It has been a little over a year since SeaWorld's most well-known killer whale passed away following complications of a disease he and his veterinarians had been fighting for quite some time. Many know the name Tilikum, but do not fully understand his story.
If you have heard of the film produced in 2013, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, you know a dark and very twisted version of Tilly's life.
Tilikum was captured by for the use of a small aquarium and park by the name of Sealand of the Pacific, in Victoria of British Columbia. Here the park hosted three killer whales, Tilikum, Haida and Nootka. While the lives of the orcas were not the best they could have been at this time, they had to deal with what they were given. After an incident, tremendously poorly described in the "mock-umentary" Blackfish, Sealand of the Pacific shut their doors after 23 years, which was honestly for the best.
Tilikum was purchased by SeaWorld in 1992. Tilikum faced many false allegations while being apart of the SeaWorld family, all coming from the uneducated and just plain spiteful enemies of the animal ambassador organization. These allegations did not fall short of being a debased story of the two incidents Tilikum was apart of in 1999 and 2010. The incidents included the drownings of Daniel P. Dukes, a straggler who decided to go skinny dipping with Tilikum. Dukes snuck in past hours, stripped and jumped in the 52 degree water to swim with the large cetacean. His cause of death after autospy was found to be hypothermia and drowning. There are not many ways to educate yourself with the deceased Daniel Dukes as a simple google search leads you to believe Dukes was an animal trainer
.
The third event Tilikum was involved in was the death of senior animal trainer Dawn Brancheau February 24th, 2010. This event led to many lawsuits, and a large magnitude of personal gain from the press, and the most arrogant organization of them all, PETA.
Tilikum passed away early in the morning of January 6th, 2017 following his battle with bacterial pneumonia, a disease found commonly in the wild as well as in captivity.
Tilikum became the posted child for anti-captivity gain. His death should not be used in the same manner. He faced many hardships in his life due to the uneducated and selfish trying to make their own personal gain with harming SeaWorld and their reputation.
Tilikum,
I am sorry it had to end this way. I am sorry there are some people who did not understand your story. I'm sorry you didn't get a longer life with those who cared about your well-being at SeaWorld. I'm so sorry insensitive people have used your photo and your life as gain for their own pathetic story.
We miss you a lot Tilly. Swim free.
