Tilikum (orca)

Tilikum during a performance at SeaWorld, May 6, 2009.

Tilikum (c. 1981), sometimes misspelled Tillikum, is a bull orca who lives in captivity at SeaWorld Orlando. He has sired many offspring, and has been involved in the deaths of three people. Following a year long hiatus after his last incident, Tilikum returned to performing at SeaWorld Orlando on 30 March 2011. He can often be seen with his grandson Trua and daughter Malia

Description

Tilikum measures 22.5 feet (6.9 m) long and weighs 12,300 pounds (5,600 kg), as of 2010. His pectoral fins are 6.5 feet (2.0 m) long, his flukes curl under, and his 6 feet (1.8 m)-tall dorsal fin is collapsed completely to his left side. He is the largest orca in captivity and also the most successful sire in captivity, with 13 offspring, 10 of which are still alive. In the Chinook Jargon of the Northwest, the name means "friends, relations, tribe, nation, common people."

Captivity

Tilikum was captured in Berufjörður off the east coast of Iceland in November 1983 at about two years of age. He was not the only one captured; a male (Nandú) and a female (Samoa) were captured alongside him. The two are now dead.

Tilikum in display tank

Life At Sealand of the Pacific

Tilikum was first sent to live at Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, Canada. There, he lived with two older females named Haida II and Nootka IV. Tilikum was at the bottom of this social structure, and Haida II and Nootka IV would often chase him into the medical pool. Sealand of the Pacific utilised food motivation as part of their training methods, meaning the whales were fed when they responded in a desired fashion to commands. The three whales' pen was separated from the ocean by merely a net; the owner of Sealand of the Pacific, Bob Wright, felt that at night the whales may chew through the net, or an activist would cut it to free them. Thus, at night, the whales were moved to a holding module 20 feet deep and 28 feet in diameter. At Sealand of the Pacific, the whales and trainers did not do "water work", the practice of having trainers in the water with the whales. On February 21, 1991 a trainer named Keltie Byrne slipped into the tank of the three whales. Trainers believe that the three whales began playing with her body. Eventually, the young trainer drowned. While living in Sealand, Tilikum sired his first calf, Kyuquot, which was born to Haida II on December 24, 1991.

Tilikum was moved to his current location at SeaWorld Orlando, Florida on January 9, 1992. Sealand of the Pacific closed soon after.

SeaWorld

SeaWorld approves of water work with their whales, such as Tilikum, due to his incredibly massive size and history at Sealand of the Pacific. Since his arrival at SeaWorld, Tilikum has sired many calves with many different females. His first calf born in Orlando was to Katina. Katina gave birth to Taku on September 9, 1993. Tilikum's other calves are: Nyar (1993–1996), Unna (1996), Sumar (1998–2010), Tuar (1999), Tekoa (2000), Nakai (2001), Kohana (2002), Ikaika (2002), Skyla (2004), Malia (2007), Sakari (2010) and Makaio (2010). In 1999, Tilikum began training for artificial insemination (AI). In early 2000, Kasatka who resides at SeaWorld San Diego was artificially inseminated using his sperm. She gave birth to a male calf, Nakai, on September 1, 2001. On May 3, 2002, another female in San Diego, named Takara, bore Tilikum's calf through artificial insemination.

Incidents

First incident

While at Sealand of Pacific, on February 21, 1991, Tilikum was involved in an incident which resulted in the death of a female trainer. The trainer slipped and fell into the tank with the whales. Sealand of the Pacific did not do water work with the orcas; in other words, they had never had a trainer in the pool with them before, which is a prime explanation as to why this event occurred. Although Tilikum was not the orca to initially touch Keltie, he was involved when Haida II, Nootka IV, and Tilikum tossed her to each other's mouths, presumably playing. The trainer subsequently drowned. Both females were pregnant at the time, which was not known to the trainers.

Second incident

On July 6, 1999, a 27-year-old man named Daniel P. Dukes, was found dead and nude, draped over Tilikum’s back. Dukes had visited SeaWorld the previous day, stayed after the park closed, and evaded security to enter the orca tank. Dukes' autopsy revealed he suffered hypothermia and drowned .

Third incident

On February 24, 2010 Tilikum was involved in a third incident, when he killed Dawn Brancheau, a 40-year-old trainer. The trainer was drowned after a "Dine with Shamu" show. At least a dozen patrons witnessed Dawn in the water with Tilikum; however, it is unclear how many patrons witnessed enough of the incident to understand at the time that it was out of the ordinary. Employees used nets and threw food at the whale in an attempt to distract him.

Moving from pool to pool in the complex, they eventually directed Tilikum to a medical pool, a smaller pool, where it would be easier to calm Tilikum. He subsequently released Brancheau's body. A SeaWorld executive, witnesses, and video footage from right before the attack confirm that Dawn was lying with her face next to Tilikum's on a slide out (a platform submerged about a foot into water). SeaWorld said the trainer was pulled into the water by her ponytail; saying it may have gotten caught in Tilikum's teeth, or he may have confused it for a toy. However, some witnesses to the incident claimed that the trainer was pulled into the water by her arm. Brancheau's autopsy indicated death by drowning and blunt force trauma. The autopsy noted that her spinal cord was severed and she sustained fractures to her jawbone, ribs and to a cervical vertebra.

On August 23, 2010, the park was fined US$75,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for three safety violations, two directly related to Brancheau's death. SeaWorld issued a statement that called OSHA's findings "unfounded".

Although Scott Brancheau, the widower, hired a Chicago law firm that specializes in wrongful-death litigation, he has not taken any legal action against SeaWorld.

Tilikum returned to performing on March 30, 2011. The trainers have continued their policy of doing no water work with the whale. High pressure hoses are used to massage him, rather than hands, and removable guardrails have also begun to be used on the platforms. There are plans to install false-bottom floors that can lift trainers and whales out of the pools in under a minute. Despite frequent claims saying that Tilikum is kept alone and separated from the remaining whales, he has in fact been paired with his grandson Trua, and can quite often be seen performing alongside of him during the finale of the new "One Ocean" Show. He has also on occasion been kept with his daughter Malia, or both Trua and Malia at the same time.

Controversy

On December 7, 2010, TMZ reported that PETA and Mötley Crüe member Tommy Lee sent a letter to Terry Prather, SeaWorld's president, referencing SeaWorld's announcement regarding limiting human contact with Tilikum. In the letter, Lee refers to Tilikum as SeaWorld's "Chief Sperm Bank". The letter implores SeaWorld to release Tilikum from his tank. On December 8, 2010, the SeaWorld VP of Communications responded to Mr. Lee's letter via E! News, stating that PETA's facts were not only inaccurate, but that SeaWorld trainers "do not now, nor have they ever entered the water with Tilikum for this purpose."

Family members/breed

• Daughters: Unna, Nyar*, Skyla, Kohana, and Malia.
• Sons: Kyuquot, Taku*, Sumar*, Tuar, Tekoa, Nakai, Ikaika, Makaio
• Granddaughters: Nalani
• Grandsons: Trua, Adán
• Breed: 100% Icelandic

* Deceased relative

See also

• Issues with orcas in captivity
• Incidents at SeaWorld parks

External links

• Orcahome
• SeaWorld "Believe" Show Page
• Center for Whale Research