The death of Sea World Orlando orca trainer Dawn Brancheau has revived the question of whether or not it is ethical — or even safe — to keep killer whales in captivity.
Brancheau died from drowning and injuries sustained Wednesday when Tilikum, a massive 12,000 pound male orca, grabbed the highly experienced marine mammal handler during a public talk at the popular Florida park. Rescue workers were forced to pen and lift Tillikum from the water to recover Brancheau’s body. While park visitors report that the orcas seemed “agitated” prior to the incident, the precise cause of the attack will probably never be known.
Is it time to free Willy?
Captive Orcas are sometimes released back into the wild. Keiko, the performing orca who portrayed the subject of the 1993 movie Free Willy, was returned to the Icelandic waters from which he was taken after an exhaustive effort to make him ready for freedom. Though Keiko eventually migrated to Norway, he never fully integrated into wild orca pods, despite continuing care by wildlife managers.
Whatever Tillikum’s future, it almost certainly will not include release. Captivity takes a toll on orcas, particularly a specimen of Tilikum’s size. Years of concrete walls and steel pens have worn down his teeth to the point that trainers must rinse his jaws each morning to prevent infection, and he’s an integral part of Sea World’s breeding program.
Activist and scientists speak out
Orcas are wide-ranging animals which, in the wild, might swim up to 100 miles per day. The confines of a whale tank — no matter how large — force orcas into sedentary behavior unnatural to their species. Marine mammal specialists believe this cramped lifestyle causes a high degree of emotional and physical distress for killer whales, despite the best intentions of their handlers.
Now Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the famous oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, and president of the Ocean Futures Society, is speaking out. While recognizing the tragedy of Dawn Brancheau’s death, Cousteau asks whether it is time for humans to how we view killer whales.
“Maybe we, as a species, have outgrown the need to keep such wild, enormous, complex, intelligent, and free-ranging animals in captivity,” says Cousteau in the video below. “[In captivity} their behavior becomes abnormal — even pathological. Maybe we have learned all we can from keeping them captive.”
What do you think? Has our custody of orcas gone beyond scientific curiosity, to mere exploitation? Is it time to set the orcas free?
Post image by Flickr user suneko under a Creative Commons license
