Tilikum the Orca has died

[Catherine]

I think we will see an end to whale shows now. In future we will see an end to captive Orcas.

I think Tilikum is a symbol of all that was wrong with treating animals as slaves. Three people died and we still didn't learn the lesson that you can't enslave intelligent beings.  Remembering him and all that he endured will help us to push for an end to the Orca captives. They can be released to sea sanctuaries. We do it for chimpanzees and other primates that were used by humans. Now we need to do it for the captive whales and other sea mammals.

I agree, one day we will look back and reject our past actions. I hope when that happens we will look around and see what other things we are still doing wrong and change them. We can't change what people did in the past, but we can move forward.

If Tilikum can live in our minds as a symbol then we can bring some meaning out of his life.

I hope his spirit swims free in peace. I hope he knows many humans regret what was done to him and wish we could have stopped it.