Entries Tagged 'whales' ↓

Lots of people are wondering what’s going to happen to Tilikum, the whale that killed a SeaWorld trainer Wednesday and was linked to two previous deaths.

SeaWorld said Wednesday the animal would not be put down. The park’s blog says the attraction “has every intention of continuing to interact with this animal, though the procedures for working with him will change.”

Animal expert Jack Hanna said on the CBS Early Show that he knew the trainer who was killed, and that keeping animals in captivity is “worth the risks.”

“This is the type of work that we do,” he said. “We do everything we can (to put) the safety of our animals and visitors first. The SeaWorld in-vitro planted, they can now take sperm and eggs and have a baby killer whale. Let’s say 20, 30 years from now, there’s 200 killer whales left in the wild. Let me tell you where we’re going to go: We’re going to go to SeaWorld and see what to to save this magnificent creature. That’s how valuable it is for what we’re doing with research. I hear all these other people commenting with killer whales. Give me a break. Seaworld are the ones that know more about killer whales, and the millions of dollars they spend this rescuing whales is unbelievable. And we put them back out in the wild. So no one hears about this.”

The animal world is reeling from the news this afternoon that a SeaWorld Orlando trainer died after an attack from a killer whale. The online reaction seems sympathetic to the whale, questioning the sanity of keeping such wild animals in captivity and putting people so close to them.

@krisjacobson Time to stop putting them in captivity?

@Tsemnar There’s a reason why it’s called a KILLER whale. Should we be surprised that it killed that trainer in SeaWorld? NOPE.

@veganmommy Amen to shutting down SeaWorld. I understand helping the animals when they are hurt or sick. Not for entertainment.

Animal lovers will be watching how SeaWorld handles the incident — and what becomes of the whale. I heard a crisis communications expert say that the theme park has a major problem on its hands. If it keeps the whale, that attraction will always have a dark shadow. But removing the whale will create a huge hole for the park.

The attack also made me wonder about the Georgia Aquarium’s “Dive with Gentle Giants” program that allows swimmers and divers into the tank that holds four whale sharks. Whale sharks are apparently gentle and typically don’t eat anything larger than plankton, but some animal advocates have criticized the program and the stress it creates for the animals.

Source: Georgia Aquarium

The Georgia Aquarium announced today that beluga whales are back in the Georgia-Pacific Cold Water Quest gallery.

Maris, a 15-year-old female, returned after a few months at SeaWorld San Antonio, joined by her mate, Beethoven, an 18-year-old male who spent most of his life at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, Wash., the aquarium said. They were flown in on a FedEx cargo plane, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The pair is still getting acclimated, and the aquarium has not announced when they will go on public view.

The aquarium temporarily moved its three belugas — Maris, her mother, Natasha, and Nico, a male — to Sea World San Antonio while it made some changes to Cold Water Quest, the AJC said.

Natasha will remain in San Antonio, because a mate has been found for her there. Nico, whom the Georgia Aquarium had rescued in 2005 from a Mexico City attraction, died in San Antonio suddenly of unspecified causes on Oct. 31. He was the third of Georgia Aquarium’s belugas to die. Gaspar, who had arrived with Nico, was euthanized in January 2007 because of a bone disease he contracted before coming to Atlanta. Both whales had significant health problems from their times in a foreign park, Dr. Gregory D. Bossart, chief veterinary officer at the aquarium, told CNN at the time.

Another beluga whale, Marina, died later that year from complications of old age.

There are just 36 belugas in captivity in North America, housed at eight aquariums.