A Lesson Learned from the Event of a Whale Killer Trainer. Shih Yun Chen 施昀辰 (Class 213) Instructor: Wu Shu Fen 吳淑芬. National Sihu Senior High School

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1 A Lesson Learned from the Event of a Whale Killer Trainer Shih Yun Chen 施昀辰 (Class 213) Instructor: Wu Shu Fen 吳淑芬 National Sihu Senior High School March, 26, /8

2 Introduction Background On February 24, 2010, a forty-year-old female animal trainer was reported to die of a serious whale attack during their performance, which happened in a Florida sea world. According to news report, she fell into the pool accidently, which made the killer whale had a chance to bite her tightly till she lost her breath. According to the staff working there, it wasn t the first time. The 7-meter-long killer whale had attacked people for three times. Why was it still on the show? The cute looks of a killer whale gave people a false impression that killer whales are smart and gentle. Killer Whales, as a matter of fact, are quiet dangerous and fierce. According to animal experts, a lack of partner makes them feel lonely and anxious, which eventually leads to the nonstop attacks. To avoid such an attack, it is time to consider whether it is proper to keep a whale killer in a water world and have it trained? Motivation After such a big shock, people around the world start to concern about the issue on animal shows. It can t be denied that these animals bring us entertainment and money. But is it against its will to hurt us? That is, if human beings do not force them to do tricks against their nature, will they attack? Based on this inquiry, this study tries to argue for the following two questions: 1. Whose faults? The animal s or the human being s? 2. Will animals live a better life after being released from human beings world? These are also the issues discussed in Free Willy. In this movie and novel, the writer let a boy voice for a trapped whale killer, and criticized the greed and selfish of human beings. Literature Review Killer Whales in the Real World At the sound of killer whales, everybody can t but consider it horrible undersea animals. Actually, they have never killed people so far. They are quit friendly. Even 2/8

in informal record, legends has it that they saved the fishermen falling into the sea by pushing them to the shore. It approves a new image themselves.

3 in informal record, legends has it that they saved the fishermen falling into the sea by pushing them to the shore. It approves a new image themselves. As a result, international organizations make great efforts to protect this sort of extinct animals. And their hometown Orcas are immediately recognizable by their distinctive black-and-white coloring. They are the intelligent, trainable stars of many aquarium shows. In spite of being the king of sea, they can t escape from peoples evil hands. Ironically, they are forced to push the ball and jump through the fire circle to please our curiosity nowadays. Creature Features Orcas, or killer whales, are the largest of the dolphins and one of the world's most powerful predators. They feast on marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and even whales, employing teeth that can be four inches (ten centimeters) long. They are known to grab seals right off the ice. They also eat fish, squid, and seabirds. Though they often frequent cold, coastal waters, orcas can be found from the polar region to the Equator. Killer whales (Picture 1) hunt in deadly pods, with family groups of up to 40 individuals. There appear to be both resident and transient pod populations of killer whales. These different groups may prey on different animals and use different techniques to catch them. Resident pods tend to prefer fish, while transient pods target marine mammals. All pods use effective, cooperative hunting techniques that some liken to the behavior of wolf packs. Picture 1. 3/8

4 Whales make a wide variety of communicative sounds, and each pod has distinctive noises that its members will recognize even at a distance. They use echolocation to communicate and hunt, making sounds that travel underwater until they encounter objects, then bounce back, revealing their location, size, and shape. Killer whales are protective of their young, and other adolescent females often assist the mother in caring for them. Mothers give birth every three to ten years, after a 17-month pregnancy. Keiko--- The Killer Whale in the Movie Free Willy Introduction In the recent years, the most famous killer whales must be Willy, which had once acted the main character of the Hollywood movie in Free Willy (Picture 2). In the real world, Willy was acted by a 16-year-old male killer whale named Keiko. After the movie, two important changes were made under the pressure of public opinions. First, Keiko was allowed to retire, being transferred to the aquarium in Oregon State. Second, a project was executed, aiming at training Keiko to get adjusted to the ocean environment. Picture 2 4/8

5 Life as a captive Keiko was captured near Iceland in 1979 and sold to the Icelandic aquarium. Three years later he was sold to Marine land in Ontario where he first started performing for the public and developed skin lesions indicative of poor health. He was then sold to Six Flags Mexico, an amusement park in Mexico City, in Voyage of homing The publicity from his role in Free Willy led to an effort by Warner Brothers Studio to find him a better home. Donations from the studio led to the establishment of the Free Willy Keiko Foundation in February, With donations from various foundations and millions of school children, the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon spent over $7 million to construct facilities that would return him to health with the hope of returning him to the wild. UPS provided ground transportation to the nearby Newport Municipal Airport in a specialized container. Weighing 3500 kg (7720 pounds), he was transported by air in a United States Air Force C-17 to his new home on January 7, During his years in Oregon he gained over a ton in weigh. The plan to return him to the wild was a topic full of controversy. Some felt his years of captivity made such a return impossible. Later studies concluded attempts to return him to the wild were misguided. The Norwegian pro-whaling politician Steinar Bastesen made international news for his statement that Keiko should instead be killed and the meat sent to Africa as foreign aid. Nevertheless, the process of preparing Keiko for the wild began on September 9, 1998, when he was flown to Klettsvik Bay. In Iceland, his day-to-day care became the responsibility of the Ocean Futures Society. He underwent training designed to prepare him for his eventual release, including supervised swims in the open ocean ( Picture3), loading Keiko onto a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport on September 9, 1998 in Newport, Oregon for transport to the Westman Islands in Iceland. 5/8

Picture 3 Illusion of homing During one of these "walks" his trainers lost track of Keiko in the open ocean off Iceland on July 11, 2002, and were unable to locate him with the satellite tracking

6 Picture 3 Illusion of homing During one of these "walks" his trainers lost track of Keiko in the open ocean off Iceland on July 11, 2002, and were unable to locate him with the satellite tracking device attached to his dorsal fin. Keiko was finally spotted 870 miles (1,400 km) away off the coast of Norway. In September, he followed a fishing boat to Halsa in Norway where he allowed fans to play with him and crawl over his back. Local marine biologists found him hungry and having lost weight during his stay in the North Atlantic. Several days later his handlers arrived and soon thereafter enticed him to nearby Taknes Bay (in Norway), hoping to discourage his interaction with humans. They hoped a passing pod of orcas would "adopt" Keiko and lead him back to the open ocean, but the pod never appeared, forcing his trainers to continue to feed and care for Keiko. His death Keiko died from pneumonia in Taknes Bay, Norway while under the care of personnel from Jean-Michel Cousteau's Ocean Futures Society on December 12, He had become lethargic and had a loss of appetite. He had finally beached himself in the morning and died at age 26. Following requests from fans of the orca and Free Willy, the Oregon Coast Aquarium held a memorial service for him on February 20, people attended the ceremony, during which Thomas Chesterton, a veterinary chaplain said, "Keiko was not one of our kid, but nonetheless was still one of us. There is a memorial site for Keiko set up by the locals in Hulas, Norway. Norwegian 6/8

7 school children built a cairn of stones to mark the spot where the body was buried. Conclusion As a matter of fact, human beings wishful thoughts, no matter for good or bad purposes, must be the very disastrous to those innocent wild animals. Take the death of a killer whale trainer for example. His nonstop attacks resulted from a lack of partner, which led to loneliness and anxiety. For human beings interests, a killer whale was forced to live in a confined aquarium, leading a meaningless life. This leads a killer whale to go insane. In Keiko s case, it proves that those animals which have ever been raised by people won t lead a better life after being released from human beings world. Most of them will lack the ability of getting adjusted to environmental challenges, natural enemies, group life, etc. Thus, freeing a raised animal is to make it suicide himself, which might be crueler. It is meant to be a tragedy after a killer whale is captured, imprisoned, and slaved by human beings---a tragedy both for the whale and the whale keeper. To prevent such tragedies from happening, maybe the wisest way is to leave the wild animals alone. References 1. Mark Foley (1997). Free Willy. England: Penguin Group 2. National Geographic_ killer whales 3. Mark Carwardine 殺人鯨 (2004) 時報文化 4. 台灣環境資協會 - 殺人鯨紀實 (2001/05/31) 7/8

8 5. 大紀元時報 (2010/02/26) 美海洋世界殺人鯨攻擊女訓練師喪命 8/8

The Weekly Debate. The Dilemma Key quotes. Background. FirstNews. Weekly Debate

The Weekly Debate. The Dilemma Key quotes. Background. FirstNews. Weekly Debate The Weekly Key quotes There is no justification for the continued captive display of orcas for entertainment purposes. These beautiful creatures are much too large and far too intelligent to be confined