I am writing you today to express my condolences for the loss of Sumar, your 12 year old male killer whale. Watching the raw footage of your medical staff and trainers tending to him as he passed while the other whale looked on was very moving and led me to do a little research on Sumar. He seems like he was a very kind and gentle whale, and that he had a good home and family here in San Diego. I'm sure I've seen him swimming around there before from the underwater observation area, and I've no doubt that I found it to be an awesome experience.
While I wouldn't normally consider myself that much of an animal person, I'm intrigued at the human interaction factor that comes into play when keeping an animal in captivity, and how it impacts the new life of that being. I'm not for or against zoos or facilities such as yours, and I'm sure that there are enough regulations in place to help facilitate fair, if not good treatment of animals that might otherwise have lived a shortened life in the wild. I also know that Sea World does a good amount of wildlife preservation and sharing of education on all sorts of topics, and I find that a very good and interesting thing. For that, thank you.
As I was watching the news footage, I found myself wondering what one does with a whale that died in captivity. I'm sure that you can't really bury Sumar due to his size, and putting him back in the ocean probably wouldn't be all too effective either. From what I've dug up online, all I see is that his body will likely go to "research", although that seems sort of vague. What kind of research would be done if that's the plan? How is it decided on who will get to be a part of this research? Will there be some sort of permanent memorial put up for Sumar at Sea World?
Again, my thoughts go out to your trainers and everyone who was close with Sumar. Also, thank you for the free beer samples at the Hospitality Center. It makes it easier to stand being around the screaming kids all over the park during the summertime.
Sadly,
Daniel
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