Twenty years. Tilikum was supposed to live for at least another twenty years.
On January 6, 2017, at the age of 36, Tilikum died of a chorionic lung infection. The whale stood as the star of Blackfish, a movie that opened the world's eyes to the cruelty and greed of SeaWorld. The movie deteriorated the glamour behind a money hungry industry while sympathizing with the animals subject to it.
Though his death sparks anger and sadness among the general public, his life and legacy still stands to teach society a few lessons:
1. The Importance of Family
When Tilikum was a calf, he was stolen from his pod so that he could become the star and slave of SeaWorld. Physically and socially isolated from other whales, Tilikum was forced to live his life alone.
Whales are social animals: they’re supposed to live in the communities they’re born in. This forced solitude drove his instability and ultimately his insanity.
Other animals should not be subject to the same brutality that Tilikum was; they should be allowed to live their live with their families.
2. Cruelty Comes From All Aspects of Captive Living
Tilikum was not only abused by his trainers, but also by his fellow killer whales.
Tilikum was forced to constantly perform in shows just to gain food and care. Starving, he was neglected when performing wrong, and punished when not following show procedures. But the cruelty doesn’t stop there.
The other females would continually “rake” Tilikum and exclude him from the rest of the pod. Bloodied and alone, Tilikum was subject to cruelty from the trainers the whales he lived with.
Tilikum illuminated the full spectrum of abuse that occurs behind the curtains of SeaWorld.
3. Wild Animals Can Never Truly be Tamed
Tilikum was stolen from the ocean and live his life in a concrete tank; but, that didn’t make him any less wild than the whales that stayed in the ocean. Though he was trained and cared for by humans throughout his life, his predatory instincts never went away. While his attack on his trainer was shocking, it certainly wasn’t out of the scope of his ability.
Tilikum's death finally brings him freedom, but this shouldn’t be every animals' tale of liberation. Harambe, Tilikum, how many names will it take until we realize the wrongs with stealing animals from their natural habitat? Its high time that society learns from this tale, and stops feeding the power hungry industry.
