A Whale of a Problem

In all of the blogs, news stories, and griping over the incident where an Orca killed a trainer at SeaWorld, common sense was decidedly lacking. This morning I found two stories: one, an emotional return to the whale show, and the other in which PETA (animal rights activists) found no sympathy for the trainer.

My advice to all of you is this: go watch Cesar Millan (the Dog Whisperer). What? She's nuts.He has learned to read animal behavior with his inner senses and can see trouble before it happens. Apparently the rest of the world thinks animals are stuffed toys.

An animal doesn't speak English, and each animal has different instincts depending upon what type of animal it is. A dog is a predator. A whale is a predator. They don't call them "killer whales" because they are cuddly teddy bears! Ask Roy Horn who was mauled by a tiger several years ago- a tiger he had raised and fed and pet on a regular basis. Someone startled it and it attacked him out of instinct. To his credit, he did not allow it to be put down. It was instinct, not malevolence.

The whale reacted to the trainer startling it when she fell into the tank. She didn't enter the water in her normal fashion, and his instincts took over. Predators react to threats with aggression. A whale is a WILD animal,not a chihuahua.

As for PETA, you guys are just plain foolish. First off, the trainer and her family deserve respect too. A job with animals is a joy and wonder. It was grieving to see your nasty remarks about her. Animals can make bonds with people- bonds of familiarity, even loyalty. They don't have the same feelings as people, but they do have feelings. They sense things- fear, anger, love, joy, excitement. The whale will miss his trainer for a while, guaranteed. And he won't know why. He'll have to get used to someone else. He'll sense the sadness and even the fear. And no, he shouldn't be released into the wild. He's been in captivity too long. He's a predator dependent upon hand feeding. They haven't been throwing a live seal into his tank to feed him, he's been eating dead fish.

You can gripe about animals in captivity all you want. But the fact is that SeaWorld and places like it save the lives of countless wild animals every year. The captive breeding programs may be the last bastion of the magnificent creatures we know because habitat is disappearing at an alarming rate. The ocean's dead zones are expanding. Land based habitat is being clear cut and developed. We are losing the places for wildlife-- it's the dedication of conservationists, zoos, and wildlife experts that will give us a wild future to experience.

So everyone grow up. Stop being radical in your stances - try common sense. Try protecting wildlife with wisdom. Try understanding that animals were given to us as gifts and should be treated accordingly. You are stewards of the gifts -stop being spoiled brats.