Ever since my first visit to Sea World in San Antonio, I completely fell in love with the “Shamu Show”. As a 5-year old, I was convinced I was a mermaid and I loved getting to watch the divers swim and do tricks with the whales and dreamt that someday that would be me. My parents signed me up for a summer program where I was able to go behind the scenes and pet sting rays and baby tiger sharks but if I’m being honest, I only did it because when I turned 14, I would be able to feed the whales. Growing up, I continued to be fascinated with Killer Whales and would draw them all over any available piece of paper I could find. You could say I was obsessed…
Last summer, I was searching Netflix and randomly found a documentary with a Killer Whale as the background titled “Blackfish”. If you haven’t already seen it, I would challenge you to watch it when you have free time. It goes beyond the audience and shows what it’s really like inside the tank. A huge part of me has been connected to these whales my entire life and seeing how they were actually treated in captivity broke my heart. Tilikum, the enormous 12,000 lb. whale who was the highlight of the documentary, was responsible for the death of 2 Sea World trainers and one man who trespassed on the property. These tragic events led to extreme safety codes and stirred paranoia about the “Shamu Show”.
Dawn Brancheau, the first victim of Tilikum, had noticed that before one of their normal shows, he had been unusually aggravated. During the show, she motioned for him to swim around the tank and when he didn’t complete the circle, she denied him a fish. Already food deprived, Tilikum became angry and dragged her into the water. I’ll spare you the unpleasant details of her tragedy but as a result, viewers were now terrified of the whales and Sea World received constant backlash and less support for the show.
It was easy for the amusement park to blame the actions of the whales on their size and aggressive behavior because they are wild animals. However, the park’s training process includes the trainers depriving the whales of food if they did a trick wrong or missed a cue. Not only that, but the families are put in separate tanks and mother whales would run into the walls and injure themselves while trying to get to their calf. Because Killer Whales do all of their swimming with their families, their separation could cause intense emotions and anxiety. The treatment of the whales when they are not in the show, was inhumane and led to a long held “grudge” by the whales. While they are wild animals, it was the park’s treatment that sparked the aggressive behavior of the whales and resulted in the deaths of the trainers.
It was easy for the amusement park to blame the actions of the whales on their size and aggressive behavior because they are wild animals. However, the park’s training process includes the trainers depriving the whales of food if they did a trick wrong or missed a cue. Not only that, but the families are put in separate tanks and mother whales would run into the walls and injure themselves while trying to get to their calf. Because Killer Whales do all of their swimming with their families, their separation could cause intense emotions and anxiety. The treatment of the whales when they are not in the show, was inhumane and led to a long held “grudge” by the whales. While they are wild animals, it was the park’s treatment that sparked the aggressive behavior of the whales and resulted in the deaths of the trainers.
This March, Sea World announced that Tilikum had developed a rare lung disease from bacteria that was extremely resistant to treatment. Along with this news, they revealed that would stop breeding the whales into captivity and that their current pod would be the last to ever be in Sea World tanks. This announcement filled my heart with joy! These whales do not deserve to be in captivity and need to be free. The wild obviously has its dangers compared to a controlled tank, but Killer Whales are the most adept hunters of the ocean and will live over 50 years in the open waters. The remaining whales in Sea World, including the dying Tilikum, will live out the rest of their lives in the park. Even though it is sad that they will never see open waters again, it means that no more whales will be taken from the wild and separated from their pods. This is a small step to a huge accomplishment for the freedom and better life for the Orcas.
I hope my last blog was a pleasant change. I chose this topic because I am so passionate about these creatures and I wanted to show the public that they are finally going to be no more whales in captivity. For now I am finished posting but please feel free to contact me through the comments about any of my posts that you would like to talk about. Thank you for following my posts!
-Alanna
Because I didn't want to focus on the tragedies and animal cruelty in this post, please click 'read more' and enjoy some fun facts about Killer Whales that I think are interesting.
I hope my last blog was a pleasant change. I chose this topic because I am so passionate about these creatures and I wanted to show the public that they are finally going to be no more whales in captivity. For now I am finished posting but please feel free to contact me through the comments about any of my posts that you would like to talk about. Thank you for following my posts!
-Alanna
Because I didn't want to focus on the tragedies and animal cruelty in this post, please click 'read more' and enjoy some fun facts about Killer Whales that I think are interesting.
Fun Facts:
Behavior
If a killer whale survives the first six months in the wild, a female's average life expectancy is within the range of 46 to 50 years and a male's is 30 to 38 years.
The killer whale social hierarchy is matriarchal or "female-dominant".
Behavioral studies of cetacean (dolphin) species in zoological parks suggest that killer whales are among the most curious of all cetaceans, with a great tendency to "play" and manipulate objects.
At other times, killer whales have been seen feeding in the same area with other marine mammals, with no apparent reaction by the killer whales. Some species, including those that are known prey for killer whales (minke whales, Dall's porpoises, and seals, for example) have been observed swimming with killer whales.
Other marine mammals may flee or avoid killer whales, but at times they seem to ignore them. Sometimes other marine mammals appear to be attracted to killer whales.
Scientists theorize that these differences in pod size are related to the whales' feeding habits. A large pod size may be best for herding and hunting schools of fish, and a small pod may be best for hunting marine mammals.
Offshore killer whales in the wild are sighted in groups of less than 20 to more than 100 individuals.
Off Alaska and Antarctica, groups of more than 100 killer whales have been observed. Larger groups of 130 to 500 individuals have also been seen, with one report of a gathering of an estimated 2,500 individuals. These larger groups may be due to seasonal prey aggregations, for social interaction, or for mating.
Occasionally there is an exchange of pods members, such as for breeding purposes.
Just like humans, whales travel with their families and create close bonds with their offspring and their offspring’s offspring and so on.
Senses
Killer whales have a well-developed, acute sense for hearing underwater. A killer whale's brain and nervous system appear physiologically able to process sounds at much higher speeds than humans
In comparison, the range of hearing of a young, healthy human is 15 to 20,000 Hz (0.015–20 kHz). Human speech falls within the frequency band of 100 to 10,000 Hz (0.1–10 kHz), with the main, useful voice frequencies within 300 to 3,400 Hz (0.3–3.4 kHz). This mainly falls within a killer whale's hearing range.
DNA analysis of several other species of toothed whales indicated that the eyes of these whales do not develop pigment cells called short-wave-sensitive (S-) cones, which are sensitive to blue light. Researchers theorize that all modern cetaceans, including killer whales, lack these visual pigments and therefore aren't able to discriminate color in the blue wavelengths.
In zoological parks, killer whales show strong preferences for specific types of fishes. Overall, however, little is known about a whale's sense of taste.
Olfactory lobes of the brain and olfactory nerves are absent in all toothed whales, indicating that they have no sense of smell. Being air-breathing mammals that spend a majority of time under water, a sense of smell would go largely unused in killer whales
Behavior
If a killer whale survives the first six months in the wild, a female's average life expectancy is within the range of 46 to 50 years and a male's is 30 to 38 years.
The killer whale social hierarchy is matriarchal or "female-dominant".
Behavioral studies of cetacean (dolphin) species in zoological parks suggest that killer whales are among the most curious of all cetaceans, with a great tendency to "play" and manipulate objects.
At other times, killer whales have been seen feeding in the same area with other marine mammals, with no apparent reaction by the killer whales. Some species, including those that are known prey for killer whales (minke whales, Dall's porpoises, and seals, for example) have been observed swimming with killer whales.
Other marine mammals may flee or avoid killer whales, but at times they seem to ignore them. Sometimes other marine mammals appear to be attracted to killer whales.
Scientists theorize that these differences in pod size are related to the whales' feeding habits. A large pod size may be best for herding and hunting schools of fish, and a small pod may be best for hunting marine mammals.
Offshore killer whales in the wild are sighted in groups of less than 20 to more than 100 individuals.
Off Alaska and Antarctica, groups of more than 100 killer whales have been observed. Larger groups of 130 to 500 individuals have also been seen, with one report of a gathering of an estimated 2,500 individuals. These larger groups may be due to seasonal prey aggregations, for social interaction, or for mating.
Occasionally there is an exchange of pods members, such as for breeding purposes.
Just like humans, whales travel with their families and create close bonds with their offspring and their offspring’s offspring and so on.
Senses
Killer whales have a well-developed, acute sense for hearing underwater. A killer whale's brain and nervous system appear physiologically able to process sounds at much higher speeds than humans
In comparison, the range of hearing of a young, healthy human is 15 to 20,000 Hz (0.015–20 kHz). Human speech falls within the frequency band of 100 to 10,000 Hz (0.1–10 kHz), with the main, useful voice frequencies within 300 to 3,400 Hz (0.3–3.4 kHz). This mainly falls within a killer whale's hearing range.
DNA analysis of several other species of toothed whales indicated that the eyes of these whales do not develop pigment cells called short-wave-sensitive (S-) cones, which are sensitive to blue light. Researchers theorize that all modern cetaceans, including killer whales, lack these visual pigments and therefore aren't able to discriminate color in the blue wavelengths.
In zoological parks, killer whales show strong preferences for specific types of fishes. Overall, however, little is known about a whale's sense of taste.
Olfactory lobes of the brain and olfactory nerves are absent in all toothed whales, indicating that they have no sense of smell. Being air-breathing mammals that spend a majority of time under water, a sense of smell would go largely unused in killer whales
Sources:
"KILLER WHALES (Orcinus Orca) - Longevity & Causes of Death." KILLER WHALES (Orcinus Orca) - Longevity & Causes of Death. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
"KILLER WHALES (Orcinus Orca) - Behavior." KILLER WHALES (Orcinus Orca) - Behavior. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
http://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/killer-whale/behavior
"KILLER WHALES (Orcinus Orca) - Senses." KILLER WHALES (Orcinus Orca) - Senses. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
"Tilikum, Whale Who Killed Trainer Dawn Brancheau in Orlando Last Year, Returns to SeaWorld Show." Tilikum, Whale Who Killed Trainer Dawn Brancheau in Orlando Last Year, Returns to SeaWorld Show. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
"Tilikum." Whales and Animal Welfare. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
"Here's What Will Happen to SeaWorld's Final Generation of Killer Whales." Metro Heres What Will Happen to SeaWorlds Final Generation of Killerwhales Comments. 2016. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
Sources:
"KILLER WHALES (Orcinus Orca) - Longevity & Causes of Death." KILLER WHALES (Orcinus Orca) - Longevity & Causes of Death. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
"KILLER WHALES (Orcinus Orca) - Behavior." KILLER WHALES (Orcinus Orca) - Behavior. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
http://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/killer-whale/behavior
"KILLER WHALES (Orcinus Orca) - Senses." KILLER WHALES (Orcinus Orca) - Senses. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
"Tilikum, Whale Who Killed Trainer Dawn Brancheau in Orlando Last Year, Returns to SeaWorld Show." Tilikum, Whale Who Killed Trainer Dawn Brancheau in Orlando Last Year, Returns to SeaWorld Show. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
"Tilikum." Whales and Animal Welfare. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
"Here's What Will Happen to SeaWorld's Final Generation of Killer Whales." Metro Heres What Will Happen to SeaWorlds Final Generation of Killerwhales Comments. 2016. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.