25 Quotes by John Hargrove

No SeaWorld trainer has been allowed into a pool to perform with a killer whale since February 24, 2010, when Dawn Brancheau, one of the most skillful and experienced of our small club, was killed by the 12,000-pound male orca Tilikum in Orlando.

Captivity is always captivity, no matter how gentle the jailer.

Young orcas have so much energy and curiosity – I could sense the desperation sink in when they finally realize their fate is to be one of repetitive performance and routine.

After all, SeaWorld didn’t become a $2.5 billion company because of sequins and choreography. It was built on the backs of captive killer whales.

The Vancouver aquarium wanted to create a life-size replica of a killer whale and sent hunters out to kill one on July 16, 1964 and bring its corpse back to use as a model.

You might say that I trained her. But that would be generous. More accurately, she had made certain that I had learned the right way to treat her.

Play fulfilled some of the deeper needs of the orcas. I was aware even then of how boring and sterile their captive lives were. In the evenings, they would float in limited space, almost never having access to all the pools in Shamu stadium, usually restricted to just one or two.

Like all successful organizations – be they businesses or religions – SeaWorld had its holy writ, a kind of theology at the heart of its existence.

We looked them in the eye and caught glimpses of their souls.