A Killer Whale Kills

At some big aquatic park in Florida, I guess it was, a big killer whale killed a trainer, a worker with the whales.

Why this is surprising, I don't know. Since they are mammoth, gigantic, 12,000 pound animals, who aren't really designed to be spending their lives in a teacup doing idiotic tricks.

The report I saw on TV said the whales were acting a little strangely that day, or earlier. It made me think, maybe there was some atmospheric pressure or something, some natural thing that would change their biorhythms. It would take someone more intensely trained than I to figure it out. Except nature has more to it than just what's comfortable for our range.

It makes me wonder what ought to be the limits of mankind with the rest of the animal world. Should we be entertained by these great animals? It seems like there ought to be some educational stuff going on, but just to be making a buck off a bunch of cooped up, deprived animals? Maybe I'm starting to shift on that front.

Certainly anyone who's trained in the upkeep and behavior of these whales ought to know (and no doubt does) that anything can happen. There's more going on in their brains and bodies -- and they are larger than goldfish -- than can be entirely predicted.