Orca whales have been kept in captivity for over 60 years. They are held in tanks sized of pools, no stimulation, and sometimes, no fellow orcas. These whales are used for showings all around the world. from these showings, there has been an abundance of accidents having to do with killer whales. 

Orcas are very emotional animals. they thrive in their pod which is the group of orcas they are born into. Each pod of orcas have their different ways of communicating. When young orcas are ripped from their pods, they can suffer emotional traumas. These traumas can cause irrational and sometimes aggressive behavior as the orca gets older. In the case of Tilikum, sometimes harm other orcas or even trainers. 

Tilikum was captured at the ripe age of two and taken to a tank in British Columbia, to a place called Sea Land. This tank was no bigger than a large swimming pool and it lacked stimulation. After being ripped from his pod, he stayed at Sea Land for about 2 years. Right after he had taken a trainer and help him under the water until he drowned. Sea Land closed shortly after this incident and Tilikum was transferred into Sea World Orlando. He was heled in a tank at the back of the park where he was used for breeding and breeding only. Sea World Orlando never found out about the harm that Tilikum had caused and how dangerous he was. after a few years, Tilikum began participating in shows. he was getting friendlier, doing stunts, and even performing the "Big Splash" at the end of the show. After a few years of him doing so, there was a man who snuck into the park after hours and was found dead in Tilikums tank. There was so security footage of this which appeared odd to the trainers at SeaWorld. Thus, Tilikum continued to participate in trainer interactions and shows. He got really close ad had a very emotional bond to this trainer Dawn. Dawn had worked with Tilikum for a long time and had a close connection with him. later on in Tilikums life, he was doing a show with Dawn and things were going great. Tilikum was connecting to Dawn and they had a great start to the show. At the end of the show, Dawn laid down with Tilikum to end their session and Tilikum grabbed her arm and pulled her into the water. In front of the whole audience, Tilikum held dawn underwater for longer than she could withstand. Dawn was drowned that day and Tilikum was no longer used as a show orca. 

Tilikum is just one whale. There are many other stories out there of orcas getting out of control and aggressive with trainers. Orcas are emotional and can not withstand changing and traumatic conditions. The trainers should have never had to endure what Tilikum put them through but Tilikum shouldn't have ever been taken from his home in the first place. A lot of the time, the blame is placed onto trainers when in reality it is the industries who are at fault. 

Orcas need their families, need their pods, need stimulation and the open ocean. These animals should not be held in tanks. ultimately, the goal would be to get these animals out of captivity, the short term goal is to move them into sanctuaries that represent their wild habitat and give them stimulation to move as they would if they were not captive.