LouieB Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Am I the only one with the Neko Case song stuck in my head? I doubt it. What a strange intersection of art and real life though... "We know They call them killer whalesBut you seem surprisedWhen it pinned you down to the bottom of the tank Where you can't turn aroundIt took half your leg, and both your lungs" LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Am I the only one with the Neko Case song stuck in my head? I doubt it. LouieB No, that is the first thing that came to mind when I heard the story... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Doug C Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Me too, Lou. When I saw the photo in the morning paper of the trainer's body outside the tank with 3 orcas swimming around in the tank, I immediately started hearing 'People Got Alot of Nerve' in my head. A weird breakfast and I am still hearing the song hours later. Tragic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 First thing I thought of, too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CortezTheKiller Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 I immediately thought of Neko as well. I guess it was the 3rd attack for this whale. They are "investigating" how this could happen. Ummmmmm. It's a fucking killer whale. It's what they do. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mjpuczko Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 i said the same thing to my wife. why are people shocked by this? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nodep5 Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 I thought the Killer in Killer Whale wasn't literal. I thought it was more like saying that the whale rocked. Like "that whale is killer, dude" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Heartbreak Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 According to the news piece I read, they don't usually attack humans at all. They are predators in the water, though. The theory was that it might have been trying to play. It would be easy to get killed by something that big trying to engage in some kind of play activity with you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intodeep Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 As soon as i read that story yesterday i though of the neko case song too Quote Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 While this is not in reference to Neko Case's song, this is in reference to the woman named Dawn Brancheau. I'll try to explain this to get the most out of my shock of seeing this on the news yesterday because in a weird way it hit close to home. Well, for those that may not know me I'm a film & video guy, so I'll take the opportunity to take any type of class in that area any chance I get. So in very close Lowell at their local public access channel, I took a class on editing software Final Cut which I also own. The video that they had us practice with was footage of the Killer Whale show with Dawn at Sea World. It even had some interesting training videos. The point of all of this raw footage was to see how you could edit on the action, pacing etc. It was weird to hear about this particular incident on the internet because I immediately thought of this woman from my cheap local class. I finally turned on the tv and I was shocked to see that it was the same woman that we spent about 3 hours cutting footage of. The interesting part is that this class only uses this footage, as far as I know. And the other interesting part is that there probably is a class right now that is practicing with this same footage. Pretty strange surreal stuff a.k.a. what are the odds, right?! On a side note, I youtubed this woman's name and of course I was haunted by that terrible song Believe that is the main song of the show. I think it is Celine Dion. If it isn't, then it is a cheap imitation. Imagine hearing a chest pounding (from Celine, of course) song in a small room on repeat and rewind at loud decibels, since people refused to use headphones. Maybe that's what drove the whale crazy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vacant Horizon Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 I thought the Killer in Killer Whale wasn't literal. I thought it was more like saying that the whale rocked. Like "that whale is killer, dude" it's not the fact that it's called a killer whale. it's the fact that it is a giant giant wild animal that lives in a pool as big as my backyard. inhumane. i can't believe this shit doesn't happen more often. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 it's not the fact that it's called a killer whale. it's the fact that it is a giant giant wild animal that lives in a pool as big as my backyard. inhumane. i can't believe this shit doesn't happen more often. Not for nothing, but a lot of the aniamls held in captivity (zoos, aquariums, etc.) come from rescues. I don't know about this particular whale. There's the possiblity (from what I read) that the wahae was playing with the trainer (or at least thought of what it was doing as playing), too. I don't know the song everyone is referring to but the first thing I thought of was that it was too bad that a woman who loved animals to the point of dedicating her life to caring for them was killed by one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinnitus photography Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 On a side note, I youtubed this woman's name and of course I was haunted by that terrible song Believe that is the main song of the show. I think it is Celine Dion. If it isn't, then it is a cheap imitation. Imagine hearing a chest pounding (from Celine, of course) song in a small room on repeat and rewind at loud decibels, since people refused to use headphones. Maybe that's what drove the whale crazy. i believe that atrocity can be pinned on Cher Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Not for nothing, but a lot of the aniamls held in captivity (zoos, aquariums, etc.) come from rescues. I don't know about this particular whale.There are better places to keep land animals than zoos, however. See my signature for one such place (female elephants only). Here's another. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nodep5 Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 it's not the fact that it's called a killer whale. it's the fact that it is a giant giant wild animal that lives in a pool as big as my backyard. inhumane. i can't believe this shit doesn't happen more often. just being sarcastic. not appropriate I know. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vacant Horizon Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 There are better places to keep land animals than zoos, however. See my signature for one such place (female elephants only). Here's another. excellent point. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 There are better places to keep land animals than zoos, however. See my signature for one such place (female elephants only). Here's another. I'm sure there are and I'm all for those alternatives over zoos, etc.. But I think a coomon mis-conception is that animals are tracked down and yanked out of their environs and forced into zoos. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Heartbreak Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 I'm all for animal rights - I've been a vegetarian for over 20 years, even a vegan for part of that - but I cannot believe this whale has now been involved on some level in three human deaths and is still alive. WTF? I'm sorry, but if that were a dog, it would have been euthanized by now.If they don't want to put it down, they should release the m-f'er at sea and let it fend for itself. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gobias Industries Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 I'm all for animal rights - I've been a vegetarian for over 20 years, even a vegan for part of that - but I cannot believe this whale has now been involved on some level in three human deaths and is still alive. WTF? I'm sorry, but if that were a dog, it would have been euthanized by now.If they don't want to put it down, they should release the m-f'er at sea and let it fend for itself. 1. Dogs are domesticated. If a dog is trained to kill, then there's major problems, and yes, they usually have to be put down. Whales, especially orcas, can't really be domesticated. 2. Also, think about their play. Dog's play can't really inflict harm on a human being, because their size (and so the damage they can inflict). A whale's play is in a much larger "realm of size," (if the term makes any sense). A whale playing can definitely inflict boatloads of harm based on their size. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Put down a killer whale for being a killer? Seriously? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 The whale probably should be retired from performing, but to euthanize it misses the point. Most animals don't deal well with captivity. When you put an animal in a cage, or a small aquarium, or a tiny "habitat," you put an enormous amount of stress on that animal. No one should ever be surprised when a captive wild animal lashes out. We should stop exploiting animals for entertainment. I support the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee because they seek to pull elephants out of circuses, zoos, and other inappropriate environments, and give them the best, most normal existence possible. Technically the elephants are still in captivity, but the sanctuary has 2,700 acres for them to wander (with lots of forest, a lake, ponds, creeks, meadows, etc.), and they are never forced to do anything they don't want to do. They are not on display for the public (except via a webcam), and they are allowed to form bonds with other elephants. Many of them are suffering from considerable trauma when they first arrive and have behavioral issues, but as they grow accustomed to life at the sanctuary, they learn to trust themselves, their elephant sisters, and the human caregivers who feed them and look after their habitat. The change that the sanctuary workers have seen in these elephants is profound. Similar facilities exist for other kinds of animals. I don't know if one exists for aquatic animals like orcas, but it's possible. It's time for us to stop putting animals on display for our own amusement, stop capturing them on one continent and shipping them to another (again, for our amusement), and stop confining them in environments that will only cause them harm. As long as we continue to do those things, we should never be surprised when a human is attacked by a captive animal. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Put down a killer whale for being a killer? Seriously?Hey, it was just a nickname. His real name is orca. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Doug C Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 cryptique is spot on. Tilikum, the whale in question, did not ask to live in a tank. His range is miles and miles of open ocean. Even if he was born and raised in captivity, that doesn't override his genetics. The wild has long been bred out of my Olde English Sheepdogs. It would take a hell of a lot of orca generations bred in captivity to breed the wild out. If someone wants to experience orcas, or any wildlife for that matter, they can. Go into the wild. We love to hike and backpack. Even if you don't want to get that into it, there are places near most of us, where if you time it right you can see wildlife of all kinds with a minimum of effort. We saw orcas off of Vancouver from a Zodiac. It was amazing. Far better than any Shamu show. We have been whale-watching off of Maine, Nova Scotia. Oregon and Sydney, Australia. Some of the best money we have ever spent. I know that commercial whale watching is somewhat controversial also but the 5 different places that I have done it, it is very regulated for the whales safety. Government restrictions regarding distance, the amount of boats, etc. Other than true rescue situations, wildlife should be left in the wild. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
choo-choo-charlie Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 I just don't understand why it took three killings for them to realize, "hey, maybe this whale shouldn't be used for show anymore!" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Atticus Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 It's time for us to stop putting animals on display for our own amusement you're excluding strippers, correct? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.