Killing Keiko by Mark A. Simmons Page B

Beyond that, Keiko himself was also
     strangely different from any other male killer whale I had ever known. There seemed
     to be no limit to his acceptance of anyone or anything. From all that I learned and
     was told, from everything that I saw, Keiko did not possess an aggressive bone in
     his body. His disposition with people was more akin to that of a big mellow Saint
     Bernard than any form of apex predator. These characteristics were intriguing and
     at the same time deeply troubling. At any other time or place, I would have been thrilled
     to be working with such a remarkable individual.
    However, we weren’t there to build a lasting relationship with the animal. We were
     there to prepare him for a life in the North Atlantic. That life would require diverse
     new skills. Of pivotal importance, it would require the absence of human relationships.
     No, in fact it would demand that he develop relationships with his wild counterparts,
     something over which all our preparation could have no influence. It was impossible
     not to like the Big Man, but beneath the excitement of meeting Keiko, ran a profoundly
     disturbing and dark current. I worried for this animal; I worried that what made him
     such an incredible animal to those around him would be his Achilles’ heel, the downfall
     of his ability to succeed on his own.

3

The Enemy Within
    E-mail: April 29, 1999
    To: Alyssa
    Subj: Update (morning)
    We meet with Charles on next Tuesday or Wednesday. We are frantically getting our
     sh-t together. All is going well enough though. I feel so at home with a KW … so very
     familiar … it didn’t take two days or even one … I felt natural and at ease after
     the third minute. Great feeling (amidst the foreignness of everything else). This
     facility is awesome and the view is unbelievable … beautiful weather today
.
    Until then, I love and miss you. Mark
    Dave, my counterpart on the implementation of our outlined plan, was scheduled to
     arrive just a day before Charles Vinick, the chief operations officer for the Keiko
     Release Project. We would have only one day together on the bay pen with Keiko before
     meetings with Charles would begin. Although Robin and I had spent considerable time
     analyzing every aspect of Keiko’s reintroduction and our proposal, I had much more
     hands-on time in the application of behavioral modification with Dave from our years
     of working side-by-side at SeaWorld. We each knew the other’s strengths and weaknesses
     while also practiced in exercising each other’s intellectual limits on the finer points
     of applied behavioral science.
    From my own experiences, I had categorized three basic types of animal trainer: the
     “Relationship Trainer,” the “Scientist,” and the “Poet Philosopher.” Relationship
     Trainers have a special knack for building relationships with animals. In other words,
     animals like to work with these trainers. More often than not, Relationship Trainers
     don’t have a solid grasp of the science of behavioral modification and can’t explain
     (very well) to others how they get results. Nonetheless, they are able to achieve
     an amazing rapport due in large part to their genuine affection and interaction with
     the animals in their care.
    The Scientist Trainers approach animal behavior from a textbook perspective. They
     know the mechanics of how behavior is shaped. The Scientists don’t have the best relationship
     with the animals and often face their own frustration; frustration that comes from
     the missing link provided through genuine affection. The best scientists recognize
     that developing a relationship with the animal they are training is a fundamental
     tool and requirement in the behavioral modification process, but this understanding
     is clinical. Cold application as a tool in shaping behavior, regardless of accuracy,
     does not a genuine bond make. Animals pick up on this, and their interest and motivation
     to work with the