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by **pcwells** » Feb 25th, '10, 08:58

This news story came as a shock to me.

Killer Whale Kills Trainer

I've long been fascinated by marine life. My first stab at a degree was in marine biology, before I relised that the background work was boring as hell.

There have been no reports that I know of of Orca attacking humans in the wild. And they're generally known as being very peaceable towards anything that isn't a fish or a seal (aside from the occasional pod of silent transient Orca that will work together to strip a blue whale to the bone).

So the news that a killer whale had killed one of its trainers in a Sea World resort hit me hard, but then I had to wonder how unstable and aggressive I would become in the same situation, having been kept in a puddle for years and told to jump through hoops.

Seriously. If you want to see marine mammals, go on a reputable whale watching tour...

Pete

by **themagicwand** » Feb 25th, '10, 09:21

We just heard this on the radio, and my wife made the exact same point. How insane must the poor animal have been, cooped up like that for years with the call of the wild coursing through its veins? And for one moment, just one moment, it returned to the wild. Just a shame somebody had to die as a result.

To quote Vincent Vega: "You play with fire, you gonna get burned."

by **pcwells** » Feb 25th, '10, 09:28

Absolutely. You have to expect a nine-ton predator to have a rather heavy-handed way of saying 'F*** you I won't do what you tell me!".

Pete

by **cymru1991** » Feb 25th, '10, 09:38

pcwells wrote:Absolutely. You have to expect a nine-ton predator to have a rather heavy-handed way of saying 'F*** you I won't do what you tell me!".

Pete

Exactly. I really feel for the poor animal. And you know there will be some serious reprecussions for the poor thing. Such a real shame.

by **Mr_Grue** » Feb 25th, '10, 09:58

My first thought was, "it's a f___ing whale!"

Not sure how the "no kills in the wild" stat plays out. I'm guessing there are several orders more numbers of interactions between captive whales and humans than there are in the wild. And less certainty about records. If a woman is shaken to death in front of a crowd on land, you're more likely to hear about it than someone who disappears at sea.

Someone else pointed out that it seems strange how negative we are about animals being used in circuses, yet not as negative about whales and dolphins in an identical situation.

by **themagicwand** » Feb 25th, '10, 10:19

But, but if Hollywood has taught me anything it's that Killer Whales are our friends...

by **A J Irving** » Feb 25th, '10, 10:25

themagicwand wrote:But, but if Hollywood has taught me anything it's that Killer Whales are our friends...

It's part of the great water-bound mammal conspiracy. They're pretending to be our friends so they can turn on us when we're least expecting it and take over the world. I think they're collectively known as the New Whale Order- you have been warned! :shock:

by **pcwells** » Feb 25th, '10, 10:42

themagicwand wrote:But, but if Hollywood has taught me anything it's that Killer Whales are our friends...

You've obviously never seen ORCA: Killer Whale, which Dino DeLaurentiis made to cash in on Jaws.

Not a great movie, but it was interesting in that it gave the whale a revenge motive and had it hunt the evil fisherman to the ends of the earth.

PLOT: Moby Dick Role Reversal

A bit twee in its anthropomorphism, but at least it didn't give the animal any moral dilemmas.

And Ennio Morricone's music for the film is utterly gorgeous.

</nerd mode>

by **pcwells** » Feb 25th, '10, 10:45

And on the subject of Enio Morricone's score for Orca:

Goosebumps time

by **themagicwand** » Feb 25th, '10, 10:57

Orca is a lie! Free Willy was based on a true story.

Actually, perhaps if they had freed Willy nobody at Seaworld would have died.

BTW "Free Willy" - movie title producing the most smutty smirks ever??

by **pcwells** » Feb 25th, '10, 11:01

Free or not, I still wasn't tempted.

It's a great title for charades too!

by **Mr_Grue** » Feb 25th, '10, 11:06

pcwells wrote:You've obviously never seen ORCA: Killer Whale, which Dino DeLaurentiis made to cash in on Jaws.

Couldn't believe they cut out the opera singing plot.

by **Chris** » Feb 25th, '10, 11:10

known as the New Whale Order- you have been warned

dont you meant the New Whale Orca?

by **A J Irving** » Feb 25th, '10, 11:18

Looking it up on Wikipedia, two things immediately catch my attention:

1 it was directed by the same guy who did 'The Dambusters'

2 the description of the plot is awesome:

...he tries to capture what he believes to be a male whale, but mistakenly harpoons a pregnant female. She tries to commit suicide on the propellers, but Nolan and his crew get the orca on board, where it subsequently miscarries. The crew hoses the dead fetus overboard as the male watches on.

and:

The crew begins to pursue the whale after it signals Nolan to follow him. Ken is leaning over the side when the whale surfaces and grabs him, killing him in the process. They keep following the whale until they start to reach the Strait of Belle Isle. Paul starts to get into a lifeboat, but the maddened orca knocks Paul out of the boat and eats him. The next day, the whale shoves an iceberg into the boat and starts to sink it. Nolan and Dr. Bedford escape from the boat, while Umilak is crushed beneath an avalanche of ice.

Nolan and Dr. Bedford hide in an iceberg, but Nolan slips onto another. The orca separates the icebergs, trapping Nolan. The whale jumps onto the ice, causing it to tilt and send Nolan into the water. The whale lifts Nolan up with his tail and throws him onto another iceberg, killing him. Dr. Bedford looks on in shock as Nolan slips into the water in a cross shape. His revenge complete, the whale swims under the ice, while a helicopter is seen to rescue Dr. Beford

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orca_(film)

by **A J Irving** » Feb 25th, '10, 11:22

Chris wrote:
known as the New Whale Order- you have been warned

dont you meant the New Whale Orca?

That did occur to me just after I posted it but seeing as everybody sensibly decided to ignore my stupid submission, I thought I'd just leave it before the whole thread potentially descended into an flurry of horrific fish and whale puns. :roll:

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