Just some thoughts. What people will learn about Orcas at the new "Sea World Orca Encounter" is that these whales travel in pods. When a single male leaves it's pod they often travel in a two bachelor group. The point is the very fine people that long for the Sea World Orcas to live in the wild have significant hurdles to that end.
"Keiko" (click here) has his dignity in that he tried really, really hard to be autonomous and free, but, he had no real reference points to the oceans. In the end he stranded in a fjord. It was not a failure, it was a learning experience for all involved.
Any attempt at setting the whales free to open ocean unprotected and without human intervention has to come from a team of PhDs. There is no other option. The Sea World Orcas are bonded to people. Bonding is a gigantic issue for any scientist that wants to set the Orcas into open oceans.
The Orcas like deep water, but, what these Orcas don't understand is the depth of the oceans and the size of their swimming pool. That is significant and poses a danger to them. It is a lot more than just hunting and eating in the wild.
Imagine just for a minute being a baby Orca and mom dives to depth. The young learn something. They learn mom is brave and dives for a purpose and they can survive for a short time while at depth, but, surfacing is very important. A female with an infant has a lot of work to do from birth, to them traveling to feeding areas and ultimately males leave the pod while the females breed again. No different than land animals such as the elephant the life skills are learned from the pod.
For the Sea World Orcas they have never had that ocean experience at a young age. There is no way to instill that knowledge. It has to be learned and it has to be learned at a young age.
The exception some might look to is Tillicum. He is a significantly large whale, but, he has been in the ocean. He was not hand raised. However, Tillicum sees Sea World pools and pens as his home and his domaine. He is a very strong and large male and part of that comes from his earlier years in the ocean. He would be hard pressed at his age to find a pod that would accept him or to build his own.
Male whales are interesting. In order to build their own pods, they will steal away an initial female from an existing pod. The two bachelor whales will harass a female at the edge of the pod until she is separated and isolated. They are fascinating mammals.
Tillicum should be considered retired and allowed to be in a place where he is safe and has his own domaine.
I want to refer to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (click here). That law worked to benefit the Sea World Orcas and rightfully so. But, to take the retirement of these mammals to the next level and set them free into the oceans can be viewed as wrongful under the law.
The law is to protect them and to remove them from cruelty. PhDs will have to oversee any efforts to set them free and quite frankly I can't think of one that would take this effort that far. There are too many factors. But, the people who see morality differently are welcome to try, but, first ASK the law if their venture to release the whales is within the parameters of it. Cruelty is the primary word and if releasing them is cruel the law will not back the effort.
Kindly remember, these Orcas are oriented to human beings and their behavior. That won't necessarily leave them in the open ocean. The whaling ships are still out there and they do hunt Orcas. Sending them into the oceans is an incredibly complex problem.
Again, congratulations to all and to Sea World for finding a path without cruelty to these magnificent mammals. Good luck!
"Keiko" (click here) has his dignity in that he tried really, really hard to be autonomous and free, but, he had no real reference points to the oceans. In the end he stranded in a fjord. It was not a failure, it was a learning experience for all involved.
Any attempt at setting the whales free to open ocean unprotected and without human intervention has to come from a team of PhDs. There is no other option. The Sea World Orcas are bonded to people. Bonding is a gigantic issue for any scientist that wants to set the Orcas into open oceans.
The Orcas like deep water, but, what these Orcas don't understand is the depth of the oceans and the size of their swimming pool. That is significant and poses a danger to them. It is a lot more than just hunting and eating in the wild.
Imagine just for a minute being a baby Orca and mom dives to depth. The young learn something. They learn mom is brave and dives for a purpose and they can survive for a short time while at depth, but, surfacing is very important. A female with an infant has a lot of work to do from birth, to them traveling to feeding areas and ultimately males leave the pod while the females breed again. No different than land animals such as the elephant the life skills are learned from the pod.
For the Sea World Orcas they have never had that ocean experience at a young age. There is no way to instill that knowledge. It has to be learned and it has to be learned at a young age.
The exception some might look to is Tillicum. He is a significantly large whale, but, he has been in the ocean. He was not hand raised. However, Tillicum sees Sea World pools and pens as his home and his domaine. He is a very strong and large male and part of that comes from his earlier years in the ocean. He would be hard pressed at his age to find a pod that would accept him or to build his own.
Male whales are interesting. In order to build their own pods, they will steal away an initial female from an existing pod. The two bachelor whales will harass a female at the edge of the pod until she is separated and isolated. They are fascinating mammals.
Tillicum should be considered retired and allowed to be in a place where he is safe and has his own domaine.
I want to refer to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (click here). That law worked to benefit the Sea World Orcas and rightfully so. But, to take the retirement of these mammals to the next level and set them free into the oceans can be viewed as wrongful under the law.
The law is to protect them and to remove them from cruelty. PhDs will have to oversee any efforts to set them free and quite frankly I can't think of one that would take this effort that far. There are too many factors. But, the people who see morality differently are welcome to try, but, first ASK the law if their venture to release the whales is within the parameters of it. Cruelty is the primary word and if releasing them is cruel the law will not back the effort.
Kindly remember, these Orcas are oriented to human beings and their behavior. That won't necessarily leave them in the open ocean. The whaling ships are still out there and they do hunt Orcas. Sending them into the oceans is an incredibly complex problem.
Again, congratulations to all and to Sea World for finding a path without cruelty to these magnificent mammals. Good luck!
