Tilikum: A Killer Whale with a Killer Attitude

Tilikum was a very well-known captive orca, he really lived up to his killer whale title in his lifetime in captivity. He was born in 1981, and when he was just two years old, he was captured in Iceland. A year later he was moved to a Sealand park in British Columbia. Tilikum died in early 2017, aged just 36 which is under half a killer whale's typical lifespan in the wild. However, this is pretty normal for captive whales as the average age of death for orcas at SeaWorld is just 13.

So, Tilikum — the killer whale with a real killer attitude was responsible for three deaths in his 34 years of captivity. The first was Keltie Byrne in 1991. This talented trainer fell into the pool containing Tilikum and two other orcas, both of which were female, Tilikum dragged her to the bottom of the pool, and she was thrown around between the three orcas until ultimately drowning. During Tilly’s (Tilikum) stay at Sealand, he and the other two orcas were confined in a small holding tank overnight until the park would reopen the next morning. This tank was inhumanly small and this is just one of the reasons for orca's frustration. Tilly’s frustration would have also been caused by training as food would be withheld from him and the other orcas, the two female killer whales he shared a tank with often attacked him, leaving him with painful and bloody injuries. It is due to this that the attack on Keltie Byrne occurred. Tilly had too much built up stress, frustration, and pain. This should have been enough for the park owners to release these wild animals either into ocean pens or back into the wild, as they had now proven their power and dominance over humans.

After this tragedy happened, Tilikum was put up for sale by Sealand. However, Tilly was the largest male killer whale in captivity, so SeaWorld snapped him up immediately so as he could be used for their breeding program. Now 54% of SeaWorld’s orcas have this bulls genes.

The second victim to Tilikum was a man named Daniel Dukes in 1999. Dukes snuck into Tilly’s pool in the middle of the night long after SeaWorld had shut for the day. He allegedly managed to not only pass the surveillance cameras that are inside and outside the tanks, but also the night trainers. His naked body was found draped over Tilikum’s body the next morning. The media tried to cover up this death by saying Dukes had died from hyperthermia due to being naked and in the cold tank for a long period of time, however when the autopsy report came out it revealed that Dukes had bite marks all over his body and his genitals had been bitten off. The death was ruled an "accidental drowning," however, Tilikum’s aggressive behaviour with humans in the past and Dukes' autopsy report say otherwise. Now, surely a second death caused by the same killer whale has got to be enough evidence that these extraordinary creatures don’t belong in captivity, locked up in minuscule tanks for the rest of their days?

Incorrect.

Before we continue on to the third victim of Tilikum, a quick fact about killer whales: they are potentially more emotionally developed than humans. Their paralymbic region is larger and more elaborate than a humans. So to anyone that believes that these creatures aren’t aware of the cruelty they suffer and pain they go through when separated from their pods, think again. To reiterate my prior point, how can it be fair to keep these beautiful creatures captive when they are so intelligent? It has also been proven that pods of orcas are aware when they are been followed by fishermen so as they can be caught to be thrown into captivity. One of the pods was filmed swimming into the distance, however, they knew the fishermen wanted the babies, so the mothers and their babies would go under the water and in a different direction to the rest of the pod in an attempt the escape. The rest of the pod would remain clearly visible to the fishermen and lead them on a false trail, however, the mothers and babies had to come up for air sooner or later, and when they did, there were people in the helicopters ready to spot them. As soon as they were spotted by the helicopters, the men in the air would alert the fishermen where to direct their boats in order to get the babies. This, to me, is truly heart breaking.

Finally, on to the last of Tilikum’s victims, Dawn Brancheau was killed in 2010. She was a senior trainer at SeaWorld. Dawn Brancheau was a very experienced trainer and had worked with Tilikum for a long period of time. She was very talented and was always looking to improve her performance with the killer whales. The media actually blamed Dawn for her own death, stating her ponytail was her downfall and it was this that Tilly pulled her underwater with. However, there are many reports that the bull actually bit on to her arm and pulled her down. The autopsy reported that Dawn died from drowning and blunt force trauma. It’s thought that when the show started, Tilikum was responding very well to Dawn and followed commands promptly, however after he performed a trick involving waving to the crowd on the perimeter of the tank, she whistled for him to return to her so she could give him food as a treat, but it’s thought that he didn’t hear this command, and so when he returned, he received no food for his behaviour as he did not return to Dawn when asked. This, along with various other factors such as Dawn running low on treats to give him, would have frustrated him highly, and it’s believed that this is the reason he killed this trainer.

After the death of Dawn Brancheau, Tilikum was moved to the back pool on his own and only ever made an appearance to the public at the end of shows to splash them. He became isolated and lacking in any contact with humans and other orcas. It was from then on that his life went downhill, the rest of his days consisted of coming out to the public at the end of shows and his sperm being used for breeding programs. Tilikum had 21 offspring, only 10 of which are alive as of January 2017. Some of his calves included: Nyar lived for only three years as she had many health problems, Sumar lived only 12 years, and Unna who lived for 19 years. In 2016, Tilly’s health started to decline and in early 2017, he tragically died, alone and frustrated.

If you are planning a visit to SeaWorld, or any other wildlife park that promotes the ill treatment of animals, please rethink and do some research before going. Tilikum’s life was wasted in a small tank performing tricks to uneducated audiences. Tilikum’s life is an example of why things need to change, for the sake of the animal’s life and for the safety of humans.