# Tillie Back Performing?!?!



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Is it only me, or are others shocked that they put this animal back into public performances? He has killed THREE people. What more does he have to do to tell the people around him that he is not happy with his life? 

Sea World says it is because he needs the enrichment to his environment. True, he needs that. But THEY took him on as a money-making side show. If he can't do that job any longer, they owe it to him to meet his needs off-exhibit, in a less stressful environment, or to humanely destroy him.

Sea World is all about making money... nothing more than an amusement theme park, IMO. If they can do that while treating their animals humanely, I have no objection. In this case, they are not living up to that minimal level of responsibility. 

How long do they need to torture this animal and how many people have to die before they learn their lesson? We've been talking about the guy who "shamed" his dog on You Tube. In his case, he's just some stupid shmuck at home with his dog and a video camera. The trainers at Sea World are SUPPOSED to be professional trainers. Shame on them.

I'm totally disgusted.


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## dbeech (Jun 16, 2009)

Is this the Orca that dragged its trainer by her hair into the water and killed her? I can't believe that Sea World would put him back in performances!!!!


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

WHAT, his name is Tillie!?? :faint:

I can NOT believe that he is still alive... heck if a DOG BITES someone, often times they are put down... this is an outrage, what will it take to get this animal out of the shows!?


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## Rita Nelson (Jul 13, 2009)

I could not believe my ears when I heard this on the news. I'm totally disgusted with Sea World.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

dbeech said:


> Is this the Orca that dragged its trainer by her hair into the water and killed her? I can't believe that Sea World would put him back in performances!!!!


That's the one.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

TilliesMom said:


> WHAT, his name is Tillie!?? :faint:
> 
> I can NOT believe that he is still alive... heck if a DOG BITES someone, often times they are put down... this is an outrage, what will it take to get this animal out of the shows!?


He doesn't really deserve to die... He is a very intelligent wild animal, taken out of his home in the open ocean and put into a very small (for him) pool. It has been proven that marine animals that use sonar, as Orcas do, can be literally driven insane by the echos and noise bouncing back off the sides of containment pools.

BUT he SHOULDN'T be on display, and he SHOULDN'T be being used as a circus animal.

ETA: I think Tillie is short for "Tillamook"


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

krandall said:


> He doesn't really deserve to die... He is a very intelligent wild animal, taken out of his home in the open ocean and put into a very small (for him) pool. It has been proven that marine animals that use sonar, as Orcas do, can be literally driven insane by the echos and noise bouncing back off the sides of containment pools.
> 
> BUT he SHOULDN'T be on display, and he SHOULDN'T be being used as a circus animal.
> 
> ETA: I think Tillie is short for "Tillamook"


 I can't believe their is a willing trainer to work with him. I would think the family of the girl who got killed would have something to say about it.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

YES, it is. MY Tillie is named after Tillie the Tillamook cow, which is near where we got her from. I had NO idea this was the name of the "infamous" whale ...


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## sashamom (Jan 12, 2009)

The family of the young lady drowned by this whale made a statement at the time of her death. The gist of that statement was that the whale should not be harmed in any way. Their daughter/sister knew that she was taking a risk working with a wild animal and loved and respected them. I agree that he should not be performing and the best thing would be to release him, of course that would be his death sentence. They need to let him be in the pod because the orcas are very social and need that contact. Being from the Northwest and I have had the pleasure of seeing these animals in the Sound and they are majestic. Linda


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

sashamom said:


> The family of the young lady drowned by this whale made a statement at the time of her death. The gist of that statement was that the whale should not be harmed in any way. Their daughter/sister knew that she was taking a risk working with a wild animal and loved and respected them. I agree that he should not be performing and the best thing would be to release him, of course that would be his death sentence. They need to let him be in the pod because the orcas are very social and need that contact. Being from the Northwest and I have had the pleasure of seeing these animals in the Sound and they are majestic. Linda


As you said, release is not an option, so far, the only orca that has been released (Keiko of "Free Willy" fame) never reintegrated with other orcas, hung out with boats and recently died. It's too late to do the REALLY right thing, and not remove these animals from the wild in the first place.

That said, I believe that he should be maintained off-exhibit. They could certainly keep him with other orcas off exhibit, and move the performing ones to the exhibit pool for their shows. This is routinely done with dolphins and sea lions.

The other option is to humanely destroy him. No matter what the girl's family said, this is now a very unbalanced animal. This is not just a matter of the routine dangers involved in working with large captive wild animals. This whale was KNOWN to be unbalanced before Sea World purchased him. He has killed THREE people, not just the last girl here in the U.S. It's not his fault... it's the fault of the humans who have made his life what it is. Just like dogs who become human aggressive, he didn't start out that way, and I'm sure he takes no pleasure in it. He is a wild animal reacting in the only way he knows to intolerable conditions. Sometimes being dead is a lot less cruel than living a long and miserable life. It's just a lot less PC for Sea World. And keeping him on exhibit, working, is a lot more cost effective for Sea World than maintaining him behind the scenes.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Suzi said:


> I can't believe their is a willing trainer to work with him. I would think the family of the girl who got killed would have something to say about it.


There are always 20-somethings who still think they are immortal willing to work with large captive animals. Many jobs at public aquaria (and I don't count Sea World in that category... they are an amusement park) are held by volunteers because people are more than willing to work with the animals for free.


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## sashamom (Jan 12, 2009)

I agree I live in the Puget Sound area of Washington and we have at least two pods of orcas that reside in our area. They are beautiful. The other side of the coin is that many of the Orcas in captivity may be related to those thatwere hunted in this area many years ago. I agree he should not be showing and readily admit that I do not have the answer. I know that due to many enviornmental issues the orca population is in danger of dying out. Breeding in captivity is another issue in itself because the calves stay with the pod and mom to learn how to hunt. I had the great pleasure of watching a pod with a two babies and moms on the move and breaching in and out of the water. I fell totally in love with them.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

You might be interested in these:

http://www.oceanfutures.org/action/marine-mammals/captivity
http://www.oceanfutures.org/news/blog/statement-releasing-captive-orcas


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