Simmons and the documentary “Blackfish” recognized
that the use of play toys in Tilikum’s training led to him
becoming possessive of anything in the water. Tilikum
was trained with an experienced animal, and both
were punished if Tilikum did not produce the correct
behavior. This led the two dominant females he lived
with to bully him by raking his skin with their teeth to
create deep scratches, or “rakes”.
The biologist Naomi Rose found that captive orcas
are usually not compatible with each other. Rose said
that this is because the social groups formed in captivity
are artificial. Usually, orcas socialize with those they
are blood-related to, and do not associate with orcas
of other pods or oceans. There are cultural clashes
between the whales that cannot be overcome.
Simmons said that Tilikum is an “outlier” and “unlike
any whale SeaWorld has owned” in demonstrating
this possessive nature and these aggressive behaviors
towards his trainers. Simmons also stated that most
of the trainers who participated in the documentary
“Blackfish” and spoke about Tilikum had not worked
with this whale as much as he had. He also explained
that many of the pieces of information about Tilikum’s
troubled background that he provided were left out of
the documentary.
Simmons, who is currently involved in the
conservation and protection of wild orca populations
worldwide, stated that the changes in the environment
are negatively affecting killer whale populations.
Simmons stated that the wild populations of orcas
are declining quickly, due to the degradation of
the environment and the ocean. Heavy metals, fi ɔ)ɕхɑ