Going to Sea World was for many, a family favorite. Internet wasn’t as big then, so meeting these animals up close was more than a biology class. What this park would provide was a unique opportunity to meet a lot of animals that you otherwise would not be able to on your own. We understand that animals are unpredictable and they can sometimes do things that we can find shocking. I remember my first visit to Sea World Park. Everything was great!
I got to see the dolphin show, some seals and of course the orcas. Orcas are also called killer whales. In the wild, they have earned that name. While other whales feed on banks of fish this type kills larger animals to eat. Any whale can be intimidating in the sea. They are massive way beyond anything you can find on land.
Killer whales may seem like cute pandas of the sea. I can assure you they are deadly. Of course, this is something that only happens in the wild, right? At least, this is what we have all grown to believe. Sea World only works with domesticated animals and people are ever put in real danger…
Wild animals are domesticated, to a certain degree. They can always act out of pure instinct and do something very unexpected. I just came across some footage shot at Sea World. This one was particularly disturbing for many reasons. At that time, I saw killer whales act this way and I didn’t really think anything about it. I even thought it was cute. It turns out that that behavior was something a lot more sinister.
This was shot around 1995. The footage is not in HD obviously but it is clear. Here you can see the killer whale swimming around the tank. One of the things that we notice is that one of its dorsal fins is collapsed. We were all told back then that this was something that happened to all killer whales in captivity. For some reason, we thought it was normal. It turns out that after several years, people found out of everything that really went down in Sea World. A collapsed dorsal fin is the sign of an unhealthy and injured killer whale.
You need to see this in perspective. Killer whales are huge animals. They are used to swimming in very large areas. Then abruptly, they are literally forced to swim in very small tanks. It might not be much to you but this drives them crazy. This is not the most shocking thing. As the footage continues, we see the whale get very close to the audience. It even slides herself at an arms-length from a few kids. One of the trainers immediately jumps in and tells the kids to back off. Here is the reason why.
