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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Karen said: "Hey Couchmaster, Your dog is gonna die out there.
He is not a wild animal."
What a terrible thing to say. My dog is fine and still won't go away.
I'll go look now.....wait...what's that? OMG!!! HOLY CRAP
Shit
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 4, 2014 - 10:53pm PT
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OMG!!! Couchmaster!
How long was your dog out there?
Gosh he has such a big head!
What kind of breed was he??? BULGEMELLON???
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 6, 2014 - 06:20pm PT
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Here is part of an article from national geographic about Blackfish
Opinion: SeaWorld vs. the Whale That Killed Its Trainer
The film Blackfish probes the case of an orca that killed its trainer. Blame is assigned to SeaWorld—rightly so, in my view.
There have been dozens of attacks on trainers by orcas in marine parks around the world. These are not bad whales; they just come with all the instincts of predators, says the author.
The documentary Blackfish opened around the country on July 26, with more splash than usual for a small-budget production, thanks to a preemptive attack on the film by SeaWorld, the marine-park franchise, and the free publicity of the tempest that followed.
Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, the homicidal killer whale, and his most recent victim, Dawn Brancheau, the SeaWorld trainer he crushed, dismembered, and partially swallowed in 2010. The film is an indictment of SeaWorld, its safety practices, its animal husbandry, its mendacity, and its whole reason for being.
Signs of Trouble
"Only once in history has a killer whale killed a human," I wrote. "That incident, in which Tilikum, a captive whale in British Columbia, pinned his trainer to the pool bottom, drowning her, is generally deemed to have been horseplay, just a misunderstanding, a simple failure of the whale to appreciate the difference between human breath-hold capacity and his own."
This was the explanation put forth by SeaWorld, which had bought Tilikum from Sealand of the Pacific after he killed that first trainer, 20-year-old Keltie Byrne. (Sealand, which immediately went out of business as a consequence of Keltie's death, needed to liquidate its assets. Its orcas Haida II and her baby Kyuquot went to SeaWorld San Antonio. Nootka IV and Tilikum went to SeaWorld Orlando.) I had sense enough to question the horseplay theory. SeaWorld is a multibillion-dollar enterprise entirely dependent on the draw of its killer whales—orcas with reputations as playful and lovable, not murderous. I had little doubt the story had heavy spin.
The Veterinarian's Role
SeaWorld's Letter of Denial
Public relations at SeaWorld remain dismal. In the case of Blackfish, the PR sin has been not been omission, but commission. SeaWorld must have known the content of Blackfish since at least January, when the film screened at the Sundance Festival, but for months the company simply kept quiet—the smart thing to do, obviously. Why risk the "banned in Boston" effect? Why publicize the efforts of the enemy? Then at the last moment the company changed course, sending out its letter to film critics ("In the event you are planning to review this film, we thought you should be apprised of the following.").
This letter, SeaWorld's defense of itself and its attack on the integrity of the Magnolia Films documentary, is a tissue of obvious lies, detailed below.
Bullying: In its letter to film critics about Blackfish, SeaWorld challenges the implication that unlike killer whales in the wild, killer whales in zoos or parks—and specifically Tilikum, the whale involved in Dawn Brancheau's death—are routinely bullied by other whales. The word "bullying" is meaningless when applied to the behavior of an animal like a killer whale. Whales live in a social setting with a dominance hierarchy, both at SeaWorld and in the wild. They express dominance in a variety of ways, including using their teeth to "rake" other whales, in the open ocean as well as in parks.
However, SeaWorld was built by breaking up killer whale families. Every orca colony in every SeaWorld facility began as a kind of orphanage. The founding fathers and mothers in each facility were plucked as calves from their pods, after long chases by aircraft and speedboats tossing bombs, with collateral deaths in nets of siblings and cousins. When Washington State banned SeaWorld from state waters for these practices, SeaWorld moved its collecting operation to Iceland.
Training: The letter claims that SeaWorld has never used punishment-based training on any of its animals, including Tilikum, only positive reinforcement. And the behaviors it reinforces are always within the killer whale's natural range of behaviors.
SeaWorld, it's true, does primarily rely on positive reinforcement, though occasionally it resorts to punishment as a fallback, as former SeaWorld trainers testify in Blackfish, and as ex-trainers of my acquaintance have told me. Positive reinforcement works much better than negative, as the psychologist B.F. Skinner demonstrated long ago.
There is something disheartening about this video, something degrading to the majesty of the killer whale, whether Tilikum feels it or not. And something deeply disquieting. Why, the viewer wonders, is this animal a sperm donor? Samantha Berg, one of the former SeaWorld trainers interviewed in Blackfish, expresses this well. She points out that any pit bull with tendencies like Tilikum's would have been euthanized long before his third homicide, and certainly never would have become the star of a breeding program. Tilikum is the most prolific sperm donor in the history of orca captivity. Today more than half of SeaWorld's orcas have Tilikum genes. It is truly beyond comprehension. What sort of short-sighted greed and recklessness is this?
The ponytail defense: The letter disputes the documentary's assertion that Tilikum attacked and killed Dawn Brancheau because the whale was driven crazy by his years in captivity. SeaWorld claims that Tilikum did not attack Dawn. It says that all evidence indicates that Tilikum became interested in the novelty of Dawn's ponytail in his environment and, as a result, he grabbed it and pulled her into the water.
SeaWorld's contention that Tilikum did not attack Dawn Brancheau is their most craven and unforgivable claim of the "Dear Film Critic" letter. Nothing SeaWorld says in explanation of the attack is true. Dawn's ponytail was not a novelty. Ponytails are commonplace on orca trainers, both women and men—a convenient style for people always in and out of the water. Footage from Blackfish shows Dawn on other days with her hair in a ponytail, happily working with Tilikum and other orcas. The whale did not pull her in by the ponytail, anyway. Video from Blackfish shows Tilikum grabbing her left arm. In court proceedings in the aftermath of her death, as Blackfish makes clear, the "spotter" who thought he had seen Tilikum seize the ponytail retracted that impression. That SeaWorld continues to suggest, three years later, that "all evidence" points to the ponytail is astounding.
The whale did not see the ponytail, or any other part of Dawn, "in his environment." Tilikum's environment is not Florida. Tilikum's environment is the cold, windy, herring-filled seas of Iceland from which he was yanked as a calf. There is no record, in all history, of an orca ever having harmed a human being in that environment, or anywhere else in the ocean. That world, the ocean, is where all killer whales belong and should be. Where Tilikum saw Dawn's ponytail, if he noticed it at all, was in the tank at SeaWorld. The only place killer whales ever kill and injure humans is here, in the confines of tanks like these.
Tilikum became so interested in the novelty of Dawn's ponytail, SeaWorld would have us believe, that he scalped and killed her. The autopsy report points to some impulse rougher than curiosity. In the words of Dr. Joshua Stephany, associate medical examiner for Orlando, Florida:
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Comments
Cindy Law
I just can't stop thinking something needs to be done to stop Sea World, it's affiliates, and all other water parks. I wanted to know more so I turned to National Geographic and now I am even more fired up!
tiras Prothro
This is a real question. Why do white people feel like they have to play God over people and animals? smh.
didi magnin
Of course Orcas were never meant to spend their lives in swimming pools, be separated from their families - I saw the mother weeping when they took her daughter away. When you see orcas in the wild attacking sealions - then you understand their frustration. When will parks like Seaworld stop showing these magnificent animals to stoopid hoominz????
Molly Emery
Who is this idiot Jacki Blue? Another marketing SeaWorld puppet paid to write supportive posts? Does she realize how ignorant she sounds? She continues to embarrass herself, her intelligence and her moral being. Good God let's stick her in a tiny glass cage, impregnate her, take away her baby and throw her some dead food to keep her in line... and then let's read her comments again in 25 years.
Riveting article, nothing I didnt know already, but worth the read anyhow. SeaWorlds arrogance disgusts me. I believe its only a matter of time before society "evolves" as it always does, and demands ending these barbaric and sickening proceedures, practices, attitudes and behaviors.
One day, our young people will look back and say “I can’t believe we used to do that” when they look at old pictures of what used to be SeaWorld.
Thank you Ken Brower and thank you National Geographic for keeping an open forum. Maybe SeaWorld will write you a desperate letter as well.
Tui Allen
Thank-you for writing this very thoughtful analysis of orcas in captivity. I've been inside the minds of wild cetaceans for many years now while writing as I do from the point of view of dolphins. It makes me feel for them more strongly than you might ever think possible. They belong free in a clean ocean and the tragedy and cruelty of captivity must stop. See my novel Ripple (in Amazon) to see what these animals are like and how they are supposed to live.
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 7, 2014 - 10:31am PT
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Sea World is in it for the money!!!!
A lot of rich guys getting richer!
Time to build some rides and quit making wild animals do tricks for food!
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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I went out with someone for several years that was a trainer/performer at Marine Land in PV before it closed. She used to defend the treatment of capitve whales and dolphins and their value for conservation(we didn't agree on this at all).
She also told me that she belonged to PETA, but her PETA was People Eating Tasty Animals.
Anytime you take highly intelligent, social animals and put them into a manmade environment where their natural behavior is totally modified to suit some human purpose there is going to be problems. They can easily become mentally disturbed and even psychotic. This goes for whales, dolphins, elephants, apes etc. They are not like other domesticated animals.
Because some these animals socialize with us we tend to try an anthropomorphize them and think they really like us. We think have some kind of special relationship with us, even though we control almost everything they do by witholding or meeting their basic needs as we see fit. If you think they don't resent that you are not giving them enough credit. They are basically endentured servants for their entire lives, and no amount of garaunteed food, medical care or protection is going to make up for it. Occassionaly they lose it and take out their frustration on someone, usually their "trainer" is the first one to get it.
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 8, 2014 - 09:35am PT
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Hey TGT,
That was a great post!
Well said Stahlbro!
"Because some these animals socialize with us we tend to try an anthropomorphize them and think they really like us. We think have some kind of special relationship with us, even though we control almost everything they do by witholding or meeting their basic needs as we see fit. If you think they don't resent that you are not giving them enough credit. They are basically endentured servants for their entire lives, and no amount of garaunteed food, medical care or protection is going to make up for it. Occassionaly they lose it and take out their frustration on someone, usually their "trainer" is the first one to get it."
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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LOL Karen!
BTW, Why was I the only one who seemed sad that Cosmiccragman had captive parrots? I mean, CCman otherwise seems like a good dude, but it seemed like a similar story to Karens about keeping Orcas and Dolphins in captivity.
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 8, 2014 - 10:06pm PT
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"Because some these animals socialize with us we tend to try an anthropomorphize them and think they really like us. We think have some kind of special relationship with us, even though we control almost everything they do by witholding or meeting their basic needs as we see fit. If you think they don't resent that you are not giving them enough credit. They are basically endentured servants for their entire lives, and no amount of garaunteed food, medical care or protection is going to make up for it. Occassionaly they lose it and take out their frustration on someone, usually their "trainer" is the first one to get it."
This goes for Parrots too!
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Any off y'all ever hooked a dolphin?
Good God they will pull some line!
I would cut the line but I figured the right thing is to make sure to remove the hook?
Sometimes takes an hour or so from hook up to release
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thebravecowboy
Social climber
Colorado Plateau
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nob'dy likes getting fisted by the world's tallest man. not even sad chlorine dolphins.
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cuvvy
Sport climber
arkansas
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Well, this answers the question, " Do unrealistic dreamers exist?"
Green before baleen
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 9, 2014 - 10:16pm PT
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Jeepers I wonder how long it will take to remove that hook.
Hey he looks a lot like you Q!
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 10, 2014 - 10:20am PT
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BTW
We won't know until Jan. 16 whether "Blackfish" has received an Oscar nomination for best documentary.
But "Blackfish" is a best documentary nominee at the BAFTAs --the EE British Academy Film Awards. "Blackfish" recounts the saga of Tilikum, a six-ton killer whale at SeaWorld Orlandothat killed trainer Dawn Brancheau in February 2010.
"Blackfish" debuted at the Sundance Film Festival last year and later aired repeatedly on CNN. The film has produced fierce reactions and prompted Barenaked Ladies, Willie Nelson, Heart and other acts to cancel concerts at SeaWorld.
You can write to SeaWorld and let them know what you think.
GuestCorrespondence@seaworld.com
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 10, 2014 - 11:03am PT
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Also,
For those in the San Diego, CA area:
*PROTEST SEAWORLD: This Saturday, January 11 -11 am @ SeaWorld San Diego*
For parking, turn onto S. Shores Park off Friars Rd and park in the boat ramp lot then walk up about half a mile to protest location on Sea World Drive and Sea World Way.
Sorry for the late notice, but we were just informed. Please let us know your feedback if you do make it!
Join
$lave World Demonstration- Let's create more AWARENESS
Tomorrow at 11:00am
Sea World, San Diego (CA) in San Diego, California.
I will be at Pat Nay's memorial! I wish I could be in two places at once!
$lave World Demonstration- Let's create more AWARENESS
Tomorrow at 11:00am
Sea World, San Diego (CA) in San Diego, California
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nature
climber
Boulder, CO
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Jan 10, 2014 - 12:22pm PT
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#blackfish is going to crush it for the Oscar.
BTW... if you are at all interested I'm putting together a trip to go visit the Orcas in the San Juan Islands in May or early June. One day chartered on a large zodiac and the next day sea kayaking.
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Russ Walling
Social climber
from Poofters Froth, Wyoming
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Jan 10, 2014 - 12:25pm PT
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^^^^^
Don't harass the sea life!!!!!!!!!!!! #menace
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Jan 10, 2014 - 12:45pm PT
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Canned tuna never has been the same since they made it
"Dolphin Free"
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nature
climber
Boulder, CO
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Jan 10, 2014 - 07:04pm PT
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his name is #blackfish
he's a captive slave
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