THIS IS A PICTURE OF AN ORCA.

Also known as a Killer Whale, actually they are not Whales but the largest member of the Porpoise family.

This picture is kept in a tank so small that it can not even turn around, this picture is a very social animal.

In the wild it lives in family pods and interacts with the family members with vocal calls and are very intelligent.

Their nic-name “Killer Whales” was given to them by the human whalers as often a harpooned Whale would be attacked and killed by pods of Orcas.

There has been no recorded incidence of an Orcas ever eating a human being. They only attack boats when being trapped or harassed and this to drive the boat away. They have been hunted some times by fishermen when it was suspected that their presents was causing poor fishing.

Just from seeing this picture you should feel that these animals should be protected and freed from the small pools they are being kept in!

*****

NOW, if you wanted to get all Native American the Orca is my animal spirit.

The recent news is tragic, there is a growing call for both the Orca the caused the death of its trainer to either be released or killed.

And that this same Orca was involved in two other deaths, the first was a home-less man who had after hours climbed into the tank. The cause of death was Hypothermia otherwise saying he got so cold his body shut down which would have happened whether there was an Orca in the tank or not.

The second was that of a trainer who had slipped and fell in then drowned.

This time around, you have a twenty two foot long and twelve ton animal in a small pool.

That when the trainer’s ponytail fell into the Orca’s face it reacted by grabbing the hair and retreating pull the trainer in. The effect was like a marble in a tin can and sadly the trainer was injured and drowned.

Should the Orca be killed?

No, despite the name Orca are not aggressive toward human by nature .

They are under stress in captivity, they are never kept in a pool big enough and these are an animal that swims the Oceans large and free expanses. They are highly social animals often living in pods that can count up to thirty members.

The males dorsal fin can tower six feet and one of the side effects of captivity is that their fin sags and folds over because there is not enough depth to hold it up and the cartilage can not support the fin.

this is only one of the effects of captivity upon the Orca along with the mental and physical effects.

In general they receive the up-most of care medical and mental.

But to kill this animal in response to the death and blame this animal is to blame a maltreated dog for biting.

Those that work with such animals are well aware of the possible danger and knows it can happen.

For the most part working with these animals does not result in serious injury or death.

Release is not possible, this animal has been in captivity for so long it is not a realistic thought that it could adapt to going back to the wild. It has became so use to human contact there is no natural fear left in it.

It even looks to humans for its food and more then likely would also in the wild look to humans for food rather then hunting.

with all the downfalls of keeping such animals in captivity of what good comes from it?

Simply, we human beings are self centered in our thought processes.

Thinks are not real less we can actually see them for ourselves.

Up thread I related the tale as if it is the picture that is suffering the plight that the actual Orca does in captivity. The two dimensional, nonliving image of an animal that you may have never seen or heard of before. Expressing concern and thought about that image and suggesting you too should have such concerns and thoughts.

That is often how we perceive and think about animals we never see in real life.

It is hard to have concern and thoughts of something that to us is not more real then a two dimensional image.

Before it closed in Dallas I had a dream come true, I got to see an Orca in real life.

Every year it was something I looked forward to going to see the Sea lions at the Independence Kansas zoo.

Forget the rides, I loved going to World of fun to see the Dolphins.

Any chance for a Kansas boy to see real live sea animals!

Sadly once I got older the reality hit home, the Sea Lions do not live long in captivity.

And were often replace because of the number of death.

But my point, actually seeing the live animals made us more aware that they are actual creatures out there.

If my son is in Washington long enough for me to finally have the money to visit.

I will go to the Puget sound in the hopes of seeing wild Orcas.

These animals in captivity allows us to make the plight of their species real to us.

Cruelly this also often means those in captivity are nothing more than a sacrifice to allow for us to care about the fate of all their relatives we do not see. In a sense saving them by the ill effects of captivity.

We often do not care until we are shown that there is something that is worth us caring about.

My Father’s Apparent CVA…

Well, it has not been a good year for me, or for those I love.   I think my father has had a stroke.  He seems frozen in a time where what he believes to be true, is no longer true.  As an example to the foregoing, my mother’s older brother was my father’s best friend in high school.  He had difficulty believing my mother and me when today (02/25/10) we told him this relative died over ten years ago.  He had difficulty believing us when he brought him up to date on the fate of several relatives.

I am grateful that he his not mean or angry like many people get when told such things by their families.  My dad seems to have a recognition that he is not doing real well right now.  It is odd, and I am not sure why I thought so, but I always believed my father would be around to take care of my mother, not the other way around.  Statistically, the foregoing would seem unlikely – but, I thought it would be true, none the less…

iggydonnelly

Friday, 2/26/10, Public Square