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Amy Putnam
Chalisse Ganzell
English 126.2754
1 April 2014
A Whale of a Misunderstanding
When SeaWorld comes to mind, a spectacular killer whale show is probably the next to
come. This is because SeaWorld was the first to display these creatures to the world and since
the late 1960’s SeaWorld has been pleasing crowds with their famous orca shows. To begin the
production of SeaWorld’s orca shows, although controversial, they first had to catch orcas for
their theme parks. SeaWorld justifies this action by suggesting that display of these orcas at their
parks is an educational experience for their guests. In the 1960’s holding these animals at their
facilities proved to be an enlightening experience for the public, but as time has gone on, these
captive orcas have significantly lost their educational value and are currently being exploited for
the sole purpose of profit.
The first person to ever interact with an orca was Ted Griffin back in 1965. At the time
there was a superstition about orcas, it was commonly believed that orcas were vicious monsters
of the sea and many people were fearful of them. Other than that false belief, people knew
nothing of them, but Griffin believed orcas were gentle and that he could actually form a
relationship with one. When a live orca was accidently entangled in a fishing net near the coast
of Namu Island Griffin jumped at the opportunity and excitedly bought his first whale. When his
orca was finally delivered to his local ocean he put him in the first ever netted sea pen that he had
made himself.
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Due to the inaccurate belief of the orcas, people who heard of what Griffin was doing
thought he was insane. Yet when he got his whale, who he named Namu (the male version of the
now more commonly known Shamu), he was ready to prove everyone wrong. On his first day
with Namu he climbed upon his back and felt an instance connection with the magnificent
creature. He became very attached to Namu and begun to tame him. They began putting on
shows for the public which gained instant attention. This was an amazing discovery for the
people. He showed them that not only are orcas gentle and friendly creatures, but intelligent as
well. Unfortunately, his Namu died suddenly from a skin disease only eleven months from their
first day together.
You would imagine that Griffin would have been emotionally touched by his special
experience with this elusive creature. Being the first person to ever understand one of these
