Aurora's Whale 'Spoiled Rotten'

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SHAMU LOVES AFFECTION FROM JENNINE VINCENT

Aurora’s whale ‘spoiled rotten’

Jennine Vincent is one of the animal trainers working with Shamu, the killer whale, at Sea World of Ohio, in Aurora, OH, this summer. A native Californian, Jennine started with Sea World as a performer in the underwater ballet act with dolphins, but became interested in animal training, and became an apprentice. She is now the head trainer at the whale and dolphin stadium, the first female to hold such a position, and is the only female killer whale trainer in the world.

By Doug Fulton

Q. — How do you train a killer whale, and

how long does it take?

A — It takes about a year. The first step is getting it used to people, and learning to accept food from the trainer’s hand. After that it is a matter of selecting a natural behavior, rewarding it, reinforcing it and then shaping it in slow stages to a complex behavior. We call it “approximation training,” and it is similar to what psychologists term “operant conditioning.”

Q. — What are the rewards, food ?

A — Not always, although it could be a nice piece of fish. But Shamu gets his hundred pounds of food a day, whether he performs or not. The reinforcement, though, could be a rubdown, which he loves, or a pat on the head. And it is always accompanied by a “bridging signal,” a whistle or a clicker, given immediately after the desired behavior. The animal begins to associate this signal with the behavior, and knows he is going to get a reward as soon as he hears it.

Q — Is there any punishment involved?

A — Never. We use another signal, called the “delta signal,” to indicate “no,” and simply withhold the positive reinforcement. After a while, the animal recognizes what behavior gets the delta, and no reward, and which one gets the bridging signal, and the reinforcement. They are very intelligent, and pick it up quickly.

Q. — What other animals do you work with?

A — I also train beluga whales and dolphins. Other trainers at Sea World work with sea lions, walruses and otters.

Q. — Is Shamu at the Ohio Sea World permanently?

A — No. The Ohio Sea World closes its animal show on Sept. 13, and returns them either to San Diego, California or Orlando, Florida for the winter. The aquarium is kept open for school groups during the winter.

Q. — How do you transport a whale?

A — By airplane. We use large open boxes filled with water. They travel well. Most of the time they sleep, and snore.

Q. — Whales snore?

A — Do they ever! And they are really loud! Actually they make all sorts of vocalizations, and trainers can recognize individual whales, and tell whether they are happy or disturbed or not up to par.

Q. — Why train a whale?

A — To keep them in top condition, you have to stimulate their minds as well as their muscles. Their “tricks” are, after all, just extensions of their natural behavior, and whales are too big to “make” do anything. They do what they want to. The training is just to keep them in good condition, and they seem to enjoy it.

Q — How much time do you spend with the whales?

A — We are with them at least 10 hours a day. They do six shows, and in between times we continue to train them.

Q. — you can tell us, what’s Shamu really like?

A — For one thing, he’s spoiled rotten. Actually, he’s still a youngster. He’s only seven years old, and something like 3,000 pounds, but he will live to be 35 or so, and grow to 30 feet long. And that presents a problem. Every year we have to enlarge the pool to keep him happy, and give him enough room to swim in.