I JUST heard about this, and I think it's so sad. I used to want to be a killer whale trainer when I was little, I was obsessed! But when my parents took me to Seaworld and I saw these huge beautiful animals in a tank it was so sad. I mean, come on, to move these whales to Florida and put them in tanks and not expect them to go a little stir crazy? I don't think it was the whales fault at all, even if he physically killed the trainer, I don't think he's guilty. The trainer knew the risks and she loved the animals she worked with, and she wouldn't want this whale euthanized, but one of the comments replying to the news article I read was ignorant people saying things like "He's already killed once before, he needs to be euthanized before it happens again."
...okay, so we, human beings, take this creature from the WILD, from its family and life, put it in a tank, make it do tricks, and then when it decides to have a little fun it's time to kill it?? I just don't get how people can think like that...
Ugh, that's the most frustrating part for me... I mean, accidents happen, whether it was truly the cause of the whale or the trainer, but things like that happen all the time. Sharks kill humans (and I know frequently the humans go and kill the sharks, to return the favor) and bears kill humans and blahblah and that's dangerous, but to put an animal in a tank... and then get mad when it kills someone? Ughhhh. I hate humans so much sometimes.
BTW, Orcas are NOT considered an endangered species, therefore there is no reason to breed them in captivity for anything other than profit. If they need to be rehabbed, sure, but to turn around and train them as puppets... blah. Sorry about the rant, this subject just gets me so fired up.