a normal human life (some might argue that he didn't do this before prison either), but the point being, this poor animal will not be able live a normal heathly life. But who knows maybe he could. Keiko the whale who played Willy was trained to live in the wild and lived a happy life in the ocean after being released. Yes he did long for human compainship, which could possibly show some human emotions, or it could just show that he was used to and comfortable being around humans. Tilikum obviously doesn't like humans. We probably will never know the reason for this. Tilikum could also be missing his pod (which is the name of the family Orca whales live in), if he is to be released back into the wild he will most likely reconnect with his pod. The only problem that lies with this is that since he has been away from his pod for so long, they might not welcome him back, which will lead him to being outcasted and have to live the rest of his life in solitude. If he has to live his life in solitude, could it be so bad to stay in captivity? We will never know if releasing or keeping him in captivity will be the right answer. I do think that if he is prepped enough and watched over time then he could possibly live a normal life. However if he doesn't then would it be so wrong to recapture him and make sure that he is getting food, and medical attention. It is not Sea World's fault though. The trainer knew what she was getting her self into when she became a trainer. The things we do know about Orca whales is they are wild animals, meaning that no matter how cute, sweet, playful, and harmless they seem to be, they are HARMFUL in some sense. As human the average weight is somewhere around 130 lbs. The average weight for an Orca whale is around 8,000 lbs. Now I don't know about you, but when I see that someone who is obviously 20 lbs or more than I am, I know that it is a dangerous situation, especially if they get upset at me. Now think about something that weight about 7,870 lbs (8,000 subtracted 130) more that you do. If it gets frustrated are you going sit there and blow a whistle and keep making it more frustrated and angry? Is that what you want people to do when you are frustrated or angry? NO, when I'm upset I want to be alone. Well considering the fact that Orcas have been found to have some sort of emotion, whether it is human or not, it's still emotion. When they aren't happy, they arent going to respond to being yelled at, or blown at, and they definantely aren't going to want to perform. Now taking this and considering the fact that reports say that early during the performance the Orcas wern't performing. Then they had a "Dine with Shamu" performance thing and what happends, they want Tilikum, who is showing signs of being upset, and angry to get out there and perform for the few audience members who can actually perform the "Dine with Shamu" package. Now the other fact is that Tilikum had "special polocies" that the trianers has to respect. One of them was that no trainer was actually allowed in the water with him. Why would they put him in the water for this perfomance, and even though Dawn was in knee deep water, sharks have been known to attack in knee deep and sometimes even ankle deep water. Why would an Orca be any different? Now yes this is seeming that I am putting blame on Sea World, like I said I am not. Like all wild animals, Orcas are unpredictable. Even if they are showing that they are angry, upset, or frustrating, we can't officially know if that is how they are actually feeling, or if they are just seeming that, since they can't tell us. Now to pull this all together, should we kill the Tilikum? 3 year olds who play with daddy's shotgun and the safety isn't on and kill their brother, should they be killed? NO. It was an accident. I believe that is what this was, an accident. I don't believe that Tilikim has the ability to know if what he did was wrong. To him he was playing or wanted to show that he was there, or wanted some attention. Should we release him back in the wild? I believe that we should take great precaution, make sure that everything is alright, medically, with him. Then we should, but keep a very close eye on him. Is Sea World at fault and should we boycott? No, we are all of guilty of not paying close attention to our friends, our parents, or even our children, and checking to make sure that their emotions are fully intact and ok. Should we boycott Sea World? I think, NO. We have seen men in white sequined shirts get mauled by white tigers. Do people still rush to Las Vegas to see Seigfried and Roy? Yes they do. Does that mean that people are going to stop wanting to see sharks, dolphins, penguins, or Orca whales? No we arent. As humans we have a natural curiosity factor in our brains. We want to see the things that we know we wouldn't be able to see other wise. If we could pay to go to outer space and see the stars, would we do it? YES. I know that this summer I'm still planing a trip to Sea World and I don't care that Tilikum drowned Dawn. Because he didn't consceinly know that he was drowning her. This is only going to make people more curious to see these magnificant animals. After all, did we know who Kim Kardashian was before they now infamous tape with Ray J? No, now the whole US tunes in every week to see what is going on with her and the rest of her family. Why is this? Because we didn't know who she was and our curiosity got up. So now she is a so called celebrity. Tilikum is now going to become a celebrity in a sense. So now to end. I am sorry for Dawn's family and their tragic lost. I do hope that PETA stays out of Sea World's decision on what is best for Tilikum. I hope that we all realize this is what happens when we decide to play with wild animals. Sometimes we get to hop on and go for a magical, unforgettable ride on an animal that we never thought we would be able to. Sometimes we get hurt, and the animals strike out at us. Now lets not let PETA and the snide comments that other people are saying make our decisions on this issue. Think for you self, and be happy!!!