A new book examining the dark side of keeping killer whales in captivity has slammed SeaWorld for its treatment of the enormous beasts and for massive safety failings which still haunt the world famous marine parks.
Claiming that the 12,000 pound animals are self harming and that staff are inadequately prepared for another killer whale attack incident,
Death at SeaWorld has been published two-and-a-half years after the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in Orlando.
© AP
A new book has produced a damning verdict on SeaWorld and the future of keeping killer whales in captivity in the wake of trainer Dawn Brancheau's death at the hands of Tilikum (pictured) in 2010.
Brutally butchered in February 2010 by a killer whale named Tilikum, the book states that such an event was inevitable and that these kinds of tragic occurrences will continue if the animals continue to be treated in the same way.
Written by New York City reporter David Kirby,
Death at SeaWorld claims that killer whales kept in captivity suffer immense emotional and psychological trauma and spoke to former trainers and campaigning animal rights advocates to present his damning case.
Staff interviewed by Kirby told him of killer whales destroying their teeth on metal gates and then subsequently having those teeth removed by staff wielding power drills.
In addition, he claims that calves are separated from their mothers causing both parent and child massive distress and in one instance almost leading to a fatality as an irate mother took out her anger on a trainer at SeaWorld's San Diego headquarters.
© AP
Killer: The six-ton whale was is allowed limited appearances in SeaWorld shows and it is alleged that he is being used as a semen donor for the park's artificial insemination program.
Furthermore, Kirby claims that staff are instructed to get Tilikum to come out of the water and roll and then masturbate him with a gloved hand, collecting the semen for the park's artificial insemination program.
Comment: For more information about this case please read:
Sott Focus: Hysterization Via Racism in the Trayvon Martin Case