I understand your point regarding the intelligence of these animals. I’d offer that this is much less anthropomorphic than seeing a performing marine mammal and deciding it is happy. Intelligence has been demonstrated in the wild, being able to quantify environments and react in a fashion that indicates abilities to learn and discern. I’d also offer that this is a critical element to their natural environment, being able to adapt “on the fly” and learn new things. For me, it’s part of the larger picture, not just where they live but how they live.

You make a great point about the cute effect. Dolphins have long been seen as gentle because they *look* like they are smiling. The real life of a dolphin actually can involve a fair bit of violence, even to each other. It’s that double edged sword of the charisma with the reality.

I do think it’s a bit too simple to say that SD sees the whales as ambassadors. I am sure that is part of it, but there is also no denying the powerful financial draw of those shows. It is a good thing that many people of all ages have taken away a clearer sense of conservation and awareness after a whale show. But I think the same can be achieved with smaller animals. I have taken all three of my nephews to the New England Aquarium long before they saw a whale and they came away with wider eyes. Whether it be Myrtle the Turtle or a shark in the Great Ocean Tank or jellyfish, each marine animal has the power to open eyes.

I too am glad that Tilikum is being seen sympathetically. And I am glad some outlets are not dwelling on the killer part of the name of the whale…

There’s no idea solution for the ones presently in captivity but the ideal solution for the future is to no more put any large marine mammal in captivity.

I am uncomfortable with using their intelligence as one (of many) reasons for not keeping them in captivity as that smacks of the anthropomorphism you dislike so much. The real consideration is the environment they exist in naturally . . . anything different from that would be unsatisfactory.

But what this also makes me think of is that we do wild animals a disservice by cutesy-fying them. And it happens to whales a lot. Smiley dolphins, cute round bobble-headed orcas. Something like this happens and we realize they are animals who are, by their nature, built to kill large mammals – good-sized seals are about the size of humans, and are the natural prey of some orcas. People think of cetaceans as sweet, friendly, social critters who’d probably love us if they only knew us. But they are ferocious hunters. Even baleen whales who just eat krill and little fish – they do that ferociously, in their own way! So, if this maybe reminds people that whales are wild ferocious animals and not fuzzy bunnies, maybe that’s one small good thing?

(I think of this sometimes when I smooch my cats on the nose and then realize they are carnivores who would be perfectly delighted to eviscerate small mammals if they got half a chance. Sorta makes me stop and think now and then.)

In SW’s defense, I do believe that the trainers do show a lot of concern for the animals in their care. They seem to be very knowledgeable about whales in the wild. They seem to be very aware about their behavior. I don’t know about whales, but I do know that SW in SD do take in a lot of stranded and hurt marine animals and nurse them back to health.

They appear to see the captive creatures as “ambassadors” of sorts, helping people to become more aware of things like the environment, endangered species, etc. And to a certain degree, I think it works. I know my daughter loved being at SeaWorld, and it seems to have had an effect on her curiosity about the natural world.

I have seen the names “Killer Whale” and “Orca” used pretty much evenly in the media, to be quite honest, so I don’t think this is a case of the media trying to overplay the “killer” aspect. And from looking at the comments to a lot of these news stories, it seems like the public are overwhelmingly sympathetic towards Tilikum.

I’d agree that release would be the ideal solution, but Keiko’s release was not really entirely successful so I think it would be difficult to try with the current population of captive whales. This sucks, but the question comes down to the potentially unanswerable “which is better?” question – ongoing captivity or a whole new sort of stress of being in the wild but still dependent on humans.

I don’t know if the Whale Center folks would know about SeaWorld programs but I will make a note to ask on a whale watch. I don’t think it would be a high priority question for them to answer otherwise. The Director of Center was just on the local news making a case for the benefit of these shows, which I found a bit surprising. His reasoning is that it brings whales before people who might otherwise not see them or develop better empathy for them. While that may be quite true, I still wonder what the trade off is for the whales stuck in those pens.

I wish Orcas were not kept in captivity . . . and have been saying so for a long time . . . I just wish someone would listen.

Perhaps the NE Whale Center can get you the information about scientific staff and support at Sea World?