The Orca They Called Tilikum is Dead

The Orca they called Tilikum is dead. He died on Friday at SeaWorld’s prison from an infection he had been struggling with for some time. In all good conscience, I cannot call him Tilikum. That was the name the human captors gave him when they enslaved him, but it was not his name. His name would have been unpronounceable to the human ear but no doubt he had a name that his mother called him, that his family called him, that other beings that lived in the sea would have called him had he been allowed to stay in the wild. I would imagine his name would be something identifiable to his character and actions so maybe a more appropriate name is, “The One They Stole and Held Prisoner Until He Was So Insane he Killed Three Humans” or simply “Human Killer.” Orcas have never been known to kill humans in the wild.

The Orca called Tilikum was captured from the wild on November 9th, 1983 – he has spent thirty-three years in a small tank swimming in circles being driven slowly insane. In the wild, Orca’s swim up to 100 miles and live between fifty – eighty years. They are highly social animals living with a stable family- related group called pods for their entire lives and are very protective of their young. The whales live and travel with their mothers even after they are fully-grown. Sometimes the young whales break off after reaching reproductive age and start their own family pod, whatever would have been the case with the Orca called Tilikum, somewhere, a mother and family unit of whales lost a son to SeaWorld’s prison, I have no doubt his family mourned and remember him still. It is nothing but arrogance on the part of humans to think that other mammals, who have larger brains than ours, do not have similar instincts for family members as we do. And how is intelligence measured on Earth? By human standards and we are the only species hell bent on destroying our ecosystem, I do not call that very intelligent.

Animal rights activist, Ellen Ericksen who lives about four miles from SeaWorld has been campaigning against the animal captivity injustice at the park for many years. She has been assaulted by SeaWorld employees, stalked and harassed in an effort to intimidate her to stop her protests, but she says nothing will. Ericksen said in a phone interview that SeaWorld has no moral compass and no ethics. SeaWorld and the Orca known as Tilikum came to the world's attention after the documentary, Blackfish aired. It was devastating to SeaWorld’s stock and the park’s popularity plummeted. According to Ericksen, the Orca known as Tilikum has also had his sperm stolen from him and his DNA is in 52% of all Orca’s currently enslaved in captivity.

“If Tilikum only knew how many people know how wrong captivity is and have been fighting on so many levels for him and the others,” Said Ericksen, “His death will not be in vain. I hope he knows that he was loved by so many, and our jobs will never be done until all imprisoned animals are liberated. This madness will stop, but not soon enough for the animals that are still bred and are still under lock and key. “

One can only hope that the fallout from this egregious injustice SeaWorld has inflicted on “Human Killer” along with countless other wild beings sees their demise. There is no place in our society for the enslavement and torture, whether it be physical or mental, of our fellow sentient beings who have a place on this Earth that is their own. Whether we like it or not they are here with us, they belong here, and they have every right to enjoy their lives, liberty, freedom, and happiness as well as we do.

I will never go to SeaWorld or any other zoo of captivity; there is nothing entertaining about watching another beings misery and torture – we should be content to be awe inspired by their magnificence in their natural settings.