#trainer Shamus

[runawaycarouselhorse]

Trip sure talks a lot of smack for someone who lives in deer(ling) country.

[thevividai]

They can never make me hate you Tilikum 🫶🏻

For those who don’t know Tilikum was a 35 year old male orca who was kidnapped from his pod at two years old to be sold off to a park in canada called “Sea land” where he got abused by the other orcas because the trainer wouldn’t feed the other orcas if Tilly didn’t do the trick right (mind you he was a BABY.)

He killed a girl named Keltie Byrne while at Sealand. While his motives for that was unclear it was theorized to be because of his frustration since he was constantly raked and abused by the other orcas every night.

A while later Tilly was sold to SeaWorld where he was constantly used as a “breeder” because of his size and genetics despite his record of killing people. One day the morning shift found a dead naked man in Tilly’s tank later identified as David P Dukes who had broken into seaworld and had seemingly tried to swim with Tilly, He was found drowned with several injuries. Seaworld said Tilly hadn’t killed him and that he was just was trying to play with the corpse. Which i have a 50/50 opinion on, i could see Tilly trying to play with the body but also i could see Tilly being the cause of David’s death. Mainly because Tilly also got abused and outcasted by the orcas at SeaWorld, His only company was the humans who he was trained by, He was constantly stressed and starved and hurt due to both seaworld and the orcas. He had no output for his emotions. Just a empty concrete pool too small for him, So either way he had done something to David wether he be alive or dead, I just think Tilly was doing it out of frustration.

Despite this happening Tilly was still used in shows and in a breeding program, Trainers said that Tilly was eager to please and happy to be around them, He was also incredibly gentle with his very sick offspring even though the calf ended up dying (i can’t remember their gender and i can’t find it anywhere but they were possibly male, they didn’t even get named.)

Tilikum didn’t want to be a violent orca. He just wanted to be free. He spent his entire life in what was basically a bathtub with iirc 27 other orcas. Imagine being locked in a bathtub your entire life with people who hate you and want to hurt you. Only ever getting fed if you do tricks right.

That was Tilikum’s life.

In 2010 during a dine with shamu, Tilikum had went above and beyond on a trick, But he hadn’t heard the whistle to come back and get his reward, When he had come to get it his trainer, Dawn Brancheu had to tell him no since he hadn’t come at the recall, She was also running low on fish to which Tilikum could tell thanks to the ice rolling around in the bucket.

Tilikum should NOT have been in these shows in the first place. While i sympathize and love Tilikum it does NOT change the fact he was a liability to the trainers. Tilikum should’ve been released back into the wild after what happened with Keltie, If they had done that ALL of this could’ve been prevented. But because of Greed they kept him in captivity to be abused starved hurt and blamed.

He was frustrated and hungry, And Dawn had gotten on a laying platform WHICH SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ALLOWED. Tilikum was known to be possessive and potentially aggressive if met with the right situation. Tilikum had swam up to Dawn after a while, Tilikum had lashed out and grabbed Dawn and drowned her in front of a horrified crowd. After they retrieved Dawn’s body Tilikum was seen near her corpse looking at her and vocalizing.

And even after that, TILIKUM WAS STILL USED IN SHOWS.

That should have NEVER been allowed. While it had been forbidden after for trainers to be in the water it didn’t stop SeaWorld from abusing Tilikum. They left him in a too small pool ALONE for 80% of his life after Dawn’s tragic death. In 2013 a film called BlackFish (which is on Netflix) came out shedding some light on what had happened to Tilikum and other orcas.

In 2017 Tilikum died alone, hurt, starved, and suffering because of a respiratory infection.

They could never make me hate Tilly.

It wasn’t his fault.

It wasn’t Dawn’s fault.

It wasn’t David’s fault.

It wasn’t Keltie’s fault.

It was entirely SeaWorld/Land’s fault.

[orcinus-veterinarius]

Do you think it's too late to try and get into the field of working with cetaceans, specifically orcas, in the US? What with the phasing out of cetacean captivity I feel like there's no point in my trying to pursue the field since by the time I finish my years of required schooling and training there probably won't be anything for me to apply to

I wouldn’t say it’s too late. Even though orcas are being phased out, it’s going to be many decades before they’re all gone, due to their long lifespans. You’ll have to be a realistic about it, but I know people who have been hired in the past year or so as killer whale trainers.

It’s overwhelming, but you just have to take it one step at a time and recognize you’re not going to get a job at Shamu Stadium right away. There have never been that many places housing killer whales, and it’s always been extremely competitive (perhaps even more so in the past)! I don’t know what stage of your education you’re currently at, but focus on getting experience with any animals, particularly non-domestics, no matter the species! That will be the first and most fundamental steppingstone into working with cetaceans, and maybe, eventually, killer whales.

[barbielore]

Over the years, Barbie has been many things - and in the mid-2000s, SeaWorld Trainer joined the list.

There were a few different pieces in this line - all showing Barbie as a SeaWorld Trainer: one with a dolphin and an orca, one with dolphin, orca and seal, and one taking her younger sister to see the penguins. The orca is identified on Amazon as Shamu - but of course, as you may or may not know, SeaWorld kept using the "Shamu" name well after the death of the original Shamu.

This series was extremely controversial, to the point where there was a change.org petition calling for the set to be discontinued.

I could enumerate the reasons why this is controversial, starting with the poor treatment of animals by SeaWorld and the number of deaths and serious injuries associated with orcas at SeaWorld, but the 2013 documentary Blackfish answers a lot of that for me.

Mattel did pull the SeaWorld trainer Barbie following this backlash, but naturally you can still get them on the secondary market.

[notaplaceofhonour]

SeaWorld has really changed since Blackfish came out. The (IMO partly undeserved for reasons you hinted at) hit to their reputation must have been huge-- the park and all merchandising have been scrubbed of any and all references to Shamu, a lot of the smaller educational animal exhibits and aquariums I grew up with are gone, and the business interests that have controlled SeaWorld for the past ~15 years seem have moved it more in the direction of a ride heavy, theme-park-like experience for guests with less emphasis on live exhibits. Obviously they still do research and conservation and a huuuge amount of the wildlife rescue and rehab around coastal San Diego--I called them to come rescue a baby sea lion once ❤️-- but the shift in focus ever since SeaWorld was taken over by private equity firms after Blackfish is definitely noticeable and not all for the better. (At one point a Chinese real estate investment company owned the biggest fraction of SeaWorld shares, but they were forced to sell them off after they defaulted on their debts.)

Some things are better: the orca show teaches the audience about their natural behaviors (like demonstrating "spy hopping"), and thanks to OSHA--not Blackfish--trainers are not allowed to be in the water with the orcas. There's also no breeding program anymore, and the exhibits have a heavier focus on the dangers of marine pollution than I remember there being in the past. And I don't think this is a change at all, but a lot of the animals there are actually rescues or have legitimate reasons as to why they can't just be released into the wild without it being a death sentence for them.

On the less positive side, the quality of what's offered at the park has gone down. The quality of the food now is not good while prices have only shot up, and the park itself is not maintained to the same level that places like Disneyland are. As an example, earlier last year I saw a clear plastic film adhered to the glass of the turtle exhibit. The plastic itself was horribly smeared with hand and finger prints, and was actually peeling off/ripping in sections at the top edges. I don't mean in a minor way, it legitimately looked off-putting and kind of neglected, and when combined with the sparseness/barren nature of the turtle exhibit, the whole thing just felt really sad and low effort, like you could feel the hand of private equity squeezing the guests and the park for all the money they were worth. I've been to major aquariums before and the depressing state of that exhibit would not have been acceptable at any of them, and not at a place like Disneyland either. Honestly I feel really bad for the researchers and workers who legitimately care about SeaWorld's marine conservation, animal rescue, and rehabilitation mission because it's reallllly hard for me to imagine that these private equity firms see eye-to-eye with them at all or really value what they do. I know people who have worked at SeaWorld and they 100% love the animals and want the best for them, and the park staff and maintenance really do try, but the highest levels in charge don't seem to give a damn and you can see that reflected in the park.

That makes a lot of sense from the changes that had already started happening with the company back when I worked there (the Orlando park, not San Diego), around the time Blackfish came out, when it was still a Blackstone property.

ngl I haven’t been to the park or paid a whole lot of attention to what’s going on with it since leaving about a decade ago*. They were still very conservation-focused (and they may still be, idk) but they had already started shifting towards being more ride-centric by then.

I also knew some people who helped build/design the Antartica ride & Mako coaster, and I remember one of the major frustrations the person who was working on Mako had was how many corners the contractors were cutting & how shoddy the workmanship was, so it would make sense that that lack of oversight/quality might be reflected elsewhere in the park.

And 100%, in my experience the people who work with the animals there are wonderful people who care very deeply about them, and the conflict between them and the corporate interests of private equity firms (be it Blackstone or Zhonghong) have been in tension for a very long time.

*But looking at it now, yeah, the Zhonghong Group’s time owning SeaWorld was apparently a huge shitshow. In the few years they held a controlling stake, they went through like half a dozen CEOs, lost a costly class action suit over annual passes, and then (as you said) defaulted on their loans & sold off their controlling stake.

Obviously it can’t be laid solely at the feet of Blackfish (the firms themselves hold a lot of the blame), but it does suck that part of the domino effect of Blackfish was creating pressure that ultimately pushed SeaWorld away from the best parts of what it was & could be, rather than actually improving conditions.

That said, they are still accredited associations with relatively high standards. So the fact that, despite the shitshow of it all & noticeable decline in quality, they’ve still managed to keep that (even if they’re just doing to bare minimum to clear that threshold), is at least a point in the parks’ favor.

[kawipastell1928]

Pokémon Players that I interacted with in Pokémon Sword/Shield in the Wild Area, Isle of Armor, and Crown Tundra on February 16, 2024!

I will be putting the name shown to me in game, and only put names in English so I apologize to any foreign Trainers I had to leave out due to unable to write your name in your language, but I love you all the same! Names have been wrote down EXACTLY as I saw them in game, so yes, these are what people names themselves. Enjoy! ✨

Mauve

Keegan

Reu

Mike

Daria

Cam

Jamsie

god gamer

Lindy

Aoife

Jared

Magnus

Olibrius

jayden

Shaunda

Keven11

CamBug

Bean

Arashe

sonic

Kalika

y-pog

Meed

Tomás

Lela

emma

boris

exell

ash

bjhandsome

Thotimo

Jasmine

lylian

Jared

Shane

leon mon

badboy1234

alex

Elliott

Marcus

Lili

tina

mik

luca

Rich

Chewy

zane

Guau

Rhys

louis

ggttwweee552

Basti

Sean

Charlie

Zingo

Darc

Glurak

Lily Fern

BabyYoda047

charmand31

Geraldô

miguel

Suky

azarion

florian

Liam

Dino

99999

Happy

flo

amelia

mt.pizza

p-dowg

Mr_Name

🤍•Kev•🤍

Angélique

Chahd.K

ari

Bowie

JB

BreadIsLife

Zachary

Andrew

Link

Brayden

nipples

??????

bom

Ash

Lucas

Shamus

Marie

ryuky

Seb

Dread

Dawn

Mack

bozo

Morgan

LJ

8 Bit King

Mel

Tails-X

Cora

Juan

Shivyn

Marie

Daniel

Ira

589

Kounkin

tj

[antoniorichardsonblog]

Watch "SeaWorld's Old Shamu "Believe" Show With Trainers in the Water!!!" on YouTube

[local-hellhound-steals-spaghetti]

Who wants to bet these "documentaries" are just regurgitating Blackfish and they haven't done any other research?

Or consider the learning history of an animal that never saw a person in the water with him until Keltie fell in and was dragged under by the two dominant females who regularly bullied him out of having possession of toys.

Makes you wonder WHY Tilikum had such significant resource guarding issues around toys and WHY he was never swam with or taught waterwork to.

But people just want to portray him as "psycho whale gone mad" and ignore the trainers who worked with him and who adored him and, by following the Tili protocols that were taught to every trainer in Shamu Stadium in Orlando, they never felt overly unsafe around him.

Yet there are still people gleefully wishing for the death of trainers who still do waterwork in Japan or hoping a trainer gets dragged in a SeaWorld. There's this vile fascination and exploitation of Dawn's death that continues to this day. And, thanks to Blackfish, Dawn and Tilikum's memory will always be forever tarnished.

YouTube has been on a roll with recommendations lately

[runawaycarouselhorse]

Old RP-based art, since my Trip and Bianca went to Professor Juniper's Pokemon School along with @raidpirate52's Shamus. They were classmates!

[local-hellhound-steals-spaghetti]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this! I was never able to stomach reading that book because I know Hargrove is a raging narcissist but I appreciate hearing what other people think of it!

Looking back on my own experiences I do feel like the industry and places like SeaWorld is full of big egos and there is a lot of exploitation of passion for free labour. I also know from talking to ex SeaWorld trainers that there was an extremely cut throat environment at Shamu Stadium, with a lot of internal competition for whale time. And lot of bias to favour male over female trainers eg. because of Believe’s focus on having a male lead, male trainers were prioritised over female trainers.

I’m not surprised that John got as far as he did despite being an arrogant jerk. Cis white men in the industry are often given more opportunities and I remember several times that despite my own passion and hard work, a male intern or colleague was given an opportunity over me.

For Hargrove to play the victim in an industry that clearly gave me a lot of opportunities, it just makes me so furious. He laments about welfare issues yet he was in senior positions and could have absolutely put in proposals to management to improve things.

All it tells me is that he was lazy and too self absorbed to think about ways he could improve the lives of the whales, if the welfare issues he claims happened were truly as bad as he makes them out to be.

He had the privileges of working over 10 years with killer whales and probably pushed many of his colleagues (especially his female colleagues) out of the way to achieve his showman dreams. And then he turns around, spits on all of it and says that he was a victim because they wanted to move him to Sea Lions? Give me a goddamn break.

Why John Hargrove is full of it p.1

Multiple people have expressed interest in the detailed Blackfish rebuttal I am working on. The plan is to put it in video essay format on Youtube. This not only has the potential to reach a larger audience, but it also gives me more creative/expressive flexibility that would otherwise be difficult to get across in just written text.

This project will not be completed for quite some time, as there are a lot of things to cover. However, I did want to provide a short glimpse into some things I've uncovered thus far.

You see, I plan on not only refuting the movie itself, but also covering the consequences of Blackfish, and major figures like Naomi Rose, Ingrid Visser, etc. So as part of this project, I am listening to the eBook version of John Hargrove's Beneath the Surface for the second time. It's..... so.... much..... fun.....

*sigh* Warning, there's a long rant ahead. TL;DR John Hargrove comes off as very full of himself in this book, and it's annoying.

______

Now, on a purely emotional, literary level I guess, the book is certainly very gripping. It's difficult to put down, even when you know that much of what is alleged therein is utter bullcrap. However, I don't think this is just because the whole "little-guy turns against evil corporation" trope makes for good storytelling across the board. I think it's also because, unlike Mark Simmons' Killing Keiko, or Hazel McBride's I Still Believe, John Hargrove's Beneath the Surface has the luxury of both professional editing, and a co-author (Howard Chia-Eoan).

To be clear, I'm not saying this as dig against Hazel McBride or Mark Simmons. I bring this up merely to illustrate the stark contrast here. As far as I know, their works were self published, or at least lacking the same polish and publicity from big name publishers, or sensationalist documentaries.

However, this contrast wouldn't be so noteworthy to me were it not for these two things I'm increasingly noticing in this reread of Beneath the Surface:

It is never clearly stated which parts were written by Hargrove, and which were ghost written by Chia-Eoan... but the amount of contradictions and shoehorned information in here gives me some serious suspicions.

John Hargrove... seems incredibly full of himself!

I don't have the time to elaborate on #1 right now, so we'll just talk about #2 today. John Hargrove is almost never in the wrong. He is always painted as the hero, the true advocate for these animals. You don't hear much about the other trainers he worked with or learned from. Mostly, it's just about him. He bemoans the allegedly poor conditions SeaWorld's animals are kept in, while simultaneously boasting about all his accomplishments with them. He speaks of differing perspectives between him and some of the other trainers, but seldom elaborates on what exactly those differences were. Instead, he usually just frames it in a sanctimonious "me vs. them" way.

The closest he gets to admitting any mistakes he had to learn from is when he recounted an aggressive incident with Freya at Marineland Antibes, and even then.... the whole reason why that incident (allegedly) happened was because Hargrove overestimated his training/waterworks abilities with a whale he didn't have a relationship with. His admission of that mistake is then overshadowed by the rather self-righteous tone he frames the resolution with. All the success was about him. You don't hear anything about how he worked with the other trainers there, what they brought to the table, and certainly not the stronger, lasting relationships they had with Freya. It's not that he had to mention them by name, but he didn't even mention them at all!

To be fair, this interpretation is partly subjective on my part. Still, as someone who is personally working in animal husbandry right now (albeit not with marine mammals), the gaping holes in this narrative raises some red flags.

Here's some free advice to anyone interested in working in the zoo/aquarium industry: I have been told by multiple hiring managers that they don't want someone who "just wants to work with the animals, and not deal with people." That's not how this works. You still have to work with people in some form or another.

It doesn't matter which animals you are working with. When you're on an animal husbandry/training team, you gotta ask for/provide help, seek/give feedback, communicate with other departments, etc. Complaints, conflict and disagreements will inevitably happen, but you gotta be mature about it.

And yes, in that process... you are going to make mistakes, and you're going to have to own up to them! It's part of how you learn. You're also going to inevitably work with people who don't see things the same way.

The people who can't do this tend to not only get stuck in their own way, but are more likely to start resenting coworkers and/or management whenever disagreements happen. They'll constantly complain about how other people do things, but then can't/won't take constructive feedback themselves. It's worse when it's someone with more experience under their belt because of the massive ego. Let me be clear: this kind of mindset does not help your animals! It only creates a toxic work environment that's resistant to change!

DO. NOT. BE. THIS. PERSON!!!!

No, this does not mean you can't vent frustrations. No this does not mean that you can't take pride in your work. It means that you gotta be able to swallow your pride, and not alienate other people.

So, what does all that have to do with the contrast mentioned earlier?

Like Hargrove, McBride details her career journey, but doesn't just paint it all in glamour. She talks about her setbacks, how she grew, things she learned from other people, the internships she did, the grunt work she was willing to do, etc.

Killing Keiko has less to do with the details of Mark Simmons' career path, but he does give credit to other people where it is due, even at times towards those he fundamentally disagreed with. I can remember one part where he explicitly admitted that he made a mistake too, and tellingly, it was in an instance where he played the "I've been doing this for years" card. In the very next sentence he admitted it was the wrong thing to say in that situation, and highlighted the perspective he was missing in that moment.

These things are conspicuously absent in Beneath the Surface. I don't remember anything of the sort that stood out when I first read the book, and thus far it's certainly not there in my second time around. The first third of the book is dedicated to how he dreamed of becoming a trainer as a kid, and the path he took to get there. Most of this path, though, is painted in glamor, when the reality is.... the path to getting into animal husbandry isn't particularly glamorous. Not only do you have go to college, but you also have to settle for various unpaid internships or volunteer gigs, and then apply for multiple jobs only to get several no's before it works out (to say nothing of how underpaid zookeepers/aquarists/trainers are).

Hargrove, on the other hand, kept pestering lead marine mammal trainers at SeaWorld since he was a kid, practiced his swimming/diving abilities, and started his degree in psychology. Then, as luck would have it, an apprentice trainer position opened up at SW San Antonio, and when he got the job, he jubilantly quit college. Not much is said about what kind of volunteer work he did before that. I think he did some stuff with marine mammal rescue in Texas, but I'll have to go back and reread to be sure... in any event, I wish I'd heard more about the experience he got besides swimming and pestering the SW animal training department.

And like.... great, he got the job, but it seemed more by luck than by the sweat of his brow. Then he balked that he was put in the SeaLion Stadium, and/or that he had to spend a lot of time washing dishes and spotting before even being allowed to work directly with a whale, which like..... yeah? I don't know what you were expecting dude.

(Btw, this part isn't just me being nit-picky, Duncan Versteegh from ML Antibes corroborates Hargrove's resistance to doing grunt work like cleaning)

Whenever mentioning people at SW who didn't want to work at Shamu Stadium, Hargrove couldn't understand how anyone wouldn't want that.... because heaven forbid other people have different preferences? To be fair, from what I've heard of SW work culture in general, Shamu Stadium is kind of painted as the glamorous A-team, but DANG does Hargrove really lean into that attitude!

Later on, he detailed some of the conflicts he had with SW's entertainment department. At one point his manager explicitly told him he needed learn to get along better with other departments. And like... yeah... yeah you do!

Look, I'm not interested in doing blanket apologia for SeaWorld. I'm sure Hargrove was in the right more than once when he'd argue with people, but I'm also not convinced that the whole of the entertainment department, management, et al., were just a bunch of unfeeling jerks who didn't care about the animals.

This part actually ground my gears quite a bit. Before I became an aquarist, I was an educator, and sometimes I would overhear certain husbandry staff gossip about us in a really patronizing way whenever there were miscommunications. Not that they never had valid reasons to complain, they did, but to be treated like you're just a dumb educator/guest services person is not pleasant, and certainly not professional. I don't know how common this is at other places, but I bring this up to illustrate the importance of being able to work with other departments, especially in the face of disagreements or miscommunication.

That Beneath the Surface paints Hargrove's inability to do this as a virtue rather than as the character flaw that it is... well.... it's um... it's a choice. And it's telling.

Again, some of this interpretation is subjective on my part. Ultimately, none of us can know for sure what is in someone else's heart. Hargrove does seem to sincerely care about the animals, despite the narcissism. However, the vast majority of people who are going to be reading his book are not people who have spent much if any time working in the zoo industry, and thus may not pick up on some of these things. I'm not the only one to point these things out either.

So even if one is against keeping orcas in captivity, I think being aware of the egos behind figures like Hargrove is important. When you get to the end of his book, you would think that all his former colleagues are, at best, just timid little clogs in a corporate machine, brainwashed to do as SW says. This is just not true. These people are dedicated to their animals, and have worked very hard to get where they are at. Some have gone on to get their masters, or PhD's, provide expertise to other facilities, or take part in rescues, etc., and they did it without chasing clout.

SW Corporate should absolutely treat their employees better, but their treatment of them pales in comparison to how people like Hargrove basically erase their accomplishments altogether. In this way, he tries to have it both ways... his time at SW proves how much of an expert he is, you know, because he was a senior trainer with two decades of experience after all! Oh, but when someone else from the field speaks up to refute what he says, nope.... their accomplishments don't matter, they're just brainwashed. If that doesn't scream "massive ego", then I don't know what does.

I'm only halfway through the book on this second round, so there is a chance I'll come back to correct some things here. I do encourage people to try to read this book themselves and come to their own conclusions. You don't have to buy it either, check your local library (it's how I got a hold of this eBook).

[firewarriorshamus-archived-blog]

Shamus came across Pokemon eggs and they hatched into Ducklett’s, and now they imprinted on him. 

Fanart for this open starter: https://t.co/Urjz3OFu1C

[raidpirate52]

Realized two of my favorite aniPoke characters debuted in the United States on the same day. 

Kenny - debuted DP026 - September 1 2007

Shamus - debuted (one-shot) BW077 - September 1 2012

Awesome coincidence. 

[jonmesseatingglass]

[is-the-owl-video-cute]

Please don't take this as a personal attack or anything, but how can you not hate sea world? Aren't they like very well known for abusing their animals to the point they attack and kill handlers? Usually I agree with you but like, as someone who has been to sea world... it's very much Not Good There. Genuinely wanna know how you can not have a problem with them, maybe I missed something and they've gotten better since I was a kid?

the accusations that seaworld abuses animals largely came from peta. Since the park’s inception it has been dedicated to wildlife rehabilitation and educating the public about the ocean and biodiversity. Do I agree with some of their original practices on the theme Park side? No, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are the reason we know how to captive breed sea turtles, cetaceans, and AI various marine animals. They have vastly improved the welfare of their performing animals, and some of the parks have stopped or indefinitely postponed shows involving the orcas.

The first orca attack was not caused by mistreatment of the animal (though it was in the 70s and animal welfare was not great in general), it was caused because the trainer who was asked to work with the orca while wearing a bathing suit instead of a wetsuit. The orca, Shamu, did not recognize the trainer and attacked in what she took to be an invasion of her space by an interloper.

All three of the other known orca related deaths to ever occur were caused by a single orca, Tilikum, whom you may better know as the star of Blackfish. The documentary made bold claims that Tilikum was driven insane by captivity like a human would in solitary confinement for years. These bold claims did not particularly emphasize the fact this whale was captured in the wild by a separate agency, sold to another aquarium after a year alone in a tank, left in a tank with two females which aggressively attacked him to the point he often hid in a smaller medical pool adjacent, a trainer slipped and fell into the pool with the three orcas and Tilikum grabbed her and held her under until she drowned (the two females reportedly blocked any attempts to save her), that aquarium shut down after that incident and was reported by guests to have been incredibly shabby to the point it was likely these animals were not cared for properly, that was when Tilikum was sent to seaworld. Assessments showed the animal was not behaving or reacting aggressively towards humans and the consensus was that the orca was unaware he was drowning her as he had not had many direct encounters with humans as the previous aquariums did not do shows with orcas. He was later found with the dead body of a man who had broken into the park to swim naked with the animal. First reports stated the man died of hypothermia but it was later discovered in a coroner’s report that the man was very likely held under the water and drowned as had happened to the whale’s previous victim. By then there is a pattern and the whale should have been euthanized, but the higher up staff decided it would be poor publicity to euthanize the animal and told the rest of the staff it was a freak accident unrelated to the whale.

Then we have the final incident which caused the controversial exposé documentary. I cannot emphasize enough that 3/4 human deaths caused by an orca were caused by Tilikum specifically. There is now a whale that has decided humans are fun to drag under water until they stop moving, and he does so after being excited by positive reinforcement petting which was believed to help strengthen the relationship between cetacean and trainer. He grabbed her by the hair and arm and dragged her into the pool, drowning her and slamming her against the pool floor hard enough to remove both her scalp and her arm in the process.

This death was not caused by seaworld neglecting its animals, it was caused by corporate leeches not placing any precautionary measures to prevent their staff from being harmed by the wild animals in their care. Tilikum did not attack because of anything the care staff did or did not do, he attacked because trainers were misinformed by their superiors and the attack lead to an investigation and lawsuit by OSHA.

Modern seaworld parks are much safer for the staff and care for the animals is still very important to those who work there. The shows are actually very enriching for the animals and they have long been trained with positive reinforcement, but PETA has conflated them with the unethical circus acts such as “dancing” bears and other atrocities. Because PETA does tend to do that.

On the corporate end? Yes. Seaworld has done skeevy things in the past. But as far as the people who actually care for the animals go, it’s fine. Cetacean care in captivity is still very much evolving as a science, and research towards cetacean welfare and conservation has been pioneered by seaworld whether you like it or not.

In parting, I will also add that it is a myth that all captive orcas have a floppy dorsal fin like Tilikum had. It isn’t caused by depression, it was likely a genetic mutation that is still seen in captive bred orcas from his line.

A lot of the hatred against seaworld has done more harm than good and was both misguided and misdirected from the people responsible leading to consequences for the animals and realistic goals of their conservation efforts.

[orcinus-veterinarius]

How come SO many are very against sea world? and whats some repiles to give to the anti sea world crowd?

I can only speculate as to why SeaWorld became the #1 target of animal rights extremists, but I think it was a variety of factors. Although they’re an accredited zoological facility, with all that entails, their parent organization (SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment) is a for-profit entertainment company. They initially purchased most of their collection animals from wild captures, and although this was common practice for all zoos historically, these captures took place in living memory and were documented on film. Killer whales are among the most intelligent and charismatic of all animals, and they served as SeaWorld’s main attraction for decades. Plus, thanks to movies like Free Willy, the public already had a subconscious “anti-captivity” bias, although SeaWorld for years seemed largely exempt from this, probably due to their hugely successful presentation of their whales as the famous “Shamu family.”

All this served as ideal ammunition following the tragic death of Dawn Brancheau, but had she never been killed, I sincerely doubt the anti-SeaWorld sentiment would’ve taken off quite like it did. The general public was absolutely shocked by this death, and I think at least part of that was SeaWorld’s own fault. Even though they were instrumental in changing public opinion of killer whales from mindless fish-stealing monsters to beloved icons, they went too far in the opposite direction by portraying them as basically giant friendly ocean dogs. It was too easy for the audience of the Shamu shows to forgot that this was still an enormous, incredibly powerful, wild predator, and when Tilikum killed Dawn, they just couldn’t understand it. How could Shamu do this? Weren’t orcas supposed to be friendly, lovable creatures with a mystical connection to human beings? Cue the Blackfish crew and their supporters (PETA, HSUS, etc.) swooping into create this narrative that the only reason this horrible tragedy could ever have occurred was if the orcas were abused and tortured to the point of psychosis. After all, they’re a for-profit company. They purchased captured orcas 40+ years ago. Killer whales are so intelligent and live in families just like humans, so they must have the same desires as humans. Look, we even have a handful number of ex-trainers willing to speak against their former employer. Never mind their AZA accreditation or robust research and rehabilitation efforts. Animal rights activists have always campaigned against zoos and aquariums, but this was the perfect situation to get their previously fringe beliefs presented to the wider public.

And boy oh boy, was it successful.

As for good resources in support of SeaWorld and similar facilities, I discuss it in this post! I have another ask that I’m working on answering that will go over some rebuttals to the most common anti-Seaworld talking points, so keep an eye out for that!

[ultraericthered]

Pokemon English Voice Compare/Rank, Rivals

In which I rank the English dub voice actors of Pokemon characters from strongest to weakest, and sometimes throw in my 2 cents of who I think would be solid casting choices. This one is for rivals.

BLUE: 1. James Carter Cathcart - Voice of Gary Oak in the main anime. Look, I just have to put this one first, it’s GARY MOTHERFUCKING OAK. Plus it just fits the original Gen 1 character way too well. Smug and insufferably snotty when he’s a jerk, but more amiable when he mellows out without ever quite losing the defining cockiness. 2. Lucien Dodge - Voice of Blue in Pokemon Origins. Lucien just totally nails Blue. The natural tone of his voice and his every vocal inflection carries across a better-than-thou jackass characterization, and his turn towards humility in the final act is convincingly played. 3. Billy Kametz & Henry Mason - Voice(s) of Blue in Pokemon Masters. If we could take the voice that Lucien Dodge gives Blue and combine it with the more rough delivery of Erik Kimerer, it would pretty much be the late Billy Kametz’s take on Blue, which is emulated by Henry Mason following Billy’s unfortunate passing. Not one of their strongest roles, but definitely suitable for Blue. 4. Erik Scott Kimerer - Voice of Blue in Pokemon Generations. He gets the arrogance down pat, but his voice just doesn’t really fit Blue the way the others do. It’s just Ryuji Takasu if he was an asshole. FANCAST OPTION: Billy Bob Thompson. Not only has he provven he can flawlessly imitate James Carter Cathcart, but even his awful Pokemon Trainer voice sounds more Gary/Blue than it does Red!

GREEN: 1. Kate Bristol - Voice of Leaf in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. With only a handful of lines, Kate fits Green/Leaf’s character like a glove.

2. Michelle Marie - Voice of Leaf in Pokemon Masters EX. How she played the role initially left something to be desired, sounding pretty generic and overly child-like, but her return as Sygna Suit Leaf delivered so much improvement that she’s as great as Kate Bristol! 3. Cristina Vee - Voice of Green in Pokemon Evolutions. Cristina never really does a bad job in a Pokemon role and this is no exception, but the casting of her in this role just feels off. It’s just the typical Cristina Vee girl voice acting with no real substance to it.  FANCAST OPTION(S) - Kira Buckland probably should’ve been cast as Green in the latter instead of Cristina Vee. But ideally, I’d go for Lisa Kay Jennings. Her work in Miraculous has shown she can play the untrustworthy, sneaky, sly-as-a-fox type of girl really well.

SILVER: 1. Joe Zieja - Voice of Silver in Pokemon Masters EX. What really can be said other than he plays the part perfectly? 2. Lucien Dodge - Voice of Silver in Pokemon Generations. Lucien’s acting in this role was excellent, but the voice itself isn’t that much different from his Blue, and it fit Blue much better. 

FANCAST OPTION(S) - Had Silver got to be in the main anime in a speaking role, Anthony Salerno would be the guy to voice him. And like with Blue, Billy Bob Thompson could voice a great Silver as well - his voice as Shamus in Black & White is what shows that.

BRENDAN: 1. Aleks Le - Voice of Brendan in Pokemon Masters. The vocal pitch and delivery he does for Brendan make him an ideal fit for the role. 2. Unknown VA - Voice of Brendan in the animated trailer for Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. Generic, forgettable, not much a performance.

MAY: 1. Veronica Taylor - Voice of May in the main anime prior to the Battle Frontier season. Casting the same VA as Ash in the role of May was a big risk but boy did it ever pay off since Veronica’s May is insanely charming and adorable, nailing every aspect of May’s character. 2. Deneen Melody - Voice of May in Pokemon Masters EX. Like how Aleks Le nailed the OR/AS version of Brendan, Deneen totally nails the OR/AS version of May, sounding closer to Veronica Taylor in spirit without having to do a straight up impression of her May. 3. Michelle Knotz - Voice of May in the main anime for the Battle Frontier and Diamond & Pearl: Battle Dimension seasons. She’s good at imitating Rachael Lillis, but not so much Veronica Taylor. Her delivery was fine, but Veronica’s voice is just one of a kind and she couldn’t replicate it, plus she just sounds naturally more mature. 4. Unknown VA - Voice of May in the animated trailer for Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. Generic, forgettable, not much a performance.

BARRY: 1. Jamie McGonnigal - Voice of Barry in the main anime. While he sounded too flat and low-voiced at first, by the time of the Twinleaf Festival he was just going all out with nailing Barry’s personality and giving the perfect manic delivery for his “I’LL FINE YOU!” outbursts. 2. Erik Scott Kimerer - Voice of Barry in Pokemon Masters. Going outside his usual range, he gives a surprisingly spot on, properly energized vocal performance, at times nearly measuring up to Jamie. 3. Connor Ludovice - Voice of Barry in Pokemon Evolutions. Very weak casting and weak performance, which really hurts the character since the short he appears in is literally centered around him. FANCAST OPTION - Zach Aguilar could’ve also been cast as Barry and nailed it. His more screechy, frantic and bombastic moments as Nikkaidou from March Comes In Like A Lion could carry this role.

CHEREN: 1. Landon McDonald - Voice of Cheren in Pokemon Masters. While some of his line delivery would fit better with BW Cheren than the B2W2 Cheren that he’s playing, his voice and tone are dead on for how Cheren ought to sound. Smart alecky but not overly arrogant. 2. Todd Haberkorn - Voice of Cheren in the main anime. This was as ideal casting as you could get for Cheren. His voice and Landon’s voice sound quite alike. He really only gets second place here due to his material; I did not care for the Cheren he was playing at all. 3. Jason Griffith - Voice of Cheren in the animated trailer for Black 2/White 2. Oh dear, what were they thinking with this one? This voice doesn’t suit Cheren whatsoever. It’s like you’re expecting Ienzo but get Zexion, as in Vince Corazza’s horribly awkward sounding Zexion! FANCAST OPTION - Darren Dunstan. His Kaz Kalinkaz in Chaotic was basically a dead ringer for Landon and Todd as Cheren anyway.

BIANCA: 1. Erica Schroeder - Voice of Bianca in the main anime. She doesn’t exactly sound like how a girl Bianca’s age should, but the flighty, peppy delivery and energy in her performance really sells her as the character despite this. It’s the closest to an ideal Bianca that we got. 2. Erika Harlacher - Voice of Bianca in Pokemon Masters EX. I think she needed less Eileen Stevens and more Erica Schroeder in her delivery. Otherwise she does very well, but something’s just a bit off. 3. Eileen Stevens - Voice of Bianca in the animated trailer for Black2/White 2. A few lines, but similar to Erika Harlacher’s late take. FANCAST OPTION(S) - Jennifer Cody would be the perfect Bianca if they were able to nab her to do the role, but if not, then I’d cast Kate Higgins, with a voice like Mimi Tachikawa in Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna or Serra in Fire Emblem Heroes.

HUGH: 1. Stephen Fu - Voice of Hugh in Pokemon Masters EX. Ideal casting. He’s got the voice, the strength, and above all, the RAGE! 2. Sean Schemmel - Voice of Hugh in the animated trailer for Black2/White 2. It’s just Goku, and it really doesn’t match with Hugh.

SERENA: 1. Havan Paschall - Voice of Serena in the main anime. I don’t really care for the anime’s Serena and she is a vastly different character from Serena of the games, but Havan Paschall never did a poor job in voice acting her, giving her the right sounding voice and some stellar emotional delivery. She’d no doubt kill it with better material. 2. Jackie Lastra - Voice of Serena in Pokemon Masters. Her voice is just as good a fit for the role as Havan’s, but I think her delivery is off for the most part, as I’d prefer Gameverse Serena to sound more refined and matured as opposed to “generic perky young heroine.”

HAU: 1. Neo Chihi - Voice of Hau in the main anime. A young nonbinary VA born in Japan, they’ve not done much notable work yet they hit the bullseye with Hau’s voice - young but not too young, and easygoing. 2. Laura Stahl - Voice of Hau in Pokemon Masters. Oof. The one indisputable miscast in the entire game. There had to have been a more male-sounding VA who could’ve fit Hau - a voice actress had no business being cast and making Hau sound younger than he is. FANCAST OPTION(S) - Jack Dylan Grazer. He lives in LA and does voice acting there, would it not be awesome if he got cast as Hau?

GLADION: 1. Alan Lee - Voice of Gladion in Pokemon Masters EX. He nailed it. 2. Eddy Lee - Voice of Gladion in the main anime. Same last name as the above, and almost just as good were it not for the fact that his voice is notably deeper and grungier than Alan’s more natural take.

HOP: 1. Vargus Mason - Voice of Hop in Pokemon Masters EX. It’s a stand-up comedian (with voice acting experience, though) putting on a high voice with an obviously fake British accent. How is it that this ends up sounding EXACTLY how I always pictured Hop to sound?

2. AJ Beckles - Voice of Hop in Pokemon Journeys. I’d had him as a fancast option and said “this is the sort of role that up-and-coming AJ Beckles would just thrive at.” Then they went and cast him, and guess what? He thrived at it! Really made the most of Hop’s time. 3. Adriel Varlack - Voice of Hop in Pokemon Evolutions. Barely said much of anything in the first short, which is a shame since he sounds alright and probably could’ve delivered with some more material. 4. Griffin Puatu - Voice of Hop in Pokemon: Twilight Wings. Uh, no. This voice for Hop doesn’t work. Way too forced and actually a bit deeper than Leon’s voice. They got the casting ass-backwards here! FANCAST OPTION(S) - Ogie Banks could do a similarly perfect job as Vargus Mason if Bang Zoom had gotten him again. 

BEDE: 1. Beau Bridgland - Voice of Bede in Pokemon Masters EX. Not only can he pull off young characters, but he actually is British, meaning his accent is authentic! There could’ve been no casting more perfect. 2. Brandon James Winckler - Voice of Bede in Pokemon: Twilight Wings. His brief material did him no favors. Bland, generic, ill-fitting.

MARNIE: 1. Cristina Vee - Voice of Marnie in Pokemon Masters EX. Marnie is a Girly Girl with a Tomboy streak trying to come across as more of a competitive hardass punk than she really is at heart, and the voice acting from Cristina Vee really gets that across. Plus, that accent! 2. Hayden Daviau - Voice of Marnie in the main anime. Hayden voiced a reserved, antisocial but nice girl unable to smile in Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club, and she does just as great here. 3. Dawn M. Bennett - Voice of Marnie in Pokemon: Twilight Wings. Her brief material did her no favors. Bland, generic, ill-fitting.

NEMONA:

1. Yolis Arroyo - Voice of Nemona in Pokemon Horizons.

2.Olivia Vidas - Voice of Nemona in Pokemon: Paldean Winds. 

3. Cristina Milizia - Voice of Nemona in Pokemon Masters EX.

FANCAST OPTION - Michelle Rojas