Adelie Landis (FGCU) Kill the Killer Whale?

Recently, a trainer at Sea World in Orlando named Dawn Brancheau was attacked by the killer whale she was about to do an act with. While she began the show, the whale began circling in the tank angrily, and Dawn jumped in the water to begin the trick. Instead of performing the trick, the whale began attacking her. The whale that society viewed as sweet “Shamu” began jumping and landing on the trainer, then proceeded to drag her by the head around the tank, and she drowned. I was seriously shocked when I heard this news. Society believes the Killer Whale at Seaworld named Shamu is a friendly whale that just did some cool tricks with trainers. I remember going to Seaworld and watching a similar show of the show that would have been performed that day, if the accident did not occur. I was even more shocked to find out that, that particular whale had also killed two other trainers! Why had they not put the whale down?  Is a killer whale exactly that: A killer? These are questions that the media are raising, as well as society. This accident has changed our view on how we see Seaworld. This also makes us question how these animals that are kept in captivity are treated. Is keeping them seperate from the wild and making them train for our own amusment really ethical? And could it get someone seriously injured or killed?

I think this accident has caused a serious amount of dysfunction in our society. Who knows, maybe one day they will eliminate Seaworld and theme parks that keep animals captive altogether? Because if you think about it, is it really ethical to keep an animal away from the wild and keep it in a cage? It just doesn’t seem fair.

 If you watch the video of the accident, you would understand why I am so shocked that this happened. To think of all of those children witnessing this, and watching the poor woman getting attacked, it is sickening. It should make society question all theme parks in general. Do we think it was just that particular whale who is violent and dangerous, or is it all whales in general? Was it the way the theme park works the animals to death that made the whale attack, or is a killer whale just a killer?

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-seaworld-orlando-shamu-injury-20100224,0,6350085.story

 Media footage of the attack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Af67qv5Dzg

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