SHAMU, SHAMU, WHAT ARE WE TO DO WITH YOU?

At this very moment, somewhere in Florida, an Orcinus Orca is bobbing up and down in a tank, oblivious to the fact that he might soon become 50,000 cans of sushi.  I write of course, about Shamu, the Killer Whale who made the headlines this week for killing his trainer.

Excuses are being made for this act.  One is that "whales don't know that humans can't hold their breath as long as whales can." Another includes the convoluted theory that his trainer's pony tail caught his nose, and to have the nose brushed or tapped is a command to grab, so Shamu did.  However, it is not a command to inflict "multiple traumatic injuries" and drown someone, which is what happened next.

Turns out that this is the third time Shamu - or Tilikum, to give him his proper title - has killed someone.  Or the "third time he has been involved in a human death" as one website put it, no doubt trying to take the edge off.  

SHAMU'S RAP SHEET:

• 1991: at Sealand of the Pacific in Canada, Tilikum is one of  3 whales that kills a trainer during a show.

• 1999: found swimming with a naked man wrapped around his dorsal fin when employees arrived at work in SeaWorld, Florida.  It is believed the man hid in the park so that he could swim with the 5 tonne whale after closing time.

•  2010: inflicts multiple injuries to and drowns his trainer at "Dine With Shamu" event in Seaworld, Florida.

Now, I'm not the sharpest tool in the box, but methinks the name KILLER WHALE might be an itty bitty clue as to the nature of these beasts.  Pods of Killer Whales migrate to Monteray Bay in California to attack Grey Whales, which are larger than they are.  They have even killed a Great White Shark.  They hunt Blue Whales - the largest creatures on Earth.

SeaWorld in Florida has stayed open.  Tilikum will not be put down "and may even perform again", according to some sources.  The problem is, he draws a crowd, and a crowd on holiday and their money are soon parted.

By the way, all performing killer whales in America are known as "Shamu".  I am not sure why.  I think it is Native American for "they do taste like chicken"...