Based on the lives of animal keepers, a book written by the point of view of an orca trainer, to the world. (Starting during Orca Encounter educational live presentation show). Haven't you wondered what it's like behind the scenes of such a controversial and misunderstood subject and position? Have you wondered what it's like to learn and enjoy a story at the same time?
Now you can!
‘’SeaWorld San Diego presents to you our new show, Orca Encounter!’’ I present live. The tank gates open the show tank as the orcas make their way to inspire the audience. Kristina joins the stage with her two buckets of fish and hands me my whistle.
‘’Goodluck’’ Kristina tells me. As the newest trainer for 4 years, this is my first show after being assigned to Orkid, a 31-year-old female orca. I was first assigned to Nakai, an 18-year-old male orca. It’s also my first time in a show where I participate in asking the orcas to do a behaviour to present to the audience. I am one of the main speakers for the last time. You see, the more experienced you get, and the longer you’re a trainer, the less speaking you do and the more training you do. When I first became a trainer, for the first year I had never even touched an orca. I was always busy gutting fish, cleaning the tanks and carrying buckets. But now, I have finally earned the opportunity to educate and inspire an audience about these fascinating and beautiful creatures and I couldn’t be more excited; I’ve been waiting and working for this moment for almost my whole life. I haven’t always been this comfortable with my job title. At first, my anxiety filled my mind with all sorts of thoughts… I felt like the whole audience was staring at every inch and curve of my body in my wetsuit. What were they thinking? Or maybe they’re thinking I am a waste of oxygen because they think these animals should be in a sea sanctuary, unaware of the risks of ocean pens. But with the help of Kristina and the other trainers, I realised that why would people be staring at me when there is the ocean's most intelligent and eye-catching apex predator right next to me. I also learned that I shouldn't doubt myself and my job title, with all my hard work and dedication, I have earned myself many qualifications and experience before and after receiving my dream job as a marine mammal trainer (ethologist).
As I retrieve my whistle from the back of the stage, Kristina smiles.
‘’Goodluck.’’ She says as she begins to walk away to Ulises, her assigned orca, the largest orca currently in captivity. I take a slow deep breath, ready to present to the audience.
‘’Introducing you to our 18-year-old male orca, Nakai! He is the world's first orca conceived from artificial insemination. As you can see, his dorsal fin is slightly curved. This is called ‘dorsal collapse.’’ It can be caused by genetics or due to being exposed to the warm temperature and gravity at the surface of the cold water. This happens in the wild and in captivity. However, it is more common in captivity with male orcas as they can grow up to 6 feet tall. It happens in captivity as everything is at the surface for them, their enrichment, food, training, health checks and more! Dorsal fins stabilize them in the water and regulate the body temperature!’’ Nakai slides out on the sliding platform to show off his tall and heavy dorsal. The crowd cheers as Nakai returns to me for his reinforcement: a back massage! Orkid swims and squeals over to me; she knows it’s her turn, and she’s excited. I ask Orkid to present the audience with a ‘thrasher’ behaviour by using hand and arm movements and signals. She takes a breath and swims towards the slide-out to present her thrasher. Orkid slides out on the sliding platform, thrashing her head side to side and whipping water out of her mouth. She finally backs back into the water and returns for a reinforcement reward. This time, she gets ice cubes!
‘’In the wild, this behaviour would be used when transient orcas would slide out onto land and thrash sea lion pups side to side. This is done to prevent the sea lion pup injuring the orca.’’ I convey to the crowd. As the next trainer asks her assigned orcas to do behaviours and show the audience, Nakai and Orkid go backstage to await their next turn.
*
At the end of a long, hard day’s shift, I return home to prepare for a girls’ night out at the pub. Every day when I go home, saying goodbye to Orkid and Nakai is the hardest thing. But I love to think the guests and audience members went home with a new aspiration to help the wild population of the orcinus orca and a love for the much-adored animals I do. It gives me hope that one day, we can all work together to love, cherish and save this endangered species, instead of hating on each other. These animals we have at SeaWorld are rescues or bred in captivity, meaning they’re unreleasable and even a sea pen is a danger to their health and welfare. So it’s our job as ethologists (cetacean behaviourist/trainer), to give these animals the best care possible, even if that means gutting fish and long breath holds under water to clean the tanks. But we also conduct scientific studies on our animals: last year we discovered that, in the wild, orca calves aren’t making it to 2 years of age as much as before due to the toxins and pollution in the ocean water. If we all worked together to support these ethical facilities, we could do so much and save the orcinus orca together.
At the pub, Chloe, my close friend, is bringing a new friend to meet us. Meeting someone new always sets my anxiety high. With all the controversy, I am always anxious that they’ll question my career. Will they understand? Will they strongly disagree because of all the misinformation in the media? Sometimes I lie: I lie about my career because I’m exhausted from all the daily hate. If I’m lucky, I can avoid the situation by changing the subject but sometimes I’m honest and either they will applaud me for my hard work or some will tell me I’m a horrible person for it. It can bring you down for a bit but I will always get up in the morning, zip up my wetsuit, keep passing my monthly swim test and carry on loving and providing these animals every day with pride.
‘’Hey, Missy! This is Diego.’’ Chloe introduces us as Diego shakes my hand. We sit down at a 5 chair table and pick out the drink menu as we await the rest of our friends. The waiter comes over and asks what drinks we’d like.
‘’J2O with ice please; any flavour will do.’’ Chloe answers. She looks to me as if to say it's my turn.
‘’Just water with ice please.’’ I request.
‘’Rio, no ice, please.’’ Diego responds.
‘’Yep, no problem.’’ The waiter nods and walks away as we thank her.
‘’Why, don’t we watch a movie later?’’ Diego suggests. Everything seems to be going well with Diego. Maybe I could make a friend instead of losing one today.
‘’That’s a great idea, any suggestions?’’ I ask him. My favourite movie is Dolphin Tale, it presents the importance of zoological facilities and how us as animal professionals give these animals the chance of a second chance at life to not only live; to thrive.
‘’Why don’t we watch ‘Free Willy’, it shows how animals shouldn’t be in captivity and how freeing would be better.’’ Diego says. Chloe lowers her head. Do I keep quiet and move on or do I educate him and stand up for myself and my profession? Maybe he’s right… No! When I am anywhere but work, my anxiety takes over. I must not let my anxiety get the best of me anymore.
I love these animals with all my heart and after studying and training almost my whole life, I know them best, along with other professionals and experts.
‘’Hey, just to let you know, I am an ethologist at SeaWorld San Diego, also known as an orca conservationist, behaviourist and many more titles but you may know the title as an orca trainer. Keiko’s sea sanctuary cost over 10 million for only 3 years for just him and there are 11 orcas in Europe in captivity. If they breed, the cycle will continue. Being in such well maintained, highly filtered and clean tanks in AZA-accredited facilities such as SeaWorld makes their tanks a lot safer than the ocean. If they were suddenly exposed to the ocean water, their immune systems wouldn't recognize the many new toxins, pathogens and bacterias that now pollute the ocean thanks to us humans. This would cause them to be at extremely high risk of catching phenomena or other respiratory infections or even gastrointestinal problems. The stress from moving them could weaken the immune system enough to cause a higher risk of illness. But then where would the extra money for an illness come from? Marine mammals' health and welfare are a lot more protected and provided at an ethical facility than a hazardous, uncontrollable captivity in the ocean. They’re both captivity; ones safer. But no one knows the whales more than us trainers, we know what positive reinforcements they prefer, which is vital for training. I know that Orkid loves her ice, whereas Nakai prefers his back rubs. So you see, these animals are giving us body cues and vocalisations showing us that they’re thriving. However, the wild population of Southern Resident orcas are slowly starving to death and they need our help. With help from SeaWorld, provided by us, we can now monitor wild orcas. I can give more examples and information if you like; I hope this helps you understand a bit better!’’ I explained and ended with a friendly smile. Diego rolls his eyes.
‘’You should be ashamed of yourself! These animals would be better off in a sanctuary than in a bathtub. Why should I trust someone who works with these animals in captivity?’’ Diego tells me. Even after all I said, he ignored everything. My anxiety shoots high. The last thing I want is an argument and people staring at us. I wish I never came, I wish I was at home or at work with my whale family.
‘’Because I have studied and trained for this job almost my whole life. After receiving an animal Management level 3 diploma at college, a degree in psychology and zoology, also many cetacean internships makes me well qualified and experienced for the job. Also meaning I am an animal professional. That’s why you can trust me.’’ I answer in disbelief. The hard work it took me to be able to work with these amazing animals, only to be ignored and put down by others.
‘’You’re only in it for the money.’’ Diego claims. Utterly horrible! I do this job because I love these animals with all my heart and I’d do anything to make sure they’re healthy and thriving.
‘’The animal industry is one of the lowest-paid industries there are. I do it because I love these animals with everything I have.’’ I respond. I begin putting my phone and purse in my bag, ready to leave. Chloe seems so embarrassed by the situation.
‘’Missy, where are you going?’’ Chloe asks.
‘’Home… Home to get a good night's rest for my morning shift with the whales. I can’t wait to zip up my wetsuit and give them back rubs and ice!’’ I tell them.
‘’I will text you tomorrow.’’ Chloe muttered quickly before I walk out of the door, relieved but at the same time, I had chills up my spine. When I am on stage, showing off these incredible animals, I feel at home. No longer scared that a whole audience can see every inch of my body in my wetsuit anymore, what people think of me and my ambitions or when my back and legs are aching so bad from carrying several heavy buckets filled with fish and squid around the tanks that I am worried I’m walking weirdly from the aching. I feel happy, and proud to be an orca trainer, even if it comes with a few cons like wearing a thick wetsuit in the summer, and a wet suit not thick enough in the winter. I can’t wait to go to work tomorrow and see the whales and the other trainers, even if I just saw them a couple of hours ago. I get myself an early night into bed. We have health checks and research to do with the orcas tomorrow, I can’t wait!
*
In the morning, the rush to go to work and put on my wetsuit is very real! After my morning routine is finished, at work, it’s time for my monthly swim test first.
‘’Hey, Missy! Are you ready, I’ve just completed my swim test.’’ Kristina says enthusiastically. I’m going to miss Kristina, she’s close to ageing out of the job and she’s always been a mentor and an inspiration to me and the other trainers.
‘’Of course, I’m coming!’’ I tell Kristina. I ready my wetsuit then I enter the 8 million gallon main tank. The orcas are in the other tanks as the swim tests and tank cleaning are active. I take a deep breath and dive. I use my scuba training to swim to the bottom of the tank and to the other side of the tank and back to the surface. These tests are done monthly to make sure we’re all physically fit enough for the job. I exit the tank and prepare for the first health check for the day. Now all the swim tests are done, the gates to the main tank open. However, the orcas remain in the back tanks for their health checks. I go to tank 2 and ask Orkid to turn over and present to me her fluke. I press my finger on the major vein located on the ventral surface of the fluke, I then wipe the area with an antiseptic wipe and insert the needle. Now the vet does her thing in retrieving a blood sample from Orkid. After, she pulls the needle out and Orkid turns back over and takes a breath. Being such an incredible, beautiful, fascinating and huge creature, simply witnessing their blowhole in action can be a breath taker. As the next orca volunteers in having their blood sample done, I ask Orkid to slide out onto the scale to weigh her. I ask her to raise her caudal peduncle and fluke into the air and out of the water for an accurate result. Orkid is a healthy weight at nearly 9000 pounds! I blow the whistle and she lowers her caudal peduncle and fluke as she slides back into the tank. As she comes and exposes her back to me, I reinforce her with a back massage as she asks after she had helped me out with her health checks for today! We also measure around the whales and fly a drone above the tanks for a birds-eye view representation of the whales. With this data of the orca anatomy, we will be able to study wild orcas in a non-invasive manner. By flying a drone over the wild population of southern resident orcas (who are slowly starving to death) we will be able to identify the health state of the whales by observing their weight and we will also be able to spot a pregnant whale which is vital for an endangered species. As we currently know, they are all at a critical unhealthy weight and no pregnancies have been identified as of yet. We suspect the toxins and pollution in the water is causing wild orcas to become infertile. After the research has been done, we then compare the data to wild orcas and see how different conservation strategies can be implemented to help. This is just one example of the many research studies that are now done with cetaceans.
This is why I’m proud of my job; to conserve, protect and share a truly incredible creature. Even if I lost a possible friend in this difficult world, I make a difference to the world with my amazing work. Helping wild whales, caring for captive whales, educating and inspiring the next generation of planet and animal lovers.
The end.
Thank you animal carers for what you do.
Image by @hunter.d.photography (instagram).
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