Dark side of captivity - Tilikum | Whale and Dolphin Conservation

Tilikum will be remembered as the orca implicated in the deaths of three humans, and as the ‘star’ of the documentary film Blackfish. When humans took him from his ocean home and sold him into captivity, they condemned him to a life of serious mental health problems.
As a young orca, he endured constant attacks from the two more dominant females he shared a tank with. But perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this period of his life was what happened once the shows had ended. Each night Tilikum was isolated and ‘stored’ in a module, which was no more than an aquatic kennel, for up to 14 hours at a time. This undoubtedly contributed to his psychosis and subsequent behavioural problems.
Orcas are just too big, too intelligent and too mobile to ever thrive in a tank and the impact of captivity on their mental health is devastating for them, and in Tilikum’s case, for humans too.
See the world through Tilikum’s eyes and help us uncover the #DarkSideOfCaptivity.
whales.org/darkside

[@veganmeditations]

So heartbreaking. Animal captivity must end!

[@CoreyMillionaire2029]

Makes me wonder if Tilkium's remaining pod members are still in Iceland today, such as his mother and grandmother. If so, the memories of those awful captures of their family must still linger in their minds.

[@pennywelstead164]

Absolutely heart breaking. 💔 Poor Tilikum and all of the other captives. Penny from Christchurch. 🇬🇧

[@shans1986]

He deserved to be with his family always.

[@amanwithadream6894]

It's appalling to see to what extent mankind will go to in pursuit of $$$. Everyone involved with seaworld, other "aquatic parks", zoo's....etc., that take out of their natural habitat any of God's creations to place them into captivity for the sake of profit, needs to understand the grave consequences attached to such selfish decisions. MGSUM

[@Indy44636]

He had a family trua his beloved and favriote grandson. He was not a crazed animal.

[@oliviathehuman3163]

Blackfish 🐝🐝🐝🐝

[@renatedahlin8830]

I hope it is stopped now to keep whales anywhere but in the ocean.

[@lbabytutorials4852]

His pecs where so big, it was probably hard to swim like that

[@thisisusRRR]

#emptythetanks #whalesanctuaryproject

[@CoreyMillionaire2029]

You think Tilkium's family is still out there today? Like his mother and grandmother?

[@thisisusRRR]

@@CoreyMillionaire2029 Absolutely. They have such tight knit families going back generations

[@janelansaw7082]

This had so much to say, but all I heard was a bunch of music. #BlindPeopleCareAboutWhalesToo. Talk to talk dammit, tell a story. Don’t just play a bunch of music and assumedly, show pretty pictures of whales. What the hell does that mean!

[@WhalesOrg]

Thank you for bringing the accessibility issue concerning the messaging on this video to our attention.