SeaWorld's Tilikum the Killer Whale - Life After Tragedy
Posted by Ashley McChesney on Mon, Mar 29, 2010 @ 12:40 PM
An interview with SeaWorld's curator of animal training, Kelly Flaherty Clark, about a day in the life of Tilikum:
Q. How is a day in the life of Tilikum different now?
In most respects Tilikum's day is not much different at all. We are continuing the level of interaction and socialization he's always had; we're just making sure we do so from a safe distance. He still has access to all of the pools in the 7 million-gallon Shamu Stadium complex, enjoys social interactions with the other whales and is participating in numerous training, play and exercise sessions throughout each day.
Second only to the safety of our animals is ensuring the highest standard of care for our animals. One of the most important things we do is to take care of whales' health and mental stimulation. Part of this stimulation is making sure they have a variety of different experiences each day.
We have a deep love for all of our animals our trainers are continually devising ways to keep them all engaged and stimulated safely.
Q. What type of interactions can you do with Tilikum from a distance?
The most important consideration is variety; no day is ever the same. That keeps the whales engaged, always learning new behaviors. We vary what types of sessions we do each day, as well what each session includes. Fun experiences we did just today with him include giving him ice or toys filled with fish, a 120-pound, 6-foot diameter plastic Frisbee, and watching us paint pictures through the underwater viewing panels.
Tilikum also enjoys having his skin rubbed. Right now we are not touching him with our hands, so, instead of using our fingers, we use a powerful water hose -- just like a giant water massage -- and brushes as extensions of our hands. So he is still getting everything he is used to and everything he enjoys, just in a new and different way.
Our veterinarians still have access to Tilikum to care for him. All of our whales are trained to voluntarily give us their tail flukes to obtain blood samples; we've just trained Tilikum now do it from a different position now to ensure everyone's safety.
Q. Is he around any other whales?
Absolutely. Socialization with the other whales is a big part of these animals' day and we would never change that.
Q. What challenges have you had as a trainer?
A. Our entire environment has changed for us and that's a challenge. But you don't make animal training a career unless you love challenges. Right now, we are training new behaviors. We used to interact very closely with Tilikum, but now maintain a safe distance. Throughout these new approaches, Tilikum is responding positively and learning new behaviors very quickly, which are great indicaters he is content.
Read more and see a slideshow of a day in Tilikum's life
here.
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