And he's been in prison all his life for nothing.

that's the American justice system at work.

thats why they call them KILLER WHALES
should we kill humans for eating chicken.....hmmmmmmmm i wonder if we taste like chicken to a whale

I beleive the womans family has come forward and stated she would not have wanted the whale put down...I could be wrong as I have been before.....

I don't see the logic there.

The whale poses no danger to anyone except professionals who
train him and work with him. The pitbull which has harmed
people is in contact with the general public and poses a greater
risk. This is assuming of course that the pitbull is a very
aggressive and dangerous one that has badly harmed or killed
someone. The whale is a wild animal, a zoo animal. So yeah I
can see a point there.

There are millions of animals in captivity or that have become domesticated that don't kill anyone. Ever. I mean, it is possible for animals to be trained. But this one has killed 3 people, already. I would say the experiment with this one is over. It has proven itself 3 times to be unable to be trained or tamed and my guess is, it will kill someone else.

And it cannot be released into the wild, at this point.

I believe the one guy is right. The only reason it is still alive, is because it is making money for SeaWorld.

free willy, i did and ended up with a son.

Couple of things.

I'm having issues with the woman who is supposedly such a great trainer that she ignored the signs of an irritated and ornery animal of his size.

Intact males of any species are FAR more aggressive then those who aren't. Be they a bull, pig, goat, a stallion, a dog, heck even a proud-cut gelding is more agressive then a regular gelding, because they were bred at least once before being cut.

we here stories all the time of people going absolutely nuts in prison because of the confinement. What makes this animal any different? And we made the animal do tricks. The people usually get their own TV and fed at taxpayers expense.

Do you want fries with that?

The whale should have been put to death the very first time it killed a person. I can see MAYBE claiming the first death accidental, but the second? and the third? Seaworld should be held responsible for atleast the last two.

Funny how we are quick to kill an animal without knowing the whole story, and yet we can keep a person alive for 50 years when they slaughter a family. Go figure.

Seriously. That makes me wonder about some people..

It's not the whale's fault her ponytail slapped him in the face and he was in a bad mood. Moods change, whether human or animal, though they're basically one and the same. Both bodies made of nerves for sensation, and instincts/emotions that influence responses. Humans have cognition, which differentiates us from most animals, and allows us to think about the consequences of our actions. That whale acted instinctively. Not his fault we captured him for our amusement purposes.

So what to do? Lewis is right. He probably wouldn't survive in the wild after being hand fed for years and years. Lost his instinct to hunt, not to mention he'd have a difficult time assimilating into a pod. How humane would that be to release him to starve to death? Cruel justice perhaps?

With this third death, it's fairly obvious that he's dangerous, so I'd say the best alternative would be to seclude him comfortably in a large holding tank and prohibit any direct human contact. No shows, no training, just keep breeding him. Let him die of old age, or whatever health problems he's got due to being in captivity, but euthanizing him at this point seems an overreation to the tragedy of the immediate situation.

I think the trainer's wishes should also be taken into great consideration. She knew the risk. She loved her job. She died doing what she loved. Tragic, but I hope I suffer the same fate. Not trapt in a killer whale's mouth, mind you, but you know what I mean.

I predict SeaWorld will kill him as soon as he's no longer able to breed. He's lost his value as a live attraction, without breeding he's an unnecessary expense.

Cost effective, for now.

If we plan on trying to tame wild animals we should in fact understand there will be tragic results that will in fact happen.

Regardless how long you train and animal that is not domesticated and brought out of the wild they will from time to time go to survival instincts. Who is to blame the animal we have captured or the ones that capture them and try to domesticate them?

The first case with this whale was not just one whale it actually involved 3 whales that when one of the trainers slipped into the water and they would not let them get out therefore they ended up drowning.

The second case was a In 1999, a 27-year-old man apparently jumped into Tillikum's pool. He died of drowning and hypothermia, but his body was also found to have bite marks. They are not even sure what happen here or if the man could swim. Yeah they found bite marks but that is not what killed him. If the Whale had really wanted to he could have ate him instead why did he not?

This time because of one small reaction the whale was not use to could have caused the trainers death.

Yes it is a horrible thing that just happened this Whale was caught at the age of 2 and is 30 now.

When one captures wild animals no matter how they try to make them pets they still harbor the wild instincts they required since birth. We are the ones that invaded their world not them ours........ JMO

I agree. Murderers live way too long, on death-row.