By Angela Beswick
A Florida man is protesting the captivity of killer whales at SeaWorld by spending 18 hours in a stranger's bathtub.
Brian Feldman, a performance artist in Orlando, announced he would spend one hour for each year Tilikum, the orca responsible for the death of his trainer last month, has spent at the park.
The protest follows the death of Dawn Brancheau, 40, who was pulled into the tank by Tilikum after a show at SeaWorld in February.
The coroner determined that her official cause of death was multiple traumatic injuries and drowning.
Video of Mr Feldman’s time in a stranger’s bathtub was broadcast online and members of the public were welcomed to his “SeaHouse” for the same charge as SeaWorld admission.
The debate over keeping wild animals in captivity has reignited in the month following, while the park has announced a review into safety procedures around working with the whales.
SeaWorld has long restricted trainers from swimming with Tilikum, captured from the wild in 1983, but does allow them to work with him from shallow ledges built into the sides of its tanks.
A team of outside experts has been assembled to determine “how close is too close” for trainers working with the six-ton orca.
PETA has repeatedly called on SeaWorld to stop confining whales to an area that, to them, “is like the size of a bathtub”.
The organisation launched a campaign asking supporters to write to the park’s owners and urge them to release the mammals to sanctuaries that can provide them an environment that is more natural to them.
“The only thing people learn from visiting a SeaWorld theme park is how miserable life is for animals held there,” a spokesman said.
“It is not surprising when these huge, smart animals lash out.”
Tilikum has since been removed from the park’s shows and will likely remain isolated until at least April, when the park’s investigation is complete.
New Zealand marine biologist Dr Ingrid Visser, who specialises in killer whales, says the isolation of Tilikum is unlikely to improve anything.
“They’ll come to a situation where he will be in a very small tank, with restricted access,” she told 3 News.
“I think he will become more aggressive. This is his way of protesting.”
Mr Feldman completed his time in the bathtub, which included an hour of “lights out” for Earth Hour, early Sunday (NZT).
Messages posted to his Twitter account said he was “very wrinkled” when the protest concluded.
Animal rights groups have called for captive whales to be returned to the wild where they can return to living an active life.
A number of countries, including Brazil and Chile, have created coastal sanctuaries to help encourage their transition back into the wild.
3 News