I'm getting sick of headlines like this one in Time Magazine: "Killer-Whale Tragedy: What Made Tilikum Snap?" It's very sad that Tilikum grabbed his trainer by the ponytail and violently shook her, leading to her death the other day, and that apparently this "murderous" whale has killed other people. But he's a KILLER WHALE, people..what do you think is going to happen? I normally hate the PETA crazies but have to agree with their statement that capturing and keeping a 12,000 ton whale in a little tank when he's used to freely roaming the ocean is like confining someone to a bathtub for their entire life. I'd go crazy too. I'll admit I loved going to Sea World in San Diego growing up and always enjoyed seeing Shamu perform his tricks, and even dreamt of being a trainer of whales and dolphins someday. Until I learned you need a marine biology degree and earn about $5 an hour.
But, my love for whales really comes from seeing them in the wild on various whale watching expeditions and seeing literally hundreds of whales breaching, spouting and tail flipping in Los Cabos, Mexico last year. The ocean is so vast, and to be able to sit on the beach, looking out on the horizon and seeing these majestic creatures spouting water from the blow holes, flipping their massive tails and jumping out of the water literally blew my mind. I feel extremely lucky to have experienced this and know not everyone will get that chance, but it seems like there are better ways for people to learn about whales than taking them from the oceans and sticking them into teenie tiny tanks to perform tricks.
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