Wild Killer Whales

In the wild killer whales are very social animals and rely on the social bonds they create with their families or pods, in captivity these bonds are often broken. In the documentary “Blackfish” they reveal an unbreakable mother and daughter bond between Kasatka and Takara. Kasatka was a loving killer whale who was never vocal and never displayed violent behaviors, when her daughter Takara was taken from her, her trainers explained that for days Kasatka screeched, crying out for her daughter (Cowperthwaite). Killer whales usually stay with their young for life, when Takara was taken from Kasatka it broke the mother and daughter bond. In the same manner, killer whales also rely on these bond to communicate with each other. Hence if they can’t

The killer whales don’t know or understand each other so they can’t even begin to try and create the social connections there species have in the wild. As well, killer whales brains have a extra part that taps into there communication and feelings for each other that humans don’t have: “ (killer whales) have a more complex social structure and most importantly need their family network (pod) for a happy and healthy life” (Martinez). The killer whales in captivity need those social interactions and relationships, without them, they become tense, anxious, and hyper-aggressive and they begin fighting with each other, which leads to injuries and sometimes death. The social bonds are crucial to killer whales communicating and getting along with each other, captivity limits there chance to create lasting

To illustrate, Dawn Brancheau was a trainer at SeaWorld and on February 24, 2010 she was dragged down into the water and mauled by Tilikum, a 12,000 pound killer whale who had a history of being aggressive (Cowperthwaite) . Tilikum was captured just at 2 years old. Many killer whales in the wild are not aggressive or hyperactive, so while being in captivity Tilikum adopted these traits thus causing the death of Dawn and many others. Similarly, throughout the years there have been numerous accounts of killer whale trainers being injured or killed (Halverstadt). The killer whales in captivity are very hostile, when the trainers get in the water it's a perfect opportunity for the whales to grab them and drag them down. There has been various occasions where trainers have died or been near to death. On one occasion a trainer was grabbed by the foot and dragged down into the water for up to a 1:30 repeatedly, eventually the killer whale let go and the trainer was free but he was close to death. Nevertheless the trainers work alongside these mammals everyday and make connections to them like someone would a pet: “Those are not your whales, Ya know, you love them, and you think, I'm the one that touches them, feeds them, keeps them alive, gives them the care that they need. They're NOT your whales. They own them!” (Cowperthwaite). When the killer