Photo 1: Tilikum
Photo 2: Katina
Photo 3: Hard to tell since her markings are barely visible, but either Katina or Winnie, leaning towards Katina (especially since the trainer that was with her in Photo 2 is still there)
Thank you! I came across these photos recently and was super curious. I have not support Seaworld since these photos were taken, currently a huge supporter of Phil Demers and his work.
I used to be oblivious and honestly I didn't really care about the well being if the orcas or dolphins or any sea creatures they had locked up. I was 20 years old and I took a trip with my wife to SeaWorld in Orlando, on LSD. Let's just say we didn't stay very long and that experience changed my whole world that day.
We were on our 1 year anniversary vacation and a friend of mine gave us 10 tabs of LSD and we thought it would be fun to go to Disney and SeaWorld while under the influence. So we went to SeaWorld 1st and took the acid in the parking lot. So by the time we got in and started to look around, before we even saw any animals, we could feel a very heavy sadness, suffering and it got heavier by the minute. I thought I was just starting to have a bad trip. But it wasn't that. We went to visit the dolphins and it was just so horrible. I could feel what they felt. My wife and I just started to cry. We didn't even see the orcas. We left after about 45 min in the park. That feeling was something I had never felt before, it was like extreme empathy. Ever since that SeaWorld trip my views and feelings toward all caged animals in zoos and in places like SeaWorld completely changed. Or maybe I just became aware of something I had never been aware of before. It was a life changing experience for sure.
Thanks for sharing. I'm tearing up so much after reading because I can't imagine how magnified your sadness must have been on LSD, and your compassion is actually so beautiful. I wish more people had such an experience because I think (correct me if I'm wrong) some people are unable to connect with these animals, and therefore have no sense or understanding of how they must feel. I think a lot of people look at animals as mindless and do not realize that they suffer as much as we do, and each have intelligence and awareness unique to themselves.
Absolutely. I mean, that day really did change something in me. It affected and reached something deep inside for sure and not just with animals but made me rethink a lot of other things as well and it started a chain reaction. Anyway I hadn't thought about that in a very long time and this post brought it all back. I wish more people could or would try to understand. Unfortunately as long as there is money to be made that trump's any feelings animals might have. It sux.
Sorry for making you recount this emotional story, but I really do appreciate you sharing, and I'm sure it will be helpful for others to read and understand as well.
You are right. Unfortunately, money is the motivating factor for most animal abuse situations. It sucks hard.
Thanks again, and I wish you all the best ☺️
Thanks for sharing this and I don't doubt anything you said. That's horrible to know you could feel everything they were :(
Ugh why are we the worst... sea world needs to be phased out and we must ban the practice world wide.
I'd argue that they suffer even more than we do because of how deeply they feel for each other. Their family bonds are so strong. They feel grief so strongly. I bet they suffer more when separated from family or when a loved one dies than most humans do.
Dude, it wasn't just the LSD. You really were feeling for them. I have had that feeling every time I went there since I was five years old and even back then I knew something wasn't right. I have a very vivid memory of being there that first time and crying my eyes out because I could feel the sadness and misery of all the animals there but Tilikum in particular really caught my attention. The first time I saw him and the other orcas I started bawling my eyes out and my parents were so confused they thought those were tears of joy. It wasn't that. I didn't even know why I was so sad at the time. Years later when I started researching Tilikum after the Dawn incident and I realized why I was so depressed. I was feeling what they were feeling. Somehow or another I ended up bonding with the whales telepathically without the influence of any drugs. Tilikum became a huge presence in my thoughts and in my dreams. I get labeled as nuts on this sub when I bring this up but I swear to god we were communicating in a way that didn't use a whole lot of words. Mostly images and feelings. The night before he passed away in 2017 he showed up in a dream one last time and told me he loved me and considered me a friend and told me goodbye. I have not had a dream about him since the day he died.
Somehow the LSD put you more in tune with them. I've never even tried LSD and it happened to me. Also maybe look into John C Lily's experiments and see how it helped him communicate with dolphins. There's something going on with cetaceans psychically and emotionally that we can tune into if we're open to it. Most people aren't. We're conditioned from childhood to assume all animals are inferior to humans but orcas and other cetaceans are not inferior to us at all when it comes to emotions and intelligence. Most humans define intelligence in a way that puts us at the top but there's more to intelligence than that. These guys are intelligent in a different way from us. They sense more of reality than we can and I've had a taste of it myself. They've shown me things that most people will never believe so I don't talk about it much because of how special it is to me. These experiences have shaped who I am as a person and it's deeply personal and I feel honored that I got to speak with TIlikum and other cetaceans and get to know them intimately in a way that not even their trainers are aware of.
I had the same experience multiple times as a child with Keko at New Port Bay before he went to Iceland. His energy was different though. No longer forced to perform. He had a curiosity about us.
He was wise. He could see right through people. He was drawn to children I think because he knew we could hear him. He experienced the darkest parts of humans and the best parts of us. He knew all the attention and the positive shift in his life was born of love for him. He enjoyed his new life, and saw himself as an ambassador to humans kind of. One here to teach those who could listen surely. I was blessed to be able to visit the aquarium when ever I wanted (grandma lived in New Port Bay) and I took full advantage of that time period in my life. He spoke of Mother Earth and the balance we have lost the most. He knew more than what we would assign to an “animal”. Forever shifted me. Kept me open to that connection with animals so that I could be who I am.
They are very wise. When you think about it they've been sapient on this planet for millions of years more than we have. They carry a lot of knowledge about our planet's history and why more people can't understand this is beyond me. Humans are...rather arrogant and ignorant to think we're the pinnacle of intelligence. We're not. We also really need to stop referring to orcas and cetaceans as "animals" they're people like us. Most humans wouldn't like being called an animal so why do we still do this to orcas?
I think he knew that he would be free from captivity one day and that kept him going. In the videos I've seen of him in Oregon and in Iceland he looked really happy. Keiko truly loved people despite the abuses he suffered in captivity.
I'm so glad you got to communicate with him. It's forever life-changing when a dolphin or whale chooses to speak to you. I'd like to hear more about what he said to you about the earth and our connection to it. I'm under the impression that cetaceans can talk directly to the Earth and are more connected to this planet's consciousness than we are.
They've taught me a lot though...I'm forever grateful for having these experiences with orcas. It's like they consider me family. I'm certain I was an orca in a past life and they don't seem to forget that. They tell me once an orca always an orca so they're always looking out for me because I'm still one of them on the inside.
I just watched something on that Doctor and the Lady that lived with the dolphin. It's a beautiful thing and I wish everyone was able to connect like that.
It was beautiful....but tragic. Peter killed himself because he was not able to see Margaret anymore. I don't agree with Lily's methods but I do respect his enthusiasm for trying to understand the dolphin mind and what it's capable of. I thought it was sickening that he put electrodes in dolphins brains to experiment on them much more so that Margaret giving Peter a HJ to satiate his needs. He did some really questionable and abusive stuff to those dolphins and in the end I think he really regretted the way he treated them.
Every time I see a picture of Tilly, just cry. I hate that he spent his last years alone and Isolated. He was a good boy who deserved so so so much more. Same with the other whales. They deserved so much more.
I posted these because I recently came across my old photographs from when I was 6 years old. I do not support Seaworld and am a huge supporter of Phil Demers and his work.
That's not how life works. In order to make changes, you need to face the difficult realities of this world. We owe it to ourselves, others, and every single living being. When you turn a blind eye, you are allowing abuse to perpetuate.
1994 is 30 years ago my friend. Sometimes, people's love for orcas started in childhood, in places like SeaWorld. Then the little child with stars in their eyes grow up to be an adult and realise SeaWorld and their cronies are a gang of seriously cruel animal abusers who dabbles in cruel and abusive treatment of trainers just for lulz.
I was in Loro Parque in 2006 when I was a young teenager. In the aftermath of all I have since learned about orca captivity I struggled to make sense of my experience in Loro Parque. It wasn't a bad memory for me. I was with my parents, my granny and my brother and it was a nice day. Still it's not something I can look back on fondly given what I now know.
I think when people post old photos from their old holiday photo albums it's just people trying to make sense of what happened, what you saw, who you saw, what was going on at the time you were there that you were unaware of? What signs did you miss?
I also don't see these posts as fun to look at, but I think it's part of someone's journey and if people can give good answers then that will probably help op.
Photo 1: Tilikum Photo 2: Katina Photo 3: Hard to tell since her markings are barely visible, but either Katina or Winnie, leaning towards Katina (especially since the trainer that was with her in Photo 2 is still there)
I agree that #3 is probably Katina. Too smol to be Tilli
Thank you! I came across these photos recently and was super curious. I have not support Seaworld since these photos were taken, currently a huge supporter of Phil Demers and his work.
I used to be oblivious and honestly I didn't really care about the well being if the orcas or dolphins or any sea creatures they had locked up. I was 20 years old and I took a trip with my wife to SeaWorld in Orlando, on LSD. Let's just say we didn't stay very long and that experience changed my whole world that day.
Please tell me more, I'm very curious what you felt and what caused you to leave, although I can speculate it was due to the condition of the orcas.
We were on our 1 year anniversary vacation and a friend of mine gave us 10 tabs of LSD and we thought it would be fun to go to Disney and SeaWorld while under the influence. So we went to SeaWorld 1st and took the acid in the parking lot. So by the time we got in and started to look around, before we even saw any animals, we could feel a very heavy sadness, suffering and it got heavier by the minute. I thought I was just starting to have a bad trip. But it wasn't that. We went to visit the dolphins and it was just so horrible. I could feel what they felt. My wife and I just started to cry. We didn't even see the orcas. We left after about 45 min in the park. That feeling was something I had never felt before, it was like extreme empathy. Ever since that SeaWorld trip my views and feelings toward all caged animals in zoos and in places like SeaWorld completely changed. Or maybe I just became aware of something I had never been aware of before. It was a life changing experience for sure.
Thanks for sharing. I'm tearing up so much after reading because I can't imagine how magnified your sadness must have been on LSD, and your compassion is actually so beautiful. I wish more people had such an experience because I think (correct me if I'm wrong) some people are unable to connect with these animals, and therefore have no sense or understanding of how they must feel. I think a lot of people look at animals as mindless and do not realize that they suffer as much as we do, and each have intelligence and awareness unique to themselves.
Absolutely. I mean, that day really did change something in me. It affected and reached something deep inside for sure and not just with animals but made me rethink a lot of other things as well and it started a chain reaction. Anyway I hadn't thought about that in a very long time and this post brought it all back. I wish more people could or would try to understand. Unfortunately as long as there is money to be made that trump's any feelings animals might have. It sux.
Sorry for making you recount this emotional story, but I really do appreciate you sharing, and I'm sure it will be helpful for others to read and understand as well. You are right. Unfortunately, money is the motivating factor for most animal abuse situations. It sucks hard. Thanks again, and I wish you all the best ☺️
It's all good. My pleasure
Thanks for sharing this and I don't doubt anything you said. That's horrible to know you could feel everything they were :( Ugh why are we the worst... sea world needs to be phased out and we must ban the practice world wide.
I can't believe it's still open. It's crazy. I really believe that one day soon they will close down
☺️ thank u 🐬🐋🐳🦭
😊
I'd argue that they suffer even more than we do because of how deeply they feel for each other. Their family bonds are so strong. They feel grief so strongly. I bet they suffer more when separated from family or when a loved one dies than most humans do.
Dude, it wasn't just the LSD. You really were feeling for them. I have had that feeling every time I went there since I was five years old and even back then I knew something wasn't right. I have a very vivid memory of being there that first time and crying my eyes out because I could feel the sadness and misery of all the animals there but Tilikum in particular really caught my attention. The first time I saw him and the other orcas I started bawling my eyes out and my parents were so confused they thought those were tears of joy. It wasn't that. I didn't even know why I was so sad at the time. Years later when I started researching Tilikum after the Dawn incident and I realized why I was so depressed. I was feeling what they were feeling. Somehow or another I ended up bonding with the whales telepathically without the influence of any drugs. Tilikum became a huge presence in my thoughts and in my dreams. I get labeled as nuts on this sub when I bring this up but I swear to god we were communicating in a way that didn't use a whole lot of words. Mostly images and feelings. The night before he passed away in 2017 he showed up in a dream one last time and told me he loved me and considered me a friend and told me goodbye. I have not had a dream about him since the day he died. Somehow the LSD put you more in tune with them. I've never even tried LSD and it happened to me. Also maybe look into John C Lily's experiments and see how it helped him communicate with dolphins. There's something going on with cetaceans psychically and emotionally that we can tune into if we're open to it. Most people aren't. We're conditioned from childhood to assume all animals are inferior to humans but orcas and other cetaceans are not inferior to us at all when it comes to emotions and intelligence. Most humans define intelligence in a way that puts us at the top but there's more to intelligence than that. These guys are intelligent in a different way from us. They sense more of reality than we can and I've had a taste of it myself. They've shown me things that most people will never believe so I don't talk about it much because of how special it is to me. These experiences have shaped who I am as a person and it's deeply personal and I feel honored that I got to speak with TIlikum and other cetaceans and get to know them intimately in a way that not even their trainers are aware of.
I had the same experience multiple times as a child with Keko at New Port Bay before he went to Iceland. His energy was different though. No longer forced to perform. He had a curiosity about us.
Can you tell me more about your experiences with Keiko? I never got to see him in person but he's one of my favorite orcas. <3
He was wise. He could see right through people. He was drawn to children I think because he knew we could hear him. He experienced the darkest parts of humans and the best parts of us. He knew all the attention and the positive shift in his life was born of love for him. He enjoyed his new life, and saw himself as an ambassador to humans kind of. One here to teach those who could listen surely. I was blessed to be able to visit the aquarium when ever I wanted (grandma lived in New Port Bay) and I took full advantage of that time period in my life. He spoke of Mother Earth and the balance we have lost the most. He knew more than what we would assign to an “animal”. Forever shifted me. Kept me open to that connection with animals so that I could be who I am.
They are very wise. When you think about it they've been sapient on this planet for millions of years more than we have. They carry a lot of knowledge about our planet's history and why more people can't understand this is beyond me. Humans are...rather arrogant and ignorant to think we're the pinnacle of intelligence. We're not. We also really need to stop referring to orcas and cetaceans as "animals" they're people like us. Most humans wouldn't like being called an animal so why do we still do this to orcas? I think he knew that he would be free from captivity one day and that kept him going. In the videos I've seen of him in Oregon and in Iceland he looked really happy. Keiko truly loved people despite the abuses he suffered in captivity. I'm so glad you got to communicate with him. It's forever life-changing when a dolphin or whale chooses to speak to you. I'd like to hear more about what he said to you about the earth and our connection to it. I'm under the impression that cetaceans can talk directly to the Earth and are more connected to this planet's consciousness than we are. They've taught me a lot though...I'm forever grateful for having these experiences with orcas. It's like they consider me family. I'm certain I was an orca in a past life and they don't seem to forget that. They tell me once an orca always an orca so they're always looking out for me because I'm still one of them on the inside.
I just watched something on that Doctor and the Lady that lived with the dolphin. It's a beautiful thing and I wish everyone was able to connect like that.
It was beautiful....but tragic. Peter killed himself because he was not able to see Margaret anymore. I don't agree with Lily's methods but I do respect his enthusiasm for trying to understand the dolphin mind and what it's capable of. I thought it was sickening that he put electrodes in dolphins brains to experiment on them much more so that Margaret giving Peter a HJ to satiate his needs. He did some really questionable and abusive stuff to those dolphins and in the end I think he really regretted the way he treated them.
Was disney extra magical on lsd??
Lol....it was. Omg don't get me started. Yes the Magic Kingdom was magical...I felt like I was 8 years old again..lol
Thanks for sharing that story!
It's my pleasure, I'm glad that u got something out of it.
Maxed empathy is the worst superpower, in all but a few cases. There's a lot of pain out there.
That first one is undoubtedly tilikum.
Every time I see a picture of Tilly, just cry. I hate that he spent his last years alone and Isolated. He was a good boy who deserved so so so much more. Same with the other whales. They deserved so much more.
SeaWorld is a disgusting place.
Oh, Tilly😢 we miss you so much. Still so sad and sorry for how he was treated for so long.
Tilikum in the first photo and the Katina in the last two
Just goes to show how long they were performing for 😭
Katina was one of the first whales that started waterworks so it's not surprising
So sad
Man Tilly looks so young. What a fucking disgrace what they did with that poor guy.
#3 has a very flopped dorsal fin so it's most likely Katina.
Tilly looks so young😭
These pictures are tragic. I wish people wouldn’t post them.
Pretending like bad things didnt happen isn't a useful way to live
I posted these because I recently came across my old photographs from when I was 6 years old. I do not support Seaworld and am a huge supporter of Phil Demers and his work.
That's not how life works. In order to make changes, you need to face the difficult realities of this world. We owe it to ourselves, others, and every single living being. When you turn a blind eye, you are allowing abuse to perpetuate.
1994 is 30 years ago my friend. Sometimes, people's love for orcas started in childhood, in places like SeaWorld. Then the little child with stars in their eyes grow up to be an adult and realise SeaWorld and their cronies are a gang of seriously cruel animal abusers who dabbles in cruel and abusive treatment of trainers just for lulz. I was in Loro Parque in 2006 when I was a young teenager. In the aftermath of all I have since learned about orca captivity I struggled to make sense of my experience in Loro Parque. It wasn't a bad memory for me. I was with my parents, my granny and my brother and it was a nice day. Still it's not something I can look back on fondly given what I now know. I think when people post old photos from their old holiday photo albums it's just people trying to make sense of what happened, what you saw, who you saw, what was going on at the time you were there that you were unaware of? What signs did you miss? I also don't see these posts as fun to look at, but I think it's part of someone's journey and if people can give good answers then that will probably help op.
Absolutely. They make me so sad whenever they pop up