Wednesday, February 24, 2010

IT'S ONLY AN ALLEGED KILLER WHALE FOR NOW, THOUGH THE ALLEGATIONS ARE TROUBLING: Really -- did the first two human deaths attributed to Tilikum "Telly" the Whale maybe suggest to someone that he shouldn't be confined near large groups of humans? Did anyone consider his classic serial killer traits -- his maleness, the existence of a prominent middle name, the fact that he was described as "quiet" and a "loner" (though he did cause violence to animals) and his generally covetous nature? This was preventable.

8 comments:

  1. Nice! I love this post so much that if it were on Twitter I'd totally re-tweet it!

    I mean, super-sad about the people who died, of course. But the middle name thing? Ha!

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  2. <span>I just caught this story on the news and really, it is v<span>ery sad that the trainer was killed, but in all seriousness whales (and other wild animals) should not be in captivity like that.  I know Seaworld is pretty popular and all, but I'm opposed to these types of places. Animals should only be in captivity for their own benefit (saving them from extinction, nursing them back to health, etc.) - not to entertain people. </span></span>

    <span><span>And yeah, I'm one of those people who flat out refuses to go to the circus (I can't even handle the news footage of the elephants on their annual forced march through the Lincoln Tunnel for the Big Apple Circus. So sad.), and I'm just tons of fun at zoos and aquariums. I really feel so bad for the poor animals.</span></span>

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  3. For the record, the Big Apple Circus doesn't do the march through the Lincoln Tunnel - that's Ringling Bros.

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  4. rosebudpeas9:12 AM

    It made me think of the Carl Hiaasen novel (Tourist Season? I get the titles mixed up) where the Disney knock-off amusement park has a killer whale with an overactive sex drive.

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  5. Meghan9:43 AM

    It's almost like the name of the species of animal could have given a clue.  Who'd have thunk that an animal called a killer whale would kill?

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  6. My bad.  Thanks!

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  7. Hmmm, let's see - you sit in a hot tub all day with people gawking at you.  I'd be ready to kill as well.  The fact that my name set up the expectation...well...

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  8. Hannah Lee7:21 PM

    <span>

    Sorry, the jokes here are well constructed, but I can't find them funny. I just can't look past the fact that a person died.

    Your point that someone should have had concerns after the first two fatalities is spot on. Animals are not playthings, or people, and wild animals are not pets. I wish folks would remember that without needing a tragedy to remind them.
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