HSUS recounts the travesty of the "rescue" of Keiko and suggests that it should the same to Tilikum.

"The accusation that Keiko died emaciated and starving has been featured in the media and on the Internet, but in fact Keiko thrived for five years in his natural habitat. It is our sincere hope that Tilikum can be similarly retired to a sea pen in Iceland or another suitable location."

http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2010/03/tilikum-comments.html

"[S]imilarly retired" so he can die. For some bizarre reason that defies comprehension, Naomi Rose, PhD., believes that what happened to Keiko was the best thing that could happen to him and it should happen to Tilikum, too. This is cruelty at it core.

Keiko lived in captivity for twenty-three years and was raised with human, rather than Orca, companionship. From Save the Whales, "One of the problems with Keiko's return to the wild was that almost his entire life had been spent with humans, and he seemed to crave human companionship. He would approach boats to interact and be petted."

http://www.savethewhales.org/captivity.html

How stupid of "scientists," like Dr. Rose, to think that an animal with no social education from its own kind could be successfully released into the wild and function normally. This is akin to saying that a child raised by animals will understand human social interaction and will adjust perfectly well once it is with its own kind, which is not true.

http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=saturday

Keiko's clinical cause of death may have been pneumonia, but I think his cause of death is related to loneliness. He could not bond with other whales, since the only exposure he had to them was when he was an infant and the humans that had him for twenty-three years were now rejecting him. This is a sad story caused by "do-gooders" who have no conscience nor genuine concern for animal welfare, but are only interested in the by-line, "animal rescuer."

Tilikum has been in captivity for twenty-seven years, since he was two years old, so he has not developed necessary social skills to thrive in the wild. Releasing him now would be sheer cruelty and this is what HSUS proposes. The cries of "free Tilikum" reek of idealistic insanity and doing so would only lead to a cruel death for a beautiful creature.