faeriewench

I actually tried watching it again recently and one of my main problems with it is still the way the interview clips are ordered and presented. You get *Completely reasonable statement from Trainer A*, *Completely reasonable statement from Trainer B*, *Totally WTF statement by Trainer C*, *Another reasonable statement from Trainer B*, then *Subjective and emotional statement by Who The #$% Is This Guy?*. It goes on like as far as I am concerned. Oh, and those with the most sensational things to say were also given a whole lot more screen time.

This! This is one of my issues with the situation. Why orcas and orcas alone? What is so special about them? What about elephants? tigers? Y'know they killed far more zookeepers than the orcas have their trainers and no one says a word. Same with OSHA. They did little to nothing with elephant/cat attacks and yet they breathe down the necks of the folks at SeaWorld. Compared to a lot, if not most, animals at zoos, the SeaWorld orcas and dolphins got it made if you really think about it. I always worry for the big cats...

She is doing a spyhop here with the extra of presenting her pec to the trainer to give you the "high five" (or hand shake lol) sometimes seen in shows. Katina by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

It is basically like that. Why they do, it allows them to be able to see their surroundings above water, so they do that even when not cued too. Same for tail slap. Tail slap tend to be a sign of multiple different things, mainly the animal is agitated and he/she is warning everyone around them that they are not in a good mood so they should stay away, other times they seem to do it to signal other pod members they found food (they also breach a lot when they find food too). I've seen captive mother orcas tail slap when they feel like the baby is threatened by the other pod members. That's why SW trainers tend to be selective who all is present in the tank with a newborn, like with Corky at the San Diego park, she just badly wants to mother something as she can be a bit over bearing so she is often the last to meet the babies.

Majority of the behaviors, yes, mimic what they been observed doing in the wild. The bows, tail slaps, sideways breach, spyhop, zippers and the sliding out, all can be seen in the wild. Here are pictures some of them behaviors performed at SeaWorld that have been seen in the wild: (sorry there are multiple pictures) The common bow Kasatka by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr I'll tell ya'll a interesting story about this behavior. ^ Awhile back someone stumbled on a picture of 4 "wild" orcas doing a bow behavior side by side and in perfect unison...many people, myself included, thought for sure that picture was the work of photoshop. And also we figured the orcas in the picture were the orcas at Marineland Antibes in France that been photoshopped into the wild, because the only time everyone has ever actually seen the behavior performed in perfect unison like that have been at the parks. But sure enough...the picture was real. The zipper Ikaika by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr spyhop Keet by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr a sideways breach Kalia by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr tail slap Corky by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr the slide out (but here with an extra kick, what he is doing here is referred to as the "thrash" slideout) Keet by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr One of the best documented cases involving "slide out" in the wild is if you look up videos of the wild Argentine orca pods, in particular of the male named "Mel", some of that footage is fantastic of them sliding up on the beaches snagging sea lions. On the topic of catching Tillikum a certain time of day....I can see that. Prior to the attack, Tillikum was a regular to just about every show. Immediately following the attack Tillikum was put on a hiatus and he remained backstage for several months, and finally went back to shows during the fall that year. From that moment on...Tillikum does what Tillikum wants, that includes whether or not he takes part in shows. For a good while after getting back to shows, he decided he had enough and refused to perform for a few months and reappeared again. He is a diva.

Thank you! I am glad to hear someone is doing their own research. Most are not doing that. It baffles me beyond belief when someone calls the animals performing slaves and to free them all. Try to follow up that question with something along the lines of "how do you plan on enrichment to replace the shows?" and often times in response you just get a blank stare from that person and then they stammer again about how terrible the shows are and "free the whales!" Some people can not grasp that something like the "hula" behavior, as silly as it looks, takes many hours to train and many extra hours into refining it. That is many hours the animals are actually using their noggins and thinking about something else other then how they can eat the tank or get into something they should not like any curious animal. If people don't want shows then that is fine but completely taking away shows and the training for shows is a detriment to the animals. As pointed out, the shows are exercise and the training is mental stimulation, and if you don't want a show, then you better have a great idea as to how you are going to replace that mental and physical activity. Animals left to do their own thing allllll day long...we're talking bored animals that can get over 18 feet long, weigh in at several tons, and are obviously pretty smart. You would probably hear more stories of attacks taking place because they'd be bored outta their minds.

Blackfish for the longest time (at least as far as I am aware) was mainly used to reference Pilot whales. So anytime I hear "Blackfish" I actually think of those guys instead. But there was a time us humans would mistaken orcas from pilots or false killer whales....especially false killer whales (also known as pseudorca)

I may have seen that, and that would be Trua. He seems to been a good thing for Tillikum, as he has been a lot more playful at the viewing glass, especially with Trua present. It is very important, as I said, for the male orcas and just about all species of dolphins to have access to other males. Lone males with a bunch of busy females can and do drive the females nuts resulting in separations. (see the situation at Kamogawa SeaWorld in Japan...Earth, a juvenile, is separated from his mom, aunt and little sister and has been for some time)

Yeah the under water viewing at the Orlando park (and same for the San Diego park. San Antonio actually doesnt have any due to the state of Texas' own laws) is at the Dine with Shamu pool. Tillikum is a usual sight there when he isn't performing.

Dunno what you meant by "walkthrough" tanks but Tillikum is allowed in all tanks and is in all of them at one point just about each day. Where he is, sometimes depends on where everyone else is due to Katina (the pod matriarch) not liking him, or what the trainers got going on and Tilly himself doesn't like too much exposure to the other orcas (he actually prefers to be alone at times). Trua is the primary orca that is kept with Tillikum as of late so if you see Tilly he'll either be alone or will have Trua with him. Trua is still a growing male going into his adolescences so telling them apart is easy as he is not full grown. And when the show pool is open, he is typically found in the DWS (Dine with Shamu) pool, the shaded pool behind the stadium or the stadium pool. They don't hide him anymore like they did immediately following the incident when he wasn't physically used in shows. I've heard stories from other park goers of Tillikum's daughter and granddaughter being with him as well, but I yet to see any photo or video proof (my friends that work at the park say they yet to see that too) so until then that is just a rumor in my mind especially since both girls are nearing breeding age now. Trua and his sister look similar so my guess one got mistaken for the other.

http://bit.ly/1ePAG5F

I am glad you decided that you want to see a SeaWorld park. Do you know which location you'd prefer? Just curious I am getting a pass through the San Antonio park and was talking to one of my SoCal friends for when I am out there in October and well....SeaWorld San Diego is a go this year too. lol Was going to try Six Flags Magic Mountain then but I changed my mind.

Confirmed trips: (getting a SeaWorld pass so...) Mirage Dolphin Habitat/Adventuredome - May SeaWorld San Antonio/Six Flags Fiesta Texas - June Knott's Berry Farm/Disney - August Knott's Berry Farm/Sea World San Diego - October Possibilities: Kentucky Kingdom Cedar Point I don't see much of a need to even mention KI since well....I work close by.

Some years I seen it packed, other years I seen it quiet. If the weather is nice, I'd say it'll be packed.

Ok...May has been decided for Vegas. Up until yesterday, my mother couldn't figure out whether to go in March or May (I was already leaning towards May because Spring Break is March-April...), and one of my SoCal friends told her what the temperature is typically like in March and she didn't like it, lol. El Loco should be opening soon I am assuming?

Adventuredome can be added to my list. Everyone knows I'll spend most of the leisure time in Vegas at the Mirage, though I want to try that new coaster once (if its open) and I do love Canyon Blaster anyway. I still have yet to go up the Stratosphere...

Manta....in other words, B&M.

For KI it was Banshee's announcement (despite my original Canon Powershot being stolen during the unveiling...still PO'ed but at least it wasn't the Rebel). Followed by KIC day (one with the Firehawk tour) Non KI special moments: 1.) Seeing the baby orca at SeaWorld (later named Makani). Last time I seen an orca calf that young was back in the 90s. 2.) my interactions with Bella and Lightning at the Mirage. Bella being attracted by the Banshee cup was really funny. 3.) Going to Knott's with my friends. Park was so much fun in 2013, look forward to the next time of going 4.) Halloween Haunt (Knott's and KI) 5.) Knott's Merry Farm. I can't stand Christmas but I still had fun going to the Merry Farm. The overall atmosphere of the park was sooooo cool. Browsing the shops, the stands, looking at all the decorations and seeing the shows. It was great ending the year riding Ghostrider, Silver Bullet and Jaguar for once. Here's to 2014!

Easy: Any wildlife in the park (Canadian geese swimming in the fountains) IMG_3839 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr Hard: WindSeeker mid cycle lit up at night _1017822 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr You mean "selfie"? I don't do those, lol. Easy: Picture of Snoopy costumed character Hard: picture of Woodstock Expert: picture of Yogi Bear

Easy Dodgem Cars: IMG_4391 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr Medium: Adventure Express IMG_1852 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr Easy: The Snoopys in the Royal Fountain Medium: Annoying Canadian Geese swimming in the Royal Fountain Hard: Star Trek Enterprise model in Paramount Story (it was last in that spot in either 06 or 07 if I remember right)

Huh? I can't make heads or tails out of this comment. EDIT: Or is "boy" an autocorrect fail that's supposed to be "not"? It's driving me nuts too.

While I do agree it is a PR nightmare, (some of the stories I been told about the protestors been really bad) SeaWorld actually hasn't completely ignored it with their statement and that alone had its errors with how it was presented. That was their chance to highlight the good they have done but they didn't, there were some things said where I had to sort of side-eye. Some of the statements, they didn't clarify enough making them look more questionable than before. Blackfish sure has its flaws, it is entirely sensationalist, it used various editing techniques to make things more dramatic, and they used footage that wasn't even showing the event they were talking about among many other things. Even the way the interviews were ordered didn't help matters. Though they did point out some flaws I wish SeaWorld would fix. But that message is so lost, it's a jumbled mess, everyone is just left with "shut down SeaWorld" as the only conclusion they can come to which will not help the animals at all. Their response, I will admit, was really a lot of reading. Me and my friend had a massive brain fart reading the statement about only 2 wild caught killer whales are in the parks, but we totally missed the collected BY SeaWorld part (Kasatka and Katina in the fall of 1978). We forgot for a brief moment Ulises, Tillikum and Corky were originally captured for somebody else entirely and not SeaWorld.

Thank you Terpy!

It is still so far out but found myself considering SeaWorld Orlando for next Christmas season. That is a wait and see what happens though, since I'm not really a Florida gal, lol. (but I do miss that park) I'm just looking forward to San Antonio right now, the lodging details are all set! I think it has been answered but I just want it clear, what is Six Flags equivalent of a Platinum pass? Another Six Flags park may happen some point this year (not disclosing which park atm just yet but I'm thinking one of the Cali ones) It may be something I'll consider when I am at Fiesta Texas.

*gasp* orcas perform while.....naked!!! http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-documentary-reveals-seaworld-forced-orca-whale,34449/ Oh, it is just The Onion....