billvon 2,400 #51 February 25, 2010 > but I guess this brings all new meaning to their name.. "KILLER" whales. Yep. It's like those murders in West Kill, NY a while back. I mean, the people moved to West Kill on their own, right? What did they think people do there? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ion01 1 #52 February 25, 2010 Quote Not buying it. We became more eco-friendly as a species just because it was "natural" we'd eventually get smart enough to do so. Even now there's holdouts. Like fat drunks that camo up and kill deer, and other animals, with the excuse, "But, they're like rodents here." Animals have it rough enough in the wild without hillbilly thrill killing . . . And don't say, "But we eat them!" It's not the frigging 18th century anymore! NickD Those hillbillies that kill deer are actually contributing to the eco-friendlyness. If they don't kill deer then the deer become to numerous and spread disease, destroy crops, eat too much food depriving other animals of food, etc. This is why in some cases hunters have been called in to hunt and why hunting is seasonal and varies in time depending on the population. Ever wonder why chickens and cows aren't extinct? because we kill and eat them! The buffalo was quickly becoming extinct until the government finally made it legal to hunt, farm and kill them! Once they made it so the private industry could benefit it was no longer a problem. In fact, I often eat buffalo meat because it is so lean. This stategy has also worked with numerous animals in africa to prevent thier extinction! So, all those fat drunks who camo up and kill deer are preventing the population from become out of control and keep you from dying of some disease that the deer bring. They are the eco freindly ones! Not you. Want to see what happens without those fat drunk camoed up deer killers (by the way all the hunters I know are farmers who live off thier land and are not fat or drunks)! http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/12/science/out-of-control-deer-send-ecosystem-into-chaos.html?pagewanted=1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ion01 1 #53 February 25, 2010 All you people whining about animals in captivity: Have you never own a fish or gerbal or dog or cat? They live in the wild too you know! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #54 February 25, 2010 QuoteWhat did they think people do there? I heard the neighborhood on the east side of West Kill isn't so bad.Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hungarianchick 0 #55 February 25, 2010 QuoteIf an individual can purchase a 1000 acre piece of land here in the US, then real estate is not a problem. This place does not need to be in a population center like Orlando, San Diego or San Antonio. SeaWorld needs a place for for time off and retirement for them. The objection to this is that they have a hard time with change. Part of the issue that may have lead up to yesterday's incident was that there was construction going on there. Tilikum was probably stressed out becasue of it. Then leaving them where they belong, in the sea, would be the best choice, don't you think? "I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
regulator 0 #56 February 25, 2010 That reminds me of a drug-robbery turned murder in Houston a few weeks ago. The Address? 2207 Coke Street. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #57 February 25, 2010 Quote SeaWorld needs a place for for time off and retirement for them. They have one...it's the parking lot! When I moved to Sandyeggo in 1980 I lived a couple miles from Sea World in Ocean Beach. I use to meet a buddy in the mornings over behind the park to photograph him training his Falcons to hunt the bunnys back there. Early one morning we watched in amazement as an obviously well planned and practiced 'semi-covert' ballet took place in the field next to a north east parking lot... A backhoe dug a spot and two forklifts delivered the load...a killer whale was then covered up & left to fertilize the fauna of the future. A friend's wife who's a long time administrator at the SD zoo told me some time later that's common, it probably wasn't sick but for some reason it wasn't working out being there and it's more 'humane' (re:cost effective for the park) to put it down than return it home with more than likely a similar outcome. I'm no environmentalist or tree hugger by any means, and we've all see these big guys on TV or from the bleachers, performing their roles as circus clowns doing stupid 'pet' tricks and been impressed... Nothing compared to seeing one up close & personal, they're huge, magnificent, flawless in design and production...if there IS a God, he does great work on big fish! But standing out there in the dirt under the early morning sun 3 feet from one with it's eyes rolled back, still cold from the water...struck up a sick feeling within me, like I was party to a crime. I felt like we had stolen something priceless and fucked it up, now we had to 'hide the evidence' of our stupidity. In the grand scheme of things a dead whale being buried for whatever reason is a trivial footnote at best in my life, but the impression lasts because this country boy had never seen something that big with a brain, up that close. (other than a waffle-house waitress) For years after, when driving by there I couldn't help but wonder what the ripple effect to the seas losing ole 'stinky' and the forever absent future offspring has, what astronomical price do we REALLY pay for mindless entertainment... ~ I lived walking distance from Sea World San Diego for 20 years...the place I worked at use to give discounted and sometimes free tickets to the park...I've never been there. ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFXpert 0 #58 February 25, 2010 Quote~ I lived walking distance from Sea World San Diego for 20 years...the place I worked at use to give discounted and sometimes free tickets to the park...I've never been there. I grew up near Orlando and Sea World was not far away. I have not been since I was in the single-digits, but even then I told my father I thought the tanks were too small. "if there IS a God", He is why I am so compassionate toward animals. I have always cared.Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeffwxyz 0 #59 February 26, 2010 Quote Jeff, You are intelligent and eloquent. But watch this and come back, I'll wait . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRWJFvX03vg&feature=PlayList&p=36BEC6F77AE48784&index=0&playnext=1 NickD I'm at work right now. No Youtube here. I check it at home toninght. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mutumbo 0 #60 February 26, 2010 Quote (other than a waffle-house waitress) totally jusspit tea ALL over my computer Thanatos340(on landing rounds)-- Landing procedure: Hand all the way up, Feet and Knees Together and PLF soon as you get bitch slapped by a planet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squeak 17 #61 February 26, 2010 Quote Jeff, You are intelligent and eloquent. But watch this and come back, I'll wait . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRWJFvX03vg&feature=PlayList&p=36BEC6F77AE48784&index=0&playnext=1 NickD The guy on the left looks like a Shaved ChimpYou are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky) My Life ROCKS! How's yours doing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NickDG 23 #62 February 26, 2010 Video just prior to the attack . . . http://www.wesh.com/video/22671481/index.html/index.html NickD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #63 February 26, 2010 Feeding animals and turning your back on them - brings back some distant memory for me. I was scuba diving in Belize, and the dive master was this real jerk of a macho asshat that strutted around the boat in a bikini, and acted like he as god's gift to diving, women and pretty much everything else. My girlfriend and I had already had a bad entry with him, she was freaking out a bit and aborted the dive. I went down solo and he was at the bottom feeding some nurse sharks. Strike 2 in my book - I don't feed or touch animals - just observe. This dude would grab the sharks, flip them over and try to lull them by rubbing their bellies - a technique that shark researchers have been known to use on smaller species (deprives them of oxygen, so they get tired). In the middle of feeding them, he turned to me and gave me the OK sign, with his little fingers extended. A nurse shark was hovering behind him, and thought his fingers were more fish, quickly swam over his shoulder and bit his fingers. After that, he grabbed the shark and punched it. The wound wasn't a big deal - it was like a dog bite, but what was really cool was the blood looks green at depth. Watching that woman feeding the orca and then turn her back on him was pretty intense for me.Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hcsvader 1 #64 February 26, 2010 Big fuckin deal. Its no different than if I were to get killed at work. Welder killed by structural failure from faulty weld, or skydiver killed in skydiving accident... People working around powerful, dangerous wild animals are going to get killed by them just like in any other career where there is potential for injury or death.Have you seen my pants? it"s a rough life, Livin' the dream >:) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #65 February 26, 2010 Quote Big fuckin deal. Its no different than if I were to get killed at work. Welder killed by structural failure from faulty weld, or skydiver killed in skydiving accident... People working around powerful, dangerous wild animals are going to get killed by them just like in any other career where there is potential for injury or death. Yup...if ya wear a bulls-eye on purpose, don't be real surprised if the world takes a shot at ya now & then! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soberamprat 0 #66 February 26, 2010 He is a stud whale, Like bulls you don't treat them like the other cows. Don't land in the field with one cow in it cuz it's a bull http://www.swoopstudios.com/videos/videos-rex.php Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DJL 232 #67 February 26, 2010 Quote Video just prior to the attack . . . http://www.wesh.com/video/22671481/index.html/index.html NickD So...she's in the water with the Orca that had already killed trainers in the past, the result of which was a policy that forbade trainers from getting in the water with that Orca."I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedRacer 1 #68 February 26, 2010 HAve you guys ever read the COmments section on a news story when a skydiver dies? Some People go on & on about how he had it coming for doing something as craZy as skydiving. Speed Racer -------------------------------------------------- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyrider 0 #69 February 26, 2010 I haven't seen anyone say "she had it coming" BUT when you do extreme shit, you knwo the chances you are taking! Like this Zoo Manager: http://www.machovideo.com/video/The_boss_tastes_good_18017/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeffwxyz 0 #70 February 26, 2010 Nick, That episode portrays a good analogy of what someone (or something) would go through if put in that situation. I agree that it would be unfair and cruel. I do not believe that the Killer Whales at Sea World are in the same position. What they have lost by being at Sea World, is being made up for in a large part by the relationship that they have with their trainers. This is a difficult concept for people to grasp who have never worked with animals in a capacity of something more than a casual owner would. The trainers who work these animals have a bond with them almost as strong as a parent-child bond. Further, you have no idea about how eager these whales are to please their trainers. Outside of the occasional days where they are upset about something and are not interested, when their assigned trainer is around, they are much like a dog who is happy to see his owner. Because of their inherent character trait of wanting to play, it is not hard to see why the work they do at Sea World is not work for them. They perform for people because they love to play. So if we simply kept them alone in a tank all day and let people stare at them, that would be cruel. But at Sea World, that does not happen. Sea World is not a typical old fashioned zoo. Do you know what kind of education is predominant amongst their trainers? The majority of them have degrees in Psychology. If all Sea World cared about was the shell of a whale and not their mind, then having an education in that field would not do much good. Jeff Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeffwxyz 0 #71 February 26, 2010 Quote Video just prior to the attack . . . http://www.wesh.com/video/22671481/index.html/index.html NickD It really sucked to see the last few seconds. It looks like she made the mistake of trusting him too much. It looks something like the typical "wont happen to me" accident. It also just goes to show that you can't trust what you get from the news. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DJL 232 #72 February 26, 2010 QuoteHAve you guys ever read the COmments section on a news story when a skydiver dies? Some People go on & on about how he had it coming for doing something as craZy as skydiving. Sort of. However, in order to enjoy the thrill of skydiving you have to skydive, you don't have to do low pulls or skydive in crazy wind conditions. In order to be a Killer Whale trainer you don't have to get in the tank with a Killer Whale with a history of drowning people and had been acting aggressively towards the other 9 ton creatures in the tank. I can't find the source right now but I believe reading that trainers had previously been barred from entering the tank with this Orca. I difference I recognize is that this was the head trainer and is presumably capable of making the call on when it is or is not OK to go in there. In this case she was wrong."I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mgregory 0 #73 February 26, 2010 QuoteI guess that's what happens when you cage something that doesn't wish to be caged. Gonna start keeping an eye on my cat. Love it!AKA MG Hammer Flying Hellfish #834 Son's Of Bacon #1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,400 #74 February 26, 2010 >In order to be a Killer Whale trainer you don't have to get in the tank with a Killer Whale . . . You sorta do. It's like saying "in order to be a skydiving instructor you don't have to get in the air with a questionable student." Actually, sometimes you do. Does that come back to bite you once in a while? Yes - but that's part of the risks you take as an instructor. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NickDG 23 #75 February 26, 2010 Seaworld to resume the whale shows tomorrow. (Cashing in on the publicity?) The whale in question, "To remain an active member of the team," according to SW officials . . . NickD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
