Killer Whale Passes Away at SeaWorld

I heard this from a friend earlier today, and it looks like the media just picked up the story... :(

From http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/4350776/detail.html

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Killer Whale Dies At SeaWorld

SAN DIEGO -- SeaWorld is investigating the death of one of its killer whales.

Officials said Splash died on Tuesday morning. According to SeaWorld, the 15-year-old killer whale had been treated for epilepsy and became very sick last week.

Splash came to the San Diego park in April 1992 from a marine park in Canada.

Park workers told NBC 7/39 that a necropsy will be performed, and the results should be completed in two weeks.

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I know Splash hasn't been the picture of perfect health, but it's really sad to hear that he's passed away. :(

Well, since he had epilepsy, the fact that he lived to be 15 years old is a testament to the exceptional care and treatment SW has in their husbandry department. Had this whale been in the wild, it wouldn't have survived that long.

Right... but from what I've heard, it may not have just been the epilepsy involved. He's had other problems lately. :(

How do you dispose of an animal that size? Where would they perform the necropsy?

Very sad, but I'm consumed with the logistics of handling the death of such a huge animal.

Lift them with a crane in a net and probably a flatbed truck or something. I'd imagine it easier to transport a dead one than a living one like when they moved it there from canada. ShamuMobile


That's too bad for Splash. It's a good thing it didn't die in front of kids.

Don't eat any fish dishes at Sea World for awhile.

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Originally Posted by Dustysage

How do you dispose of an animal that size? Where would they perform the necropsy?

Very sad, but I'm consumed with the logistics of handling the death of such a huge animal.

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They can take him out with a crane, and truck him out. My understanding is that he died around noon, though, so I'm not sure if they had already moved him into the back areas by then (due to renovations, I think the Animal Care area is a bit crunched for space for a killer whale at the moment) or if they had to take his body out during the park operating hours.

I'm not sure if they perform the necropsy on-site, or if they'll take the body elsewhere. I can't think of a discreet area large enough for them to use comfortably - at 15, Splash was getting pretty big. As far as disposal goes, though, they'll keep any body parts that can be used for scientific research or for education purposes. As for the rest, there's lots of grotesque rumor/speculation about what they do, but I have never heard a concrete answer from a source that is in-the-know, so I hesitate to spread rumor.

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Originally Posted by KoH

Don't eat any fish dishes at Sea World for awhile.

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My first thought, KoH when I started reading this thread, but you beat me to it.

Reminded me of Carl Hiaasen's hysterically funny book Native Tongue which skewers the tourist industry, theme parks and ecological problems in Florida. In it a budget theme park "down the road" from WDW has a killer whale die and he ends up on the restaurant menus the next day.

He was cut up in the back pools at SeaWorld within 2 hours of his passing.

They had to move quick if they were able to prepare enough tuna sandwiches by the afternoon rush.

The article says he had epilepsy...

Did the strobe lights in the show cause him to have an epileptic seizure and die in the middle of the show?

He did have epilepsy, but I don't think it was a seizure from the lights. He's been doing night shows at the park for years and never had a problem. Besides which, epileptic seizures tend to be a bit more of an acute problem - from what I've heard, he'd kind of been doing poorly for several days before his death.

I had a golden retriever who had epilepsy (the first time I had ever heard of such a thing existing in dogs). The vet told us that the seizures don't "harm" the animal, so to speak, to result in death. She ended up dying from cancer at 15 years.

From what I understand, this whale's face was all messed up because every time it had a seizure it would run into the side of the cage multiple times. So I would say that the epilepsy did harm the animal.

Had a Lhaso Apso that epilepsy. Vet said the same thing,and put him on some really serious meds.Six months later he had the mother of all grand moll(sic) siezures in the kitchen and passed away.

i guess you guys don't understand my morbid sense of humor. Oh well, not everyone finds humor in the death of a whale.