Evvy said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...ller_whale
The killer whale (Orcinus orca), commonly referred to as the orca and, less commonly, blackfish, is the largest species of the dolphin family.

XxAxX said:

Damn you beat me to it!

XxAxX said:

It will be worth the wait. Trust me.

Evvy said:

not true.
They're captured from healthy, normal, pods.
And Belugas are nowhere near the brink of extinction.

The solution for bringing whales (or any animal) from the brink of extinction is not to cage them and make them do circus tricks (if that's good science then I'm a toaster), but to stop infringing on their food sources, habitat, and families.

The killer whale is one of thirty-five species in the dolphin family, which first appeared about 11 million years ago. The killer whale lineage probably branched off shortly thereafter. Although it has morphological similarities with pilot whales and pygmy killer whales, its closest relative is the Irrawaddy dolphin.

davidoff1966 said:

i was reading about their IQ and EQ levels, they are possibly smarter than humans

davidoff1966 said:

It baffles me that people don't know this.



They are dolphins. The term 'killer' whale is sort of a misnomer. They don't kill people. The do, however, hunt other whales. But bottle nose dolphins are more aggressive in the wild than they are.
There's no known case, as I've stated before, of an Orca killing humans in the wild...at least none that I've been able to find scouring the Internets nor in the books I've owned on marine life.

TheVoid said:

i read that tillimuk was caught at age two, ripped from his pod, kept in isolation because of his aggressive behavior. used as a 'stud' orca. isn't this slavery?

free Tilly!

XxAxX said:

Based on experience I would say there is no "possibly" about it.

whales are cetaceans
Main Entry: ce·ta·cean
Pronunciation: \si-ˈtā-shən\
Function: noun
Etymology: ultimately from Latin cetus whale, from Greek kētos
Date: 1835
: any of an order (Cetacea) of aquatic mostly marine mammals that includes the whales, dolphins, porpoises, and related forms and that have a torpedo-shaped nearly hairless body, paddle-shaped forelimbs but no hind limbs, one or two nares opening externally at the top of the head, and a horizontally flattened tail used for locomotion

— cetacean adjective



dolphins are whales
Main Entry: dol·phin
Pronunciation: \ˈdäl-fən, ˈdȯl-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English delphyn, dolphyn, from Anglo-French delphin, alteration of Old French dalfin, from Medieval Latin dalfinus, alteration of Latin delphinus, from Greek delphin-, delphis; akin to Greek delphys womb, Sanskrit garbha
Date: 14th century
1 a (1) : any of various small marine toothed whales (family Delphinidae) with the snout more or less elongated into a beak and the neck vertebrae partially fused (2) : any of several related chiefly freshwater toothed whales (as of the family Platanistidae) b : porpoise 1

orcas are whales- killer whales

davidoff1966 said:

so at what point do we acknowledge our obligation to treat them with respect? poor Tilly has killed (possibly) three people to date. he clearly doesn't want to perform tricks for humans.

shouldn't we finally let him go? take him back to iceland, return him to the place he was caught?

TheVoid said:

XxAxX said:

There is no doubt in my mind that it is insane.
Just like the poor whale in the Miami Seaquarium (under much worse conditions I might add).

It's unnatural, it's unkind, and it's unethical.

TheVoid said:

dolphins are whales: small whales- orcas are mostly very agressive whales hence the term "killer"- they can and will kill you- they are carnivores

TheVoid said:

i'd go bonkers after only a few WEEKS of captivity and enforced performances.

this poor creature has been tormented for years.

XxAxX said:

Absolutely.

Evvy said:

My point in stating that they are dolphins was not to say they aren't a subset of whale. But to say that they're behavior is more inline with dolphins than with the unfortunate 'moniker' they've been given, ..e.i, "killer whale".

Either way, these creatures, no matter how you want to classify these dolphins, are not supposed to be in captivity. It's cruel.

davidoff1966 said:

i have to admit to a guilty pleasure: i loved watching the dolphins perform at sea world, san diego. i felt guilty the whole time, but just seeing them was absolutely astounding. they are really one of the coolest animals i've ever seen

they are not forced to do "tricks"- these behaviors are what they do in the wild - naturally-for several different reasons- they are trained to do them on cue. whales are highly intelligent animals- it's not punishment.

Evvy said:

wtf??? you have not seen the shows, if this is what you think. they are doing tricks. absolutely

Evvy said:

The term 'killer whale' has absolutely NOTHING to do with their behavior towards humans. PILOT WHALES are the most aggressive whale towards humans. Orcas simply do not attack people in the wild. They. don't. do. it.

The term "killer" whale was given to them by Spanish Sailors who saw the whales hunting other whales... not because they were attacking people.


They can, but DON'T kill people in the wild. They simply don't.


and didn't you state they don't attack people in one of your original posts?
Whey the gear shift?

.
[Edited 2/26/10 10:39am]

Evvy said:

Being in an oversized fish tank is punishment.

Evvy said:

No they're not.


Where are you getting this information? It reads like a fox news report.

uPtoWnNY said:

ariel thought that being in the "sea" was punishment as well....

XxAxX said:

Been to seaworld many times,,kids love shamu...these whales are very intelligent and well taken care of and are great performers.

TheVoid said:

wow if you had a pitbull that was never aggressive toward you or your kids- would you tell people "aww he won't bite"?

Evvy said:

That's such a stupid comeback.

Really, now you're reaching.

I wouldn't place him in a cage and forced to do circus tricks day after day and put a kid in the cage... that's for sure.

Evvy said:

That is like you and I arguing over a Toyota RAV4 and me saying "It's a RAV4" and then you arguing that it isn't, "It's a Toyota"

By definition all dolphins are whales but not all whales are dolphins. The more precise family is that of the Delphinidae family.

So if one wishes to be general then yes, use whales or Toyota, if one wishes to be precise use dolphin or rav4.

SCNDLS said: