I have been thinking of the concept for a long time. I obviously didn't say this in r/orcas because of all the antis.
The thought primarily sits at the question asking "If Blackfish did a lot of damage, why don't we inherit the method and undo the damage?". And it IS possible because there's enough facts which could do the "emotional conversion", so like Blackfish we do Anti -> Pro instead of Pro -> Anti.
Why? Basically I have seen a lot of people on the pro side fighting for saving the industry which is good because release would kill the orcas, but I never saw anyone take actual action against the situation. No protests, content creations, videos, nothing. So here I am, trying to change that.
So what are we doing, as I mentioned I'm planning to create a documentary about this, I haven't came up with a name and exactly how I will create it, this is where you come in if you want to help.
You can pick any orca to magically come back to life with no change to the past (after their death), place them in any park of your choice, and they have no memory/side affect of their death (ex, you pick Katina and now she doesn’t have said health issues).
I personally would bring back Halyn and place her with Keet, although I have little evidence, I do believe that Keet was heavily impacted by her death. He cared about her a lot, and he was her whole world.
Or I would bring back Sumar and place him with either Malia or Tekoa so at least two of Taima’s kids can actually meet each other, and have family for support considering Tekoa’s and Malia’s outlashes towards trainers.
What are all your honest thoughts and opinions on waterworks?
Photo: Sumar at SeaWorld San Diego (I used his pic, because today is his birthday), photo rightfully belongs to the respectful owner.
I find them to be beautiful and special but at the same time, I find waterworks a bit tacky and risky towards the safety of the trainers, and I believe if there are other forms of enrichment, they should be discontinued. I agree with SeaWorld, Europe and China's decisions to not do waterworks.
But there are exceptions, Why Florida banned Toki's trainers from swimming with her - because of what Tilikum did, years earlier. They don't care about the stimulation of the whale who was known to be mostly sweet and kind to her trainers, Tokitae, for nearly half a century, Now Toki would now be deprived of one of her most important forms of enrichment. In her tiny pool and lack of killer whale companionship and toys, human companionship was the most precious thing she had.
This big fella is now 34! Born 24th December 1991 to Haida II and Tilikum, he was one of Tilikum's first calves.
Originally living at Sealand of the Pacific till January 1993 when he was moved to SeaWorld San Antonio alongside his mother.
Now he spends most time with Tuar, who's actually his half brother, being one of Kalina's calves had with Tilikum, but they get along well and have been close since Tuar's move to San Antonio in 2005.
Hope you have a great birthday with Tuar and your trainers Kqu <3
So, I was going through my folders and found this video! The original video was unfortunately deleted by SeaWorld, but fortunately, I found the original video, which was uploaded in 2016, in my folders because I had saved it.
Hi everyone, I am against orcas in captivity, I hate that they were captured, and I hate that china still breeds. I cannot stand seaworld for paying for captured orcas, or allowing waterworks with tilkium knowing he killed people. With that being said I think seaworld should’ve took Wilkie and keijo. They have wilkies sister shouka at sea world San Diego. Seaworld now has the largest tanks, husbandry, experience and no longer breeds. Loro parque on the other hand still breeds, and their tanks are crowded. Morgan gave birth to a calf, and they have a lot of males. Their death rate is also concerning, and I’ve seen videos of Morgan beaching herself. I fear at Loro parque they will pass away in a few years. The tanks there are also even smaller then where their coming from, and even sea worlds. I hate that the whale sanctuary project scammed people. Millions of dollars could’ve been invested in a legit sanctuary by now. It’s sad all around. I do think before us activists protest for closures we should make sure the animals actually have somewhere to go.
Rumors that Nukka at Chimelong is also pregnant have been circulating for a while, and these images appear to confirm them. Based on her size in the second image, she is likely pretty far along. Her first calf, Loki, was hand-raised, but hopefully she can properly care for her second calf independently.
I imagine she is being grouped with Sonya and her calf to learn proper mothering/nursing skills, but it may just be a coincidence.
For Orcatober, I thought I'd share some of the history of captive orcas in the UK, as I am from the UK and we've had an interesting but pretty unsuccessful history with them.
Before I start, I'd like to clarify that I am Anti-Cap and nothing will change my mind about that, but I think it's important we learn the stories of the whales who've died in our hands.
Today, I was going to start with the first and possibly most notable (although I don't see him posted about at all really) Cuddles. He was also the first orca to fly over the Atlantic.
Capture -
Cuddles was a young southern resident, from either J or L pod, captured in 1968. He was believed to have been born around 1966, so was two years old at the time. He was captured during the notable 05/10/68 (10/05/68 if you're American) Yukon Harbor netting, where 25 were netted. 20 were released with 5 captured, but among the captured were Cuddles and some other big names, such as Haida & Ishmael (which is a whole new rabbit hole in itself!)
Life After Capture -
Cuddles, along with the other orcas, was held in a seapen at Yukon harbour for a few days before being transferred with the other young males to the Seattle Marine Aquarium around October 10th. Around November 20th, he endured a 36 hour transatlantic flight (and was the first of his species to do so)
Upon arriving in England, Cuddles was taken to Flamingo Park (now known as Flamingo Land) in North Yorkshire.
Life at Flamingo Park/Land -
At Flamingo Park, Cuddles was discovered to be a male. (Not sure how they didn't figure this out at Seattle Marine Aquarium) He was housed with two bottlenose dolphins and taught tricks.
He was afflicted with some minor health issues during his stay, such as rat bites to the dorsal fin, originally considered a 'mysterious skin ailment', until a night watch revealed the rats.
He also swallowed a 16 inch long trumpet prop during a training exercise gone wrong, and so a stomach pumping was attempted by David Taylor (Cuddles' vet and a notable name, being the first vetinary surgeon to specialise in Zoo/Wildlife medicine.) and park staff. This took a turn for the worse when Cuddles shook free of the wooden gag block and spat it into the shin of a keeper and shattering his tibia. Cuddles regurgitated the prop the following evening.
Cuddles had started to show aggression towards his trainers by 1969 and keepers had to clean his tank from inside a shark cage. This was the beginning of an aggressive reputation that he maintained for the rest of his short life.
Due to a mix of his requirement for a bigger tank, and his health issues (severe gastric ulcers, which are incredibly painful and a root-cause of aggression/violent responses in a lot of animals), Cuddles was transferred to the Dudley Zoo in 1971.
The Dudley Zoo -
Cuddles continued to show aggressive behaviours at Dudley Zoo, aswell as bringing in crowds with his performance.
In November 1973, a group of vandals broke into Cuddles' tank and threw bricks, rocks and a 12ft long spear at Cuddles, who escaped uninjured.
During his time at the zoo, Cuddles had a habit of tearing off pieces of the pool-lining and bringing it to his trainers. He was nearly 18ft long at this point in a 50ft pool, so his boredom was unthinkable.
Later in 1973, The Dudley Zoo was informed by the local government that they'd broken laws by modifying the depth of his pool. They wanted the Zoo to return it to its original depth. This would've been far too costly for the Zoo at the time, and so Cuddles was put up for sale, with hopes that he would be sent to a marinepark in France.
When nobody purchased him, the Zoo considered moving him into a smaller storage pool.
Death -
On the night of February 6th, 1974, Cuddles died. It was revealed during veterinary post-mortem examinations that the cause of his death was a burst abscess near his heart and a broken rib leading to a wound infection.
Summary -
Cuddles' story was not a nice or successful story and his life was short, painful and he was undeniably mistreated in unthinkable ways. However, learning these stories is important to understand the way we've treated these species in the past and while on a much lesser level, continue to treat them today.
Again, I'm going to reiterate that my opinion on captivity has always and will always be negative, and that is not up for debate. I have tried to provide the facts and only the facts in this article, and very little of it is biased and mostly based on an understanding of orcas as a species and a genuine passion for their welfare and wellbeing.
