I agree with cj125, and I HIGHLY, HIGHLY doubt that this woman believed herself to be superior to whales. It is unbelievably difficult to become a Sea World trainer, or to work with marine mammals at all. You must have overwhelming passion for your subject, you must have the patience of a saint, you must be an incredibly hard worker, and you must be willing to make no money. My guess is that this woman died doing what she loved, and she would not blame the whale.
I don't know if anyone has read "Lads Before The Wind" by Karen Pryor, but she worked at Sea World for many years, and pioneered their dolphin training program. I've heard similar comments made about her and the barbarity of trapping wild dolphins, it's like slavery, yadda yadda, but it's clear to me that she has nothing but the deepest love and respect for these animals. Training these animals is YOUR LIFE. It's not like working with lab rats.
I don't know much about orcas specifically, and perhaps they cannot adapt to life in captivity - it's certainly not a good sign if their lives are significantly shorter. I do believe that the trainers have the best perspective on these animals, since they spend the most time with them, and would not do this kind of work if they believed the animals were suffering. |