SeaWorld stopped posting to its Shamu feed after the death of a trainer in Shamu Stadium in Orlando in February. I wrote last month about the dilemma facing SeaWorld in marketing its Shamu character.
For SeaWorld's benefit, let's revisit that discussion now that the park seems ready to consider it.
Comments below, please.
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Change the name, and you have to change the character. What else would SeaWorld use then?
As I see it, right now, they stand at a turning point. Personally, I would like to see them adopt a much more realistic and honest position, as in "Yes, working with these animals the way we do is dangerous, and the 'Shamu' brand is purely a marketing gimmick with no relation whatsoever to what the animals are truly like."
I think it more likely, however, that they will simply do whatever they can to gloss things over, run damage control, and fight like blazes to keep the image of the brand alive, no matter that it's as phony and misleading as a nine-dollar bill.
If they do go the latter direction, I believe it will be only a matter of time before the next incident.
Happy travels.
This accident should not give Shamu or orcas a bad name. We may never know why Tilly acted that way or why he did what he did. We might never know what exactly caused or contributed to the accident, but that doesn't make Tilly a bad animal, and it doesn't make any other orca a bad animal. I think that SeaWorld should continue to utilize the Shamu Twitter feed to reach out to people and continue to educate them about orcas. There's so much that we know, and yet so much that we don't know. Some people may be very misinformed about orcas which only leads them to make conclusions that are not true, and this perpetuates fear and loathing of these animals based on what we think we know, and not based on real fact.
I think the Shamu Twitter account should be reactivated. I have a feeling that's what Dawn would want.
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