NPR– Tilikum, possibly the most famous orca in the world, has died, according to SeaWorld Orlando.
He was the subject of the influential documentary Blackfish, and outcry over his story prompted SeaWorld to stop breeding orcas in captivity.
Tilikum was estimated to be 36 years old, SeaWorld said in a statement, which is old for a captive killer whale. He faced “very serious health issues,” the park says, and had been declining for months.
The orca died Friday morning surrounded by trainers and veterinary staff. A necropsy is required to determine the official cause of death, but he had suffered a “persistent and complicated bacterial lung infection,” the park says, which had been treated by a range of medicines and therapies.
2016 was the year of celebrity deaths. Its been well noted by many people that we lost a plethora of icons last year. Now it’s 2017. This was the year that everyone was looking at to be our refuge from the universe’s genocide on famous people. Well it’s starting to look up already. Charles Manson was hospitalized at the beginning of the year and now the deadliest fish (mammal) to ever not star in a Steven Spielberg movie has passed. We’re only a week into the new year and it’s still very early to call this year’s death trend but wouldn’t it be a treat if it was famous murderers.
Tilikum was a stone cold killer with a body count of three (also a stone cold ladies’ man with a body count of all of Sea World’s killer whales). Manson hasn’t died yet, but that guy is what psycho murders aspire to be (I’m skeptical about the quality of care he’s going to get at the hospital). If these deaths do indeed spark the beginning of a trend than Tilikum and Manson are just the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of really famous murderers that are still alive who deserve death a lot more than an abused whale and a misunderstood musician.
- OJ Simpson
- Ray Lewis
- Rodger Godel (maybe not a murderer but more of a sick and twisted unchecked leader than Manson ever was)
- Dylann Roof (Charlestown Church Shooter)
- Boston Bombing scum bag with the name that is impossible to spell
- Whitey Bulger
- Aaron Hernandez
(I don’t hate those last two so they are excused from the following) All of those people deserve to be dead, so if 2017 is going to start picking off some ruthless murderers, I hope it decides to take at least a few people from that list with it.
P.S. I questioned the quality of care that Manson is receiving, but I seriously question how Tilikum was treated by Sea World and it’s trainers. This whale was such a pain in the ass for Sea World. He singlehandedly destroyed their company. First he killed a trainer in front of thousands of people, which forced them to put an end to the trainers being in the water during the Shamu shows, which put an end to the Shamu shows being any good. Then after the documentary about Tilikum’s life came out, the park had to end their whole Orca program, no more killer whales, no more killer whale shows. Sea World = crippled, and who is to blame? Tilikum. There are probably a couple board members that would have throttled him before now if he hadn’t been such a hardened criminal.
And the trainers. The trainers are a brotherhood and Tilikum knocked off one of their own. They had it out for this old whale from the moment he decided to give their homie a tour of the bottom of the pool.
Tilikum warning the rival whales that anyone of them could be next
I might be staying too woke on this one, but you better believe that I will be putting in some research on “bacterial lung infections”. Tilikum might have been a certified serial killer, but he deserved some quality health care from the people who kept him imprisoned before he ever committed a crime.
Doc's Blog 