Comments on: That’s Why They’re Called WILD Animals

By: Sariah

Sariah — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:17:20 +0000

I enjoyed reading about your encounters with the orcas at Sea World. I have never been to Sea World and Never plan on going. I am glad to read about your struggling with supporting Sea World. I struggle with issues of supporting zoos as well. I personally do not want to support the captivity of wild animals even for research sake.
I live in the Pacific Northwest. There are several ways to study orcas in their natural habitat. You should visit Washington sometime and go to Lime Kiln State park on San Juan Island. There you can view the resident orcas from land. They swim pretty close to the shore. There is a whale museum on San Juan Island as well. It’s a great place to learn about orcas without separating them from their much needed family groups or forcing them to live in chlorinated, too small tanks and perform cheap tricks so that humans can make a profit. It really is wonderful.
I appreciate your interest in orcas.
Thank you for sharing your story.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 04:36:39 +0000

Thanks for sharing! I’d love to see orcas in their native habitat, but I think I’d keep a larger buffer zone between me and them than those kayakers… yowch! I did get to rub/pat an orca at Sea World once (I’m actually fairly certain it was Kasatka, in fact), and that was an experience I’ll never forget, even though it was in the artificial setting of Sea World. You have to have guts to be willing to put yourself in the same water with them — not because they’re wild, even, necessarily but just because they’re so much BIGGER than we are… it’s assuming a lot to think that a 5000 to 7000+ pound creature is going to know where your scrawny 100-200 pound body is at every given moment so as not to squash you! Baby Kayla was over 300 pounds when she was born, if I remember correctly, and watching her learn to jump was comical and scary at the same time — she’d often jump right into the path of another orca’s descent.

By: RichC

RichC — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 03:58:47 +0000

Great post … I too spent time at Sea World (Ohio) and enjoyed spending off season lunch hours with these “oceanic dolphins” … You might enjoy the link below I made earlier this year.
http://blog.myarchive.us/?p=493