SeaWorld Orlando (SWO) Discussion Thread

[ElecterikPermanent Tourist]

If you can judge an organization by its enemies, SeaWorld is looking pretty good right now.

[RollingRunnerDonkeys give me orgiastic scream!]

Oh great, PETA ruins everyone's fun ... AGAIN!
I'm not saying they can't protest if they want to, But isn't this a little overboard?
A simple protest outside the gates would send a stronger message compared to flying a plane brigade over the entire property!

[Goliath513Final Destination Guy!]

And I thought not even PETA could have topped what that religious right group wants to do. Damn was I wrong...I shouldn't even be surprised either.

[chemical_echoI just swallowed a whole donkey!]

Think someone can call in and say a terrorist organization has taken a plane and is flying near public places?
It might work.

[EdTHE BOY]

PETA take extremes to new levels! Can't they just wait until the captive orcas die out?

[kidcoaster 2"Excuse me, miss, may I pound my large rooster into your donkey?"]

Think someone can call in and say a terrorist organization has taken a plane and is flying near public places?
It might work.

Haha I like that idea!

This video gives a really good idea about Pita

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0exLa6saV9o

[themeparkman25I get wet for Manta!]

Deleted by author

[CTU AgentThai Hedrick]

Damn. I was really hoping they would dump orca blood all over the park. That would've been cooler.

Oh PETA.

[jedimaster1227Open Up Happiness]

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_tourism_aviation/2010/03/seaworld-reconsiders-whether-to-return-killer-whale-that-drowned-trainer-to-live-shows.html

SeaWorld said Tuesday that it is reconsidering whether to keep using the 6-ton killer whale that drowned its trainer last month in performances for audiences.

In the immediate aftermath of the Feb. 24 tragedy, in which 40-year-old trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed, SeaWorld said it intended to return Tilikum to shows. Jim Atchison, president and chief executive officer of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, said the orca’s training for and participation in such performances was an important component of his “overall health and husbandry.”

But SeaWorld has subsequently decided not to make any decisions about its interactions with killer whales until it has completed an internal review of training and safety policies. The company says it hopes to complete the review, which will also include input from representatives from outside marine parks and aquariums, sometime this month.

Tilikum hasn’t appeared in any shows since the accident. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also investigating.

“It is likely that Tilikum will return to shows, but it’s premature to acknowledge that at this point,” SeaWorld spokesman Fred Jacobs said Tuesday.

Nicknamed “Tilly,” Tilikum is SeaWorld’s most dangerous orca.

At 12,000 pounds, he is the largest of the 26 killer whales in the company’s collection and roughly twice as large as the next biggest at SeaWorld Orlando. Tilikum has also been linked to two deaths in the past: the drowning of a trainer at a British Columbia aquarium in 1991 and the drowning of a man who had climbed into SeaWorld’s orca tanks after hours in 1999.

As such, SeaWorld has developed a series of safety protocols specifically for Tilikum. For example, only the company’s most experienced trainers – about a dozen of the 28 at SeaWorld Orlando – are permitted to work with Tilikum and none is allowed to swim with him, as they routinely do with other killer whales.

SeaWorld has, however, permitted trainers to work with Tilikum from ledges of shallow water built into the sides of its tanks. That is where Brancheau was working when authorities say Tilikum grabbed her by her long ponytail and pulled her below water.

Though SeaWorld has resumed killer whale performances, the company says it will not allow trainers into the water with any of its orcas until the safety review is complete.

[Lenaapple1974Meep Meep!]

Not sure if anyone wanted to see the video I was talking about with the whales planning on the seals/sea lion... but here it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3xmqbNsRSk

Now, to go back and read what PETA is saying. OYE...