Is Tilikum the Killer Whale Truly a Killer?

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Tilikum is the name of the most notorious killer whale in Seaworld. He is responsible for three deaths in SeaWorld. The most recent case of the death of Dawn Brancheau in 2010 brought the world’s attention to the captivity of killer whales. Dawn Brancheau was one of the most senior whale trainer that is allowed to to work with Tilikum (Kirby 305). Despite that, many rounds of checks were carried out before the training starts. The incident occurred during a ‘Dine with Shamu’ experience where guest could eat while watching the killer whale interactions. Dawn fell in the pool and was taken down by Tilikum. Tilikum held her in his mouth, ramming her twice head on and dragging her to the bottom of the pool, holding her there for several seconds (Kirby 313). She tried to swim away but to no avail. Tilikum thrashed around violently, flailing her around. By the time the rescuers removed her from his mouth, Dawn’s left arm, ponytail and scalp was not attached to the body anymore (Kirby 313).
For many years, SeaWorld has been putting up killer whale shows for human entertainment. The Shamu show is the lost well know whale show. Shamu was the name of the first killer whale brought to Sea World San Diego in 1965. “Shamu” is now used to refer to any whale that is performing as a stage name. Throughout the many years of performance, the death of Dawn Brancheau was the lost influential and famous incident. This incident gained a lot of interest and made known to many people the problem of captivity for killer whales and how all of this could be prevented if this industry was not created at all. The death of Dawn Brancheau sparked director Gabriela Cowperthwaite to create the documentary “Blackfish” (Cowperthwaite, “Filmmaker: Why I made Blackf...

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... Documentaries such as Awards winning The Cove and Blackfish have been drawing a lot of attention to cetaceans in captivity. More documentaries should be made and broadcasted regarding this topic so that more people will get to know about this issue. Environmental groups can also make it more accessible for people to join and help in bring this message worldwide. Education could be also useful in teaching the young about animals in the wild and instead of bringing them to the marine parks, bring them to whale watching. This way they can learn about them living in the wild and not seeing a whale swimming rounds in a tank. People should be encouraged to visit whales in the wild and not in marine parks performing tricks. Through help from environmental groups, the government, schools and individuals, the killer whales will get to return to the wild, where they belong.

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