Trainer killed by whale

[pbensur]

Sadly a female trainer was killed by one of the whales just prior to a performance at Seaworld today.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100224/...seaworld_death

[Paul and Jacqui]

On the BBC news it showed an aerial view of the pens where they hold the whales. I hadn't realised how small the tanks were, I think that the whale would have great difficulty just to turn around in his tank. We have been to the shows in the past but always felt a bit uncomfortable watching these huge animals having to perform.
Jacqui

[JAF]

There are strict regulations regarding size of tanks etc and it would not be possible to keep them in a tank deemed to small for their size. It will be impossible to release this whale into the wild which means a hard decision for Seaworld.

[Steve]

Sad news indeed. I think that aerial view Jacqui, was the holding pen that the whale was put in immediately after the attack. It appears that Sea World will not do anything to the animal as this is not what the trainer would have wanted and after all it is a wild animal doing what comes naturally. Perhaps they should look at not using it for shows any more as it is the 3rd time that this whale has killed. I can't see why they don't try and rehabilitate it to the wild, as in "Free Willy" because clearly it cannot continue to perform for the public.

I too have mixed feelings about these killer whales being kept in captivity. I remember the first time I saw them and was so moved by what I saw but a part of me was sad that this huge, wonderful animal only had such a small environment in which to live but had it not been in captivity I would not have seen one close up nor learnt about it.

I do think that Sea World do a great deal of conservation and animal rescue so it is not just purely commercial. Anyway very sad news.

[pbensur]

It really is sad seeing them penned up, but in most cases this is all these animals have ever known as they were born into captivity. They are treated very well if this is any consolation! :)

[Mary and Colin]

This is such sad news. We saw the shows last June again. We talked about what the animals were doing and thought that they must enjoy the shows and interaction otherwise they just wouldn't do it. Hopefully this is the case and they are happy.
We have learnt so much about things at Sea World that we would not have done at home.
Thoughts to all the family and friends at this sad time.
Mary

[ellie]

I know that we were spellbound watching the shows last time we visited, but perhaps this sad event just brings home the fact that these are still wild animals. They may be trained, they may have always lived in captivity, but they still have some freedom - to perform or not to perform, to work alonside their trainers or to turn on them in certain circumstances.

It is very sad for the trainer's family, but it is only too obvious that, to the trainers, these animals are their life, and they get great joy from working with them. No doubt this lady knew the risks she was taking and probably would not have had it any other way.