Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Tilikum's Story

Tilikum 

Tilikum was captured near Iceland in November of 1983, over 30 years ago. At only 2 years old, when he was approximately 13 feet long, he was torn away from his family and ocean home.
 He was held captive against his will and just sum around in circles, as that was all he could do in the small tank. (**Orcas and their pods have been charted to swim over one-hundred miles a day in the wild.**)
Food was withheld from him as a training technique, and he regularly endured painful attacks by two dominant female orcas, Haida and Nootka. He was forced to perform every hour on the hour, eight times a day, seven days a week. The constant stress and exhaustion gave him stomach ulcers.

Over the course of 21 years at SeaWorld, where he is confined to a tank containing 0.0001 percent of the quantity of water that he would swim through in a single day in nature, Tilikum has been involved in multiple incidents of aggression.

This video is in Spanish so you won't understand it, but this is the actual footage of the the Sea World trainer, Dawn Brancheau, being drowned to death by Tilikum the orca at Sea World.

Tilikum scalped and dismembered Dawn as well as breaking bones throughout her body before drowning her.In this aerial view of SeaWorld, you can see how little room the orcas have. Inside the circle is Tilikum, whose nose and tail appear to be able to touch both sides of the tank at the same time.

This image is a view of where Tilikum is kept after his attacks. 
There are no recorded incidents of orca attacks in the wild. This aggressiveness is only shown in captivity.


"MOMENT OF DEAD Dawn BrancheauExclusivo Momento Q a Baleia Orca Mata Treinadora Dawn Brancheau Wmv." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
"Over 30 Years and Three Deaths: Tilikum's Tragic Story - SeaWorld of Hurt." 
SeaWorld of Hurt. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.

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