Capturing is Killing

Orcas, more commonly known as killer whales, are found in oceans throughout the world.  They are thought to be the most widely disbursed animal on earth following humans.  A killer whale is no daisy to be twirled through your fingers, mind you.  As the name indicates, these brutes are predators.  They are big, highly intelligent and often use the same pack hunting strategies that wolves use.  Male Orcas average well over 20 feet in length.  A bull orca might easily weigh more than 12,000 pounds.  They are plenty fast, too.  They can reach speeds above 25 miles-per-hour.  They cooperate in living, loving, and killing.

Killer whales have a wide range of eating habits.  Some pods (groups of them) tend to specialize, perhaps eating more salmon than anything.  Others, as demonstrated in Argentina, have learned to charge the shore and beach themselves so that they can catch seals and sea lions on land.  The Orca is the largest predator of warm-blooded animals on the planet.  They will prey on sea birds, fish, seals, great white sharks, sea lions, the calves of larger whales and on rare occasion a hapless moose caught swimming in the open.

Interestingly, not a single human death has been attributed to a killer whale in the wild.  Documented attacks in the wild are exceedingly rare—less than you can count on one hand.  Most involved a bit of bumping and splashing.  Of those “attacks,” only one recorded a killer whale actually biting a person.  That attack involved a surfer off the coast of California in 1972.   Likely, the incident was a case of mistaken identity; the killer whale thinking the surfer might be a tasty snack.  We humans have, by means of our preference in both hairstyles and television shows, proven that we have disturbingly poor taste.  Apparently we don’t taste all that great either.  The killer whale immediately spit the surfer back into the ocean.  The surfer survived the attack.

Orcas in captivity are something else.

They are killers of humans.

Since the 1960s over 100 acts of aggression against humans (by orcas in captivity) have been recorded.  The aggression ranges from tugging or bumping humans to outright mauling and murder.  Four people have been killed by Orcas held captive in pools.  Three of the people were killed by the same Orca—a bull named Tilikum.

Tilikum is still “performing” at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida.  He is a known killer, but there is yet a great deal of money involved.  For one thing, Tilikum cost a great deal to train and keep for this long.  He also brought in big crowds.  More importantly, Tilikum is a prolific sperm donor.  By both natural means and artificial insemination, Tilikum has sired 21 offspring.

Ultimately, the whole murderous history of Orcas in captivity is about nothing more than money.  Killer whale performances draw big crowds.  On occasion, a successful movie starring one of these creatures is made.  Little consideration is given to how the orcas feel.  And the orcas—though many trainers deeply care for them and love them—are miserable in their pens.  You need see no more than the collapsed dorsal fins of the males to see this.  Virtually all bull killer whales in captivity display this—though in nature the phenomenon is rare.

Killer whales are very social and communicative.  They interact with clicks and squeals and whistles.  In captivity, they are often seem to be wailing their pools.  They are altenately aggressive and frustrated and then suddenly listless.  Today, Tilikum is lonely and adrift.  He is often off in his own pool, sulking.  The trainers are not allowed to share the pool with him—not that I am suggesting they should do so.

I do not blame the killer whales for any of their aggression while in captivity.  We really should know better by now.  We crave our freedom, too.  Finally, the life span of an Orca in captivity is now understood to be far less than the span of their kin in the oceans.

Same for the trainers working with them. 

If interested in more information, please watch Blackfish, the documentary about the plight of killer whales in captivity.

--Mitchell Hegman