[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'I') think there are 2 big assumptions there sixstrings. 1 is that the trainer would have survived the few tens of seconds harpoons would have taken to slow down the whale. 2 is that whales are too stupid to know there are harpoons aimed at them.
Another point is that the beauty of these shows is in the cooperation of man and animal; something severely diminished by the presence of harpoons.
She knew the risks and took them.

[Homesteader]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'b')ut my point is that this could have very well been a child that the orca grabbed, and Sea World had absolutely no measures in place to stop the whale.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Homesteader', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'b')ut my point is that this could have very well been a child that the orca grabbed, and Sea World had absolutely no measures in place to stop the whale.

[Homesteader]

My point, which you missed, is that the whale did not grab a child. Play the "what if" game if you like, your choice.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Homesteader', 'M')y point, which you missed, is that the whale did not grab a child. Play the "what if" game if you like, your choice.

[WildRose]

I don't agree with your views, Sixstrings. The trainers know others have died before them and that the animals are unpredictable. It
doesn't matter whether the animal is a killer whale or a tiger or an elephant - they are not pets, they are not here for our enjoyment except
to view them from afar in their natural surroundings. If we want to generate support for them and their habitats, we can do so by educating people
with films made by experts who are relatively unobtrusive in their film-making. When I was younger, I enjoyed a couple of seaworld-type shows but
I have since changed my views about the animals in captivity - their sheer size alone makes keeping them in such enclosures a crime, IMO.

Human lives are important, of course. I remember last fall when a young Toronto singer was killed by coyotes while she walked in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. It was tragic; she loved the outdoors and animals and was an environmentalist. It was a tragic and senseless end to a young life full of promise, and yet, if she had been walking with another person, the attack probably would not have happened. We'll never know exactly why she was attacked at that time - only the coyotes know. In this instance, the young woman did nothing wrong other than isolate herself, but with wild animals a
certain amount of risk is always there.

With regard to the Seaworld tragedy, we have made a circus out of the lives of these mammals and we cannot possibly know what is going through their heads when something like this happens.

[Loki]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'A')nd finally, the shows really are pretty darn cool. Fact is, people like animal shows. If you're going to shut down Sea World, then you may as well shutter every circus and zoo in the world.

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Homesteader', 'Y')eah, but. . .
The trainer knew the risks and made her choice. The whale has had no choice in the matter of captivity or being trained to do stupid tricks.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Loki', 'Y')ou claim to take the moral high ground, then justify places like SeaWorld by saying "but, but, they're neat!" Pathetic.

Yes, zoos and animal-based circuses should be shut down. All of them. They belong with other barbaric relics like bear-baiting and bullfighting. But maybe you think those are "pretty darn cool," too.

[rangerone314]

Its not a whale, its a dolphin.

[Quagmire]

sixstrings wrote:
" ...a human life is more important than one particular whale..."

Well, that's like your opinion, man.
I'm sure that most creatures see their kind as having more value than any other creatures.

Btw, SixStrings, I was wondering whether you and ShortonSense are the same person...? You somehow remind me of each other.

[Loki]

Sixstrings, not a bad point about the destructiveness of commercial fishing, which is why I almost never eat fish, and am very careful about the source on the very rare occasion I do eat it. A red herring, though (excuse the unintentional piscatorial idiom).

I support workers rights, so sure, OSHA should do a better job of regulating SeaWorld Inc. Doesn't mean I'll shed a tear if one of the animal abusers dies in the course of her daily abuse.

[Homesteader]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Loki', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'A')nd finally, the shows really are pretty darn cool. Fact is, people like animal shows. If you're going to shut down Sea World, then you may as well shutter every circus and zoo in the world.

[rangerone314]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'W')hat bothers me about this story is the lack of emphasis on the human victim. From both sides of the issue, there just doesn't seem to be a recognition that a human life is more important than one particular whale.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Loki', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'I') really feel for the girl. It's terribly sad that anyone has to die this way. Sad thing is, Tillicum can never be returned to the wild, now that he's lost his fear of man but not his anger.

[rangerone314]

I like the Twilight Zone episode where an astronaut gets put in a zoo by aliens. (His exhibit is a replica of an American suburban house, furniture, etc)

TZPeopleAreAlikeAllOver.jpg

Maybe after we've trashed the Earth to the point of humanity becoming an endangered species, some alien race will be "kind" enough to abduct a few humans for a zoo.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Quagmire', '[')i]sixstrings wrote:
" ...a human life is more important than one particular whale..."

Well, that's like your opinion, man.
I'm sure that most creatures see their kind as having more value than any other creatures.