Over the weekend, Uncle Bo took the baby to brush up on a documentary, "Blackfish."
If the cutest black-and-white animal on the mainland is the panda, then killer whales should be the cutest "black and white cute lords" on the ocean.
The black body has a cute white belly, rounded back, straight dorsal fins, and a cute tail.
They have 48 sharp teeth, feed on sharks, and are the overlords of the sea.
Wild killer whales rarely attack humans, only one case has been reported, and no one has ever died as a result.
But the protagonist of the documentary "Black Whale" is a killer whale carrying 3 lives, and its name is Tilikum.
In 1991, it killed the first person. It was also the world's first recorded killer whale killing;
In 1999, it bitten a second person, male, and genitals were bitten off;
In 2010, it bit its own coach to death...
Uncle Bo, didn't you say that killer whales rarely attack humans? Please note that it is a "wild" killer whale.
What happened to Tilikum?
The story goes back thirty or forty years.
Because of their cute appearance, friendly to people, and clever, killer whales are loved by humans and have become the "star animals" of many marine parks, and there has been a whaling boom around the world.
A well-armed fleet of whaling ships appeared near the sea of whales, flying planes, speedboats, and positionometers. They kept dropping bombs into the sea, driving the whales into shallow bays nearby.
The inescapable killer whales were trapped in the shallow sea, and hunters began searching in the seine nets, because the adult killer whales were too large and the transportation costs were too high, and the whaling team would only pick and capture the young whales.
Amid the cheers of humans, a juvenile whale was caught, salvaged out of the water and suspended in the air.
You know, killer whales are social animals, they always live together as a big family, and they value every member of the family very much. Juvenile whales are captured, and adult killer whales hover not far from the fleet, even constantly trying to get close to the fleet. Adult killer whales often die in seine seines.
The crew would cut open their bodies, fill them with stones, and sink them into the sea.
A crew member involved in the whaling recalled:
I've seen some incredible things, but the worst thing I've ever done is whaling.
This is how Tilikum was forcibly taken away by humans, and when he was forced to leave the family, he was just 2 years old and was not yet an adult.
Tirikum was sold to an ocean park to perform various projects for the audience. Everyone who has seen it says it is cute and intelligent, and it is a testimony to the harmonious coexistence of humans and animals.
The truth is, Tirikum, he's not happy.
It and two other killer whales are kept in a small pool. The pool is only thirty meters long and less than ten meters deep, but there are three whales living there, and the degree of crowding is like a person soaking in a bathtub.
In addition to training performances, they spend two-thirds of the day in this small pool.
They are lively and cute on the outside, usually quiet in the pool, and even most of the time they are motionless.
Do you know what it does in the show? Keep bowing, and then go back to your own little cell, and that's how it lives.
In addition to the harsh living environment, Tilikum also had to face heavy training and performance.
Circle, jump, bow... There are 8 performances a day, 1 hour each, 365 days a year, all year round.
If Tirikum's performance goes wrong, the keepers won't feed the food, and even the other whales will be affected and hungry together.
Moreover, there is a "cultural difference" between the whale swarm and the whale swarm, and Tilikum will be attacked by his companions, because from different groups of whales, it often performs with scars on its body, and even appears in the case of being bitten and bleeding by a companion during the performance.
To prevent being bullied, Tirikum was placed in a "single room" – a narrower pool.
Its area is about 7m x 10m, and its depth is not more than 10 meters. It has been estimated that Tilikum spent two-thirds of his life in the "Little Black Room."
(The red circle location is the single room in Tirikum)
Small living spaces, heavy performance training, the exclusion of peers... For various reasons, Tirikum became very anxious, and he often frantically nibbled on the inner wall of the guardrail and the pool, so he suffered from stomach ulcers.
Finally, in 1991, it broke out for the first time, killing the first person. It was also the world's first recorded whale killing.
The victim, Keltie, was a student who worked part-time as a trainer at the aquarium. Because he accidentally fell into the pool while working, he was dragged into the bottom of the water by Tilikum. Two other whales in the pool joined in, biting Keltie together.
Eventually, Keltie drowned, and even after her death, when the staff tried to go down and retrieve her body, they were stopped by whales.
The park immediately blocked the news, claiming that Keltie had accidentally drowned. But the incident attracted a lot of attention, and soon the ocean park closed its doors.
However, Tilikum was not freed, and it was sold to another marine park, SeaWorld Orlando.
Because of the murder, it was treated more carefully and strictly, and was usually locked in a can-shaped container with extremely low water storage.
After the new environment, Tilikum's temper also became more violent. After the show, it often frantically nibbled on the inner walls of the guardrail and pool, completely worn teeth, aggravated stomach ulcers, and reduced food intake.
In 1999, it broke out again.
One day in July, when the keeper inspected it, he found an unnamed naked male corpse floating in its whale pool. The garden claimed that the man eventually died because the water temperature was too low and drowned, but the autopsy report showed that the deceased had multiple wounds on his body, and even his genitals were bitten off.
(Photo of the deceased)
Tilikum took a second life, but in order to make money, the garden still covered up Tilikum's crimes, planning to wait for public opinion to pass and let it continue to perform.
They think that as long as they do a good job of protection and set up more protective measures, the tragedy will not happen again.
In 2010, however, Tilikum, who had been imprisoned for 25 years, broke out for the third time.
This time, it killed its coach Dawn in front of the audience, and the park could no longer hide the truth.
Captive killer whale attacks on humans are not accidental, there are more than 70 known incidents of captive killer whale injuries worldwide, resulting in at least 6 deaths and nearly 100 injuries.
Biting heads, dragging people underwater to choke to death, crushing people to death with impact...
Trainers proved with blood that captive killer whales were a mistake.
But because of the interests, the practice of captive killer whales has not stopped.
When the benefits are sufficient, one can abandon fear and conscience. Even when Tilikum repeatedly killed people, the merchants never let it go, because killer whales can bring great economic benefits.
First of all, relying on tickets every year, killer whale shows, photographs, and various whale peripheral products, Ocean Park can make huge profits and become a multi-billion dollar company.
Second, Tirikum is a male adult killer whale that is used by SeaWorld as a living "sperm bank."
(Staff manually extract sperm from killer whales)
Sea World reproduces more baby whales by artificially extracting its sperm. The cost of autonomous breeding in the park is lower than that of catching at sea.
Tirikum has been forcibly bred 21 times and has 11 offspring. Today, 45% of killer whales in Sea World have Tilikum genes.
Successfully bred juvenile whales can not only be profitable in the park performance, but can also be sold to other marine parks.
Carina is a mother whale and she has a 4-year-old daughter, Takala. Because her daughter often influenced the performance, the park decided to sell it.
When she found out her daughter was missing, Karina broke down. She was alone at the very bottom of the pool, trembling and screaming, and her daughter was gone.
In order to continue to legally squeeze killer whales, the authorities also distort the truth and publicize all kinds of wrong information.
What captivity helps whale breeding and protection, what captive killer whales are well cared for, have a personal doctor and wide space for activity; what captive killer whales are healthier and live longer...
This is a lie! Nonsense!
Artificial reproduction is a drawback.
Many baby whales die shortly after birth, and female whales may choose to commit suicide by losing their cubs.
Bingo is a male killer whale from the Japanese Aquarium who had 7 children in his lifetime, and only 4 survived. His first child lived only half an hour, the second was stillborn, and the third lived only 5 years.
(First from the left: Bingo in infancy)
His first wife died of depression after losing two children in a row, and he himself died after the birth of his seventh child.
In 17 years, 3 cubs and 2 adult killer whales died.
In addition, captivity can also cause whales to develop various diseases.
Killer whales are not suitable for long periods of time in shallow water, while the pool in the aquarium does not exceed 10 meters deep, and prolonged skin exposure can cause killer whales to be sunburned.
Dorsal fin failure is also a common disease of captive killer whales. Dorsal fin failure, or dorsal lateral bending, is a sign of pathological development, and healthy killer whales are all dorsal-fin upright.
The probability of dorsal fin failure in captive killer whales is 20%, while the dorsal fin failure of wild killer whales is less than 1%.
It's hard to spot killer whales with depleted dorsal fins on the ocean, but in marine parks, you can easily spot them.
Long-term captivity has left killer whales with widespread anxiety and even self-harm.
Killer whales are extremely intelligent animals, no less emotionally rich than primates, and highly social. In captivity for a long time, killer whales that leave their parents or children will not suffer from mental illnesses, such as depression, in addition to physical diseases.
According to the British "Daily Mail" report, in the zoo in the Spanish Canary Islands, a killer whale was very sad and quiet lying on the performance stage for tens of minutes, refusing to return to the water, trying to run aground and commit suicide.
Hugo of the Miami Aquarium often hits the edge of the pool with his head because he doesn't want to be trapped. Every time the staff would come to stop him, sabotage his movements, and even sedative him.
In 1980, Hugo had just finished his performance, and when the staff was not on the scene, he began to stir again, and began to hit the cement floor with his head, once, twice, three times...
By the time the crew arrived, Hugo was already dying. The autopsy result: Hugo died in a typical suicidal act.
Successfully domesticated killer whales have a much shorter lifespan, half that of wild killer whales.
According to the study, killer whales can live up to 80-90 years in the wild, but only 30-40 years in captivity.
The documentary's protagonist, Tirikum, died in January 2017, at the age of 36, from a lung infection.
Arrested from the age of 2 and imprisoned for 33 years, it was finally liberated.
It no longer had to jump and bow for a few small fish, it no longer had to be locked up in a dark room every night, it no longer had to tear the walls of the pool with its teeth in the long nights because of loneliness.
It's free.
The life that once wandered in the vast sea finally returned to the embrace of freedom in the most tragic way.
Only the sky can embrace birds, and only the sea can have killer whales.
Now more and more countries have begun to ban animal performances, and China's Ministry of Agriculture has also issued relevant approvals. But the effect is very average.
There are 9 killer whales in The Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, Guangdong, and 3 in shanghai Haichang Polar Ocean Park...
There's nothing wrong with close contact with marine animals.
But if you want to see them, please don't use this kind of captivity anymore, don't capture them as pets.
Go to the sea! It was their real home, and there was their real joy.