Did the Sea World trainer killed yesterday get what she deserved?

Well... What I can't figure out is why they were keeping that particular Orca in captivity... for show. It was the same Orca that killed an attendant at the Sealand ocean-park in Victoria, British Columbia in 1991... leading to closure of that park. It was when that park was closed that the Orca was sold to SeaWorld in Florida.At the time, there were researchers saying that it was a mistake, and that if the Orca wasn't going to be killed, then it should at least be turned loose, because... Orca have *personalities*... and that one is/was known to be a bit psycho.

And it's not just researchers to know that Orca have personalities. The patterns of black-and-white, and the shape of the fins, are unique for each Orca, and seasoned mariners of the Sanich Sea have known for a long time that Orca have character.In particular, salmon fishermen knew/know that. They run into Orca a lot, because Orca from the Sanich Sea eat salmon (they don't like seals nor otters nor humans... they like fish), and the salmon fisherman know that some Orca can become pests.

The way they'll describe it... some Orca make a game out of messing with the fisherman's ability to net a catch, and frankly, like it or not, when salmon fisherman identify a particular Orca "gaming the system"... they will shoot them (yeah it's illegal, but that's what salmon fisherman do when nobody's looking). Otherwise, the salmon fisherman give them pet names. I know from personal experience that Orca have personalities.

I was trained as a singer at an early age, and it resulted in an ability to hoot in long, high-pitched squealing sounds that in one case got me a ticket from the cops for "stunting" (which was being nice, because they could have nailed me for impersonating a cop... I was imitating a police siren) and which I can use to stand on the shoreline of deep-water coves and call Orca... for entertainment... and I started noticing patterns in terms of which ones would respond, and how they'd behave when around. I wasn't paying attention back in '91 when that Orca was sold, because I presumed it would have either been put down, or stuck in a laboratory-tank and subjected to experiments in Orca psychology, or turned loose. When I first heard the news about the death in Florida, and I heard which Orca it was, I thought, "Oh good grief, what did they expect?

Whose idea was it to sell it and keep it on show like that?" I'm sorry if that wasn't the best first-reaction, but that's what I thought. I'm guessing that some will find it hard to believe that Orca are semi-sentient.

They're not as smart as bottle-nose dolphins, but they're smart enough. Comparing an Orca to a bottle-nose is like comparing a gorilla to a human, which means, they're not Einsteins, but they can get ideas. I.e.

, Do people know that Orca have languages and dialects? Studies have been done, and the Orca of the Sanich Sea have patterns of sonic communication that are unique enough to qualify as language. In the case of the Sanich Sea, there are three pods in the southern half, and five pods in the northern half.

Orca of the northern pods use patterns of sound quite different from those of the southern pods, and evidently, Orca of the northern pods can understand Orca from different pods within their territory, as can Orca from the southern pods, but northern and southern pods cannot understand each other! Further, each pod has a slightly different *dialect*, such that researchers can stick a microphone in the water when they see a pod swimming past, and can tell which *pod* it is by listening for the dialectic characteristics. Any beast that is sentient enough to have languages and dialects is also sentient enough to have personality, and just like with gorillas and humans, every now and then you can get a bad apple.

It's so sad that it happened... and I have some personal opinions about what should be done with the beast (I think it should be stuck in a laboratory tank and studied for psychological characteristic and for linguistic patterns to see if there's something that would enable a researcher to drop a microphone in the water and tell if there's a psycho-Orca in the pack, because most Orca researchers just dive into the water and swim with the Orca... Orca prefer fish, and they don't like warm-blooded red-meats... they'll only eat red meat if there's no fish around) but I can't stop wondering... who in the world would have sold that animal to be used in the same situation it was in the first time it killed? Who would have *bought* it? If a judge were to set free a pathological rapist, and he does it again... is it the rapists fault, or is it the judges?

I know that Florida being Florida they're going to call for a death penalty... whatever.. if that's the state's laws then that's that state's laws... but do you think maybe those who think that Orca are cute tools for putting on a nice show will clue into the fact that like Africa Elephants, Orca are semi-sentient, which means they have personalities, which means you have to show some respect, because you can get a bad one... they're not toys. Everyone knows that you can't keep a bad-tempered African Elephant as part of a circus show... people understand that African Elephants have personality. People need to understand that Orca have personality too... and my hunch is that the hard lesson is now learned... in a tragic way.

No one ever "deserves to die". This person was doing her job, at a company that has raised BILLIONS of dollars in marine welfare and ecological preservation. These animals are treated well, most of them are bred in captivity and not captured.

A lot of the whales enjoy the training and stimulation. This is like saying that someone who dies in a horse riding accident deserved it because they took a horse that is supposed to be a wild creature and tamed it. We would have never had dogs and cats if people didn't tame wild creatures.

The ONLY thing I find to be ridiculously bad juju in this whole thing is that this particular whale has killed/injured other people in the past. There is no excuse to keep an animal around who has hurt humans, similar to how dogs who bite people and cause serious harm are often euthanized for the safety of people and to prevent anything from happening again. Sea World is a beautiful place that has done so much for oceanography and marine life.

There will be freak accidents just like there are at amusement parks with rides. This doesn't mean you should never ride a rollercoaster again because they could malfunction, or that you should boycott all the parks.

This question is dealing with very complex situation on very surface level. Blame somebody just like that and put etiquete on some company as evil is very narrow way of doing it and question itself is producing way to much hate already on beginning. This is not a question from your side, it's a statement.

She (or anyone nearby) might have had it coming... the Killer Whale didn't give itself that name. 1. If you're so cruel that you participate in the captivity of a majestic create like this, like the trainer did, do you have anyone to blame but yourself when the imprisoned kills you?

~ I doubt she was the person responsible for the capture and the holder of the key but she was the person with the most contact with this Killer Whale and if this huge wild animal gets angry she would be the logical choice of the whale to lash out its anger, fear or dare I say resentment? 2. Is this situation any different then a cruel guard at a prison being killed by the wrongly imprisoned?

~ Ask this guy Tommy Silverstein about cruel and unusual punishment. He has been in solitary confinement for 27 years and if he could get his hand on his captor you know he would kill him/her for sure as killing a prison guard is what got him this punishment to begin with. cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/25/colorado.superm... 3.

Should we pass laws against the imprisonment of killer whales? ~ No I think it should be a "Do this at your own risk" sort of thing I would think people would be smart enough NOT to do something like this for the sake of entertainment. .. I mean really it is a killer whale just like Tommy Silverstien is a Killer Human.

Red Flag anyone? We do not need to pass laws against jumping out of aircraft without a parachute.. why? Because most people know it is a stupid, dangerous, and deadly thing to do.4.Is Sea World an evil company?

Should we all boycott Sea World? ~ No Boycotts draw more attention than they take away IMO and a better solution would be to stop locking up animals especially ones named after a deadly activity.5. This killer whale killed two other people while in captivity.

How stupid or evil are the Sea World people to keep a proven violent and large animal like this in captivity? ~ Very stupid. If my dog bit some kid last year my dog would be lucky to be alive but if he did survive to live today and then lets say bit and maimed or killed another human the Animal Control people in my city would demand the dog be euthanized immediately and I might be charged with a crime related to the reckless way I allowed my to dog with a history of violence near children or other people.

We need to pay more attention to what we are doing. The simplest things are often overlooked.

First I do not view the trainers as cruel in any way. My view of the trainers are lovers of these animals, who have devoted their lives to caring for and learning more about them. If there is debate over cruelty, it is the person who make the decision to keep the wales in captivity.In my eyes the trainers are innocent.

Using the same prison guard example, is the guard responsible for imprisoning a person? No. You can blame the prisoner, the cops, the judge, and even the lawmakers, but the guard has nothing to do with the decision to imprison a person.

1. If you're so cruel that you participate in the captivity of a majestic create like this, like the trainer did, do you have anyone to blame but yourself when the imprisoned kills you? No, I believe that all trainers accept that risk when they choose their career path.

2. Is this situation any different then a cruel guard at a prison being killed by the wrongly imprisoned? NOTHING justifies that killing of a human.

Also in this question you are assuming that the trainer is cruel. Lets change the description of the guard from cruel to loving husband, and father of two who treats his inmates with respect. This guard is killed during a riot.

Does he deserve it? No.Is it a know occupational hazard that the guard has to accept? Yes.

3. Should we pass laws against the imprisonment of killer whales? No.

I have a hard time distinguishing the difference imprisonment of killer whales and keeping an aquarium. I am fairly certain that the wales receive better care than the many poor gold fish I tried to keep when I was young. 4.

Is Sea World an evil company? Should we all boycott Sea World? Are zoos evil?

Should we boycott all zoos? I do not view the two as any different. Personally I do not think that either are evil because they provide the public with safe affordable way to view and learn about wild animals.

And I believe that educating the public about nature makes them want to protect it.5. This killer whale killed two other people while in captivity. How stupid or evil are the Sea World people to keep a proven violent and large animal like this in captivity?

Ndsight is always 20 20.As a software developer who has never attended even a biology class in high school or college, I am in no way qualified to answer this. I believe that expert trainers of Sea World will look into this matter to see what went wrong and what changes in policy and procedures need to be made. I do hope that experienced trainers decided to keep the whale at Sea World due to their best judgment and not a mandate from the top.

I would imagine that replacing a whale would be expensive and an "executive order make the situation safe" could be the case. In conclusion, do the trainers deserve to be injured or killed my the animals?No. The trainers love and respect these animals.

Should the trainers expect to be injured or killed?Yes. Even a dummy like me know that these are WILD animals!

My friend's mom works at SeaWorld Orlando, and he told me they're positively militant about the welfare of the animals there. Suggesting that a trainer "deserved to die" before you know any facts is a desperately shallow way of thinking.

I just have to say I'm totally shocked and disappointed in this question, and you can vote me unhelpful all you like, but this is out of line and insensitive to the family of the woman who was killed.

I can't say that she "deserved" it, but anyone who works with wild animals, and especially with huge ones, must know the risk they are taking. People get killed in other jobs, too. It isn't fair to blame the animals.

I'm all for the humane treatment of animals and the protection of employees, but don't think Sea World or other zoos should be arbitrarily boycotted or shut down. Zoos give people the opportunity to see wild animals up close that they never would get to see otherwise. Watching wild animals on TV or looking at pictures is just not the same experience as seeing one for yourself.

No, I don't think she deserved what she got. I think she genuinely loved those animals. If I am not mistaken I read somewhere that working with them was her dream since she was very young.

The problem is that when you go against nature then you see the consequences. What I don't understand is why this whale wasn't removed from the shows altogether years ago? According to the recent news this type of incident happened twice before This whale had a pattern of unpredictable behavior.

I think money/business was the main factor and they overlooked what happened in the past.

Actually I highly doubt this is what everyone was thinking. To answer your question: No, very few people in this world deserve to be killed. "Any reasonable and modestly enlightened person would agree that keeping a huge animal that roams the vast, open ocean in a tiny pen for entertainment purposes is unethical and cruel" I think there is mountain of evidence against this statement.

Unless you think everyone who goes to sea world is an unreasonable ignoramus and everyone who doesn't hold PETA/Sea Shepherd -like beliefs is also unenlightened. Given that obvious position I ask the following string of questions: You really are begging the question here. 1.

If you're so cruel that you participate in the captivity of a majestic create like this, like the trainer did, do you have anyone to blame but yourself when the imprisoned kills you? Yes, the whale and based on your accounts of its previous and repeated violent acts Sea World management. 2.Is this situation any different then a cruel guard at a prison being killed by the wrongly imprisoned?

Yes, whales are not people. I could frame a similar argument about the cruelty of continuing to breed and keep bulldogs as pets. If whales are like people then it would also be reasonable to assume that dogs are like people.

Would it not be unethical to breed a race of genetically deformed chronically ill hobbit people who are unable to naturally propagate with the intervention of medical science to keep in our homes for our own enjoyment? Don't get me wrong I think what I just said is a crock of BS and that keeping bulldogs as pets is fun and awesome but my point is that your whale to prisoner analogy is flawed in many of the same ways as my dog to hobbit people analogy.3. Should we pass laws against the imprisonment of killer whales?

Maybe. I think a more reasonable law would be one which lays out a set of acceptable environmental standards which must be meet in order to keep a whale in captivity.4.Is Sea World an evil company? Should we all boycott Sea World?No.

My guess is sea world is company of decent human being who sometimes make mistakes. If you truly believe that the keeping of whales is cruel or that sea world provides insufficient safety measures for their trainers and employees then abstaining from buying any Sea World products sounds reasonable. But like I said I don't think all reasonable and intelligent people would think this way so no EVERYONE shouldn't boycott Sea World.

5. This killer whale killed two other people while in captivity. How stupid or evil are the Sea World people to keep a proven violent and large animal like this in captivity?

A case could be made for stupidity in this instance and even unethical behavior or criminal negligence on the parts of a few employees/managers of Sea World. Evil is about 42 bridges too far in this case.

Because if it's the latter, I'm going to have to seriously consider boycotting *your* evil company, not SeaWorld. I know, you're just trying to stir the pot so you can earn some cash, but calling innocent people "cruel", "stupid", and "evil" is not an ethical way to do it. I only hope you are paying for these political ads out of your own pocket, and not out of your company's pocket.

In that case I suppose I can settle for just ignoring you rather than boycotting the whole shebang. Now, as an obligatory answer of your questions so as not to be completely off topic: No, she did not get what she deserved.1. I do not believe this woman was cruel at all.

In fact, I saw Dawn Brancheau just three weeks ago, and it appeared to me that she truly loved those animals.2. Yes. Humans are different from whales.3.

No. 4. I do not believe Sea World is an evil company, and I do not believe "we" should boycott them.

5. I don't think they are stupid or evil at all. How many hundreds or thousands of people have died on the highway that you use to drive to work every day?

How stupid or evil are you for continuing to drive on it? Every job involves risks. The risks taken by some of "the Sea World people" were greater than many.

But then, the brief glimpse I got of the life of Dawn Brancheau suggested to me that she truly loved her job, understood the risks, and thought the benefits outweighed the risks.

Jason I think that the question is provocative but "deserved" would mean we are judging this individual and since you are not a fan of Deities I imagine you would not want that job. But if sitting on the face of an animal called a KILLER WHALE everyday gets you killed you definitely should not blame the animal!

1. If you're so cruel that you participate in the captivity of a majestic create like this, like the trainer did, do you have anyone to blame but yourself when the imprisoned kills you? - I don't believe the trainer is to blame for the capturing of the animal itself.

All she was trying to do was exercise and teach the whale to do things it would not otherwise do in the wild. 2. Is this situation any different then a cruel guard at a prison being killed by the wrongly imprisoned?

- Again, I don't see how she, herself was being cruel to the animal in question. The whale was said to have been violent and involved in the deaths of several trainers in various other SeaWorlds. 3.

Should we pass laws against the imprisonment of killer whales? -Killer whales are generally not violent creatures. While personally I believe that wild life should be left to their own environment, the world would not be half as interested in these beautiful creatures without the exposure from sea parks.

I do, however, think there should be strict laws on the care and caging environment of killer whales. 4. Is Sea World an evil company?

Should we all boycott Sea World? -No. As I stated before, without these sea parks society would not have a great amount of the knowledge and appreciation for animals such as these without the exposure these parks give to the public.5.

This killer whale killed two other people while in captivity. How stupid or evil are the Sea World people to keep a proven violent and large animal like this in captivity? -I do agree on this point.As the whale was proven to be a violent creature, it makes me wonder what environment they were providing for it, or if it had serious medical problems or "cage shock".

Either way you look at it, they should have released him back into his home environment.

Sure, it's easy to consider it cruel to exploit these whales like SeaWorld does, but there's an entire awareness aspect to it - not to mention that SeaWorld raises millions for charity every year. Am I ok with a few whales living captive lives for the betterment of the species as a whole? Absolutely so.

That aside, this question is a bit tasteless because in the end she was just a person with a job, I doubt she was in there clubbing seals every day - like most people in her position it's safe to say that she had a pretty legitimate relationship with the animals. People make mistakes, and they suffer from them, that's it - I don't think anyone needs to validate the death of another person like this. I'm not even going to touch the fact that this entire line of questioning is moot because you're automatically postering SeaWorld as evil through the way you've worded things here.

Though, your pseudo-fame thrives on this controversy for the sake of being controversial bullshit.

Did the Save the Whales movement even exist in any substantive form before then. Sea World, like zoos, brings people into contact with animals they would never otherwise see in person. The emotional connections formed there build the sentiment that pushes for their protection.

We can argue all day about whether it is cruel for any animal to be in captivity (BTW, Jason, there are those who would argue that you have enslaved Taurus and Fondue by keeping them as pets), but the reality is that more animals are protected from harm by the existence of these parks than would be the case if they didn't exist. Furthermore, there is little or no chance that someone would choose to work with orcas and the inherent dangers for the pittance that trainers make if they didn't love these animals. I have yet to hear any trainer who was attacked by their charges place any blame on the animal.

They always choose to protect them from retribution.

Dawn Brancheau incident was a tragedy and my heart goes out to her family. It is just an unfortunate incident and no laws should be changed. silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/seawor... cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/02/25/crimesider/....

1) No, I feel that if you are going to be a participatant in the capivity of such a viscious creature like the "Killer Whale", then no, there is only one person to blame if you get attacked and killed by the whale and that is yourself. 2) No, I feel that there is no differance in this sinario than in a prison guard getting attacked and killed by a prisoner. Both careers are very dangerous and I am sure that anyone looking into these fields are aware of the dangers that come with them.3) I do not think that we need to pass a law against imprisonment of the, Killer Whale, but maybe come up with a much better solution.

Maybe bigger tanks, maybe try training them in smaller waters. 4)No, Sea World is not an evil company and I do not think we should boycott them. Many people love to sit and watch the shows that the, "Killer Whales" perform.5)To keep a "proven Killer Whale captive is extremely stupid.

I think once the "Killer Whale", kills someone then it is back to ocean grounds! I can not stand the thought of "ALL" those teeth going into someones skin! flickr.com/photos/jadewolf/3389304045.

1. If you participate in the captivity of a creature, I do believe that you are to blame if the creature kills you. If someone tried to detain and capture me for the rest of my life, I would likely be entirely justified in fighting and even killing for my freedom.In fact, I'd be expected to.

2. While the situation is obviously different in some ways (no communication, difference between cruel guard vs. trainer), I do think it draws many parallels. A cruel guard mistreating the wrongly imprisoned is a little different than a simple trainer doing her job (though I don't know the details of the trainer).

3. Yes, but this leads to furthers questions. If we outlaw imprisonment of whales, then do we outlaw imprisonment of other animals?

Only animals who have killed? Etc... 4. I wouldn't necessarily call Sea World evil... There are many different schools of thought on the matter of whether we should be able to kill, imprison, etc any type of animals for many different reasons.

Is it evil to imprison a whale? If so, is it evil to keep any sort of pet? Is it evil to kill cows for food?

This question, again, raises more and more questions. 5. I wouldn't call them stupid or evil necessarily.

Depending on the details of the previous deaths, it may have been a safety issue or something different.

1. Dealing with wild animals comes with risks, and she knew there was a chance of this happening. 2.No Animals are Below Humans, and I don't think she was cruel like a corrupt prison guard.

3. NO: I think bigger tanks will do.4.Is Sea World an evil company? Nah Should we all boycott Sea World?

Free will 5. Very Stupid.

Yes, let's boycott a company that focuses on the education and preservation of our marine life. We certainly don't want anyone working to preserve the Manatee species or encouraging and motivating a generation of youngsters who might see marine biology as a viable career. HOW EVIL YOU ARE SEA WORLD!

1. If you're so cruel that you participate in the captivity of a majestic create like this, like the trainer did, do you have anyone to blame but yourself when the imprisoned kills you? I don't think it's that black and white, sadly.

I too, am upset on behalf of Tillikum, but I in no way think that Dawn had it coming. It's human nature to want to collect beautiful things and subdue what is wild. I don't think there's any blame here at all, except maybe to the people who first took Tilly away from his family.

THEY were cruel and wrong - and also probably ignorant of what they were really doing. 2. Is this situation any different then a cruel guard at a prison being killed by the wrongly imprisoned?Yes.Very.

Animal =/= Human. This was not ''murder'' in the same way a human pulls a knife or a gun on another human.3. Should we pass laws against the imprisonment of killer whales?

Well, we don't know that whales re-released into the wild do well. Look at Keiko, he lasted less than a year. I certainly think they should not be allowed to be taken from their families in the wild as this one was.4.Is Sea World an evil company?

Should we all boycott Sea World? Let's step back for a minute here. Yes, Tilly's life and captivity are a very very sad take, and a very cautionary one.

I personally think it's stupid to keep such a huge and deadly predator in captivity. But let's not go pointing fingers at the ''evil corporation'', and pause to remember how much Sea World puts into conservation and education. Think of how many people have been educated and introduced to these animals through the parks alone.5.

This killer whale killed two other people while in captivity. How stupid or evil are the Sea World people to keep a proven violent and large animal like this in captivity? Please stop calling Sea World stupid.

They've done a lot of good, don't forget that. How many people get killed by dog attacks each year? Or horses?

When Christopher Reeve died there wasn't a huge call to release all horses into the wild. Or elephants and cows for that matter? Again, I agree that this is very very sad, and I don't think any *more* Orcas should be caught or bred into captivity in light of this, but calling Sea World stupid, and demanding that all Orcas be release isn't going to solve the issue either.

1. I think the trainer probably was just doing what she loved, being in the water and working with sea life. She's not necessarily responsible for the corporate machinery that built and maintains Sea World, rather she was just earning a living doing something she probably enjoyed, which is what corporations must inspire to keep all sorts of talented individuals employed to further their own mission.

I'm guessing in the back of her mind she was probably aware of this animal's record of, shall we say, "tough love" with its trainers, but probably at the time didn't necessarily realize that she could become its latest victim, she was just having fun. Who knows what the whale was thinking, for all we know it could've been doing the same; if a human or any other animal is raised and lives in certain conditions, it will do what it thinks is natural. Did the whale get put on trial or otherwise punished for its actions after its previous transgressions?

Do we as humans have any kind of acknowledgement that the whale knew what it did previously was wrong? Nope, it just did what came "naturally", in its environment and due both to nature and nurture. 2.

Very different. The whale probably got all the fish it could eat from the trainer, never got a nightstick in the face or reduced cable TV or other privileges for any transgressions or anything else it could understand as punishment. A trainer trying to relate to a whale is a universe apart from any one human being relating to another.At least you can look another human being in the eye (barring physical blindness of course), a human relating to a whale has very little common ground to stand on, and since the whale is at home at the sea, even less so.

3. I'm sure many wildlife activists advocate for this, to me it's not a big deal, there are plenty of more pressing issues affecting humans that I think deserve more attention and financial and legal backing (sexual abuse, poverty, hunger, to name a very few). These creatures are kept and as far as I'm aware treated well and given ample food and a large habitat to swim in, that's actually more than many human beings even in this day and age have available to them.

4. I don't care for Sea World and don't visit the park nor fund them in any way (that I'm aware of anyway, who knows where my tax dollars really go, maybe Sea World gets a chunk through some educational or government grants trickling in under the edifice of wildlife management or preservation). They're certainly not as "evil" in my mind as Nestle or Bayer or Union Carbide or other companies that have exploited humanity, so I don't know that they deserve a boycott as much as the latter.

5. Well, financially, it seemed like to make money they made a business decision to keep it rather than let it loose. If they did release the whale, it having been in captivity for so long probably would mean it would die in the wild more easily, not being accustomed to having to fend for itself and hunt its own prey.

That being said, I'm sure many "rabid" wildlife and sea life advocates protested destroying or releasing the whale because of their own beliefs; that despite its propensity to kill its trainers, it's nevertheless a beautiful creature which "must be preserved". Perhaps to avoid the bad press of ditching the whale, Sea World thought discretion the better part of valor and kept the whale, I don't know the particulars of their decision making in this but it seems like they'd want to keep their leadership and stockholders and lingering potentially protesting wildlife fanatics happy by maintaining a big money making whale machine rather than getting rid of it.

I agree with you on your opinion that SeaWorld is a cruel organisation and mistreats animals, but that never justifies killing. If you stoop to the level of justifying the killing of a person then you are just as bad as them. These parks should be shut don because they are cruel and returned to their habitats, but we cannot ignore the death and the loss of valuable life.

Also the treatment of the animals should be considered. If this whale was well trained and looked after then it would never have killed the trainer. So stricter rules should be in place for the welfare for not just these animals but all.

No its not here on fault if she likes animals!

Innocent people do not deserve to die. This woman was doing her job which was to entertain the people and take care of the Orca. SeaWorld is a company and although not evil by nature they did place the trainer and those people at risk by having an animal with more than one death attributed to it perform in public. The Orca is a wild animal and should be retired to a lonesome life in an isolated tank.

The question is valid, the tone is valid, its your society which has been made to think you can't ask them. Its the curse of the western nation, don't ask the obvious, keep the people dumbed down, and don't rock the status quo. Personally, I belive its the right question, with the right tone.

How much is spent world wide on animal welfare of dogs, cats, lions, tigers, even known terrorists have rights.. yet this graceful animal is kept in what equates to a prison cell, going round, and round, and round every day. I appreciate there are captive whales in seaworld which wouldn't last 2 seconds in the ocean, that doesn't make the question any less worthwhile, and indeed, having recently visited the park in question, even the trainers know that, as the guy said, these are wild animals, and they know the risks. The individual in question was almost surely good at thier job, cared deeply for the animals, worked hard, and was unfortunate.

However its a fact of life, that when you deal with animals, tragic things will happen, dogs are domesticated, and have been for thousands of years, and they turn.. We as a species are destroying the habitat and breeding grounds of this huge animal, we plonk a few in a park, humanize them by giving them names, and think we are putting the world back together, when all we are doing is a grown up show and half tell. And not fiing the root cause of the issue. If you want to see killer whales, then get on a boat, and go to thier back yard, don't gawk at them in a fish tank.

And while your at it, leave jason alone, he's asking the right questions, and hopefully keep doing so. As he points out, its a question, not his opinion. I used to teach a lesson called "asking the difficult question" to a team of teenage debaters, and I think articulating an opinion, for and against, is a dying are (as is my spelling).

Jason, from your question I expected you to list a host of cruelties visited on this creature by the trainer. Since that is not the case, I do not believe for one moment that the trainer is to blame, nor can anyone legitimately blame this whale. To answer the question directly: no, the trainer did not deserve death.

This is a tragic accident born from the inherent stupidity of keeping large predatory animals for show and monetary gain. I do not damn their decision to keep this animal - despite the idea, that some people purport, that this creature has a prediliction for killing. Umm, that was always true - it is after all a predator with all the instincts that go with it.

Instead I damn their decision to keep any animal captive, whatever its nature. How would you (anyone reading this) like to be taken out of your natural habitat and made captive? THINK about that.

Not a nice idea is it? The only time I would advocate holding wild animals in captivity would be to nurse them back to health - and possibly help an endangered species breed (though with that it would make more sense to create as large a space for them as possible) - anything else should be illegal. As I said - I do not blame the trainer - but I'm not surprised that this has happened to her.It is a dangerous profession, and I'm sure that the trainer knew the risks.

Regards.

No. The trainers do their job out of love and dedicate their lives to building relationships with them. If you want to blame Sea World, that's fine.

You're right, Sea World should have released this animal into the wild.

To show animals and make money on them I strongly disagree, from that on nature has to be preserved but not by private companies that only search for profit, no to parks, only isolate places for the natural development of environments, do not alaw people in only scientist to study how we have almost destroyed every thing by consuming much much more than we need. This economic crisis is the tale of the end of capitalism the fall of the wall for the brain dead greed oriented merchants. You have kids think again if you can choose DO NOT CONSUME MORE THAN YOU NEED 1.

Greed 2. . Yes is very different, the whale did nothing 3.

Yes anti greed laws 4. Evil greedy 5. Not stupid evil greedy evil.

I won't write an essay or anything but I would say that noone deserves death. Punishment yes, but not death. Even enemies.

I usually agree with you but you have to be saying this just to get a rise out of people. If the majority of people thought that SeaWorld was an evil company then free market principals would put them out of business. Animals are not humans and do not follow the same rules.

It is nothing like a cruel guard wrongly imprisoning a human. Please go set your dogs loose in the wild if you think they should have the same rights as humans.

1. Absolutely no-one to blame except yourself! "N-n--n-n-no boy's fault, but my own." (Led Zepplin) 2.

This is just EXACTLY like every case of a cruel guard being killed by the wrongly imprisoned tha tI've ever heard of, which come to think of it, comes out to zero. 3. Yes, and the penalty should be death by Orca. 4.

The Evil Empire. We should send Luke Skywalker to blow up their death star.5. They are very stupid and extremely evil.

Yes, she most definately deserved to die, she was a worthless human being.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.