It's beyond sad what happened to Orlando Sea World trainer Dawn Brancheau. This week she was killed by a 12,000-pound orca whale like the ones she'd worked with for over 13 years - one of the many who play Shamu. Apparently already in an agitated state earlier that day, he leapt out of the water, grabbed her by her ponytail, and dragged her underwater, violently shaking the life out of her and drowning her.
Without a doubt, lots of questions need to be answered. For starters, if the whale was already agitated, why was he made to do a show?
Animal rights activists have already seized this tragedy, banging the drum about how orcas shouldn't be in small tanks for the pleasure of the paying public, and should in fact be frolicking free in the ocean where they belong.
The thing is, they're not wrong. But there's another side to the argument for the existence of parks like Sea World. And internationally recognized zoos like the San Diego Zoo. And camouflaged zoos like Wild Animal Park.
Without them, people would care even less.
Every year, our family vacations in Coronado, and as part of the trip, we always spend one day at Sea World. Every year, we are in awe at the grandeur, intelligence and beauty of these animals. Every year, we are reminded we should be doing more to preserve them. And every year, as a result, we contribute to the cause.
It's a unique and emotional appreciation you can't get from pictures. Or television. In fact, you can't get it anywhere else except by seeing them in person. Or seeing them next to a person, like in the above video.
I'm not naive. I know these animals are on display and being put through their paces for profit. But I also know that the cause for their preservation and survival profits much more than it ever would by the public having access to them in a way they couldn't if these parks didn't exist.
While Ms. Brancheau's death is sad enough on its own, the tragedy is being compounded by animal rights groups politicizing it. Don't get me wrong - I think some of these groups are right on many points. In fact I've contributed to a few of them as well.
But contrary to what they're saying, I believe that while orca whales are black and white, the issue of closing Sea World is not.
