A Sea World killer whale snatched a trainer from a poolside platform today and thrashed the trainer around underwater, killing her in front of a horrified audience. It marked the third time the animal had been involved in a human death.
Distraught audience members were hustled out of the stadium immediately, and part of the park was closed.
Trainer Dawn Brancheau, 40, was rubbing Tilikum after a noontime show when the 12,000-pound whale grabbed her and pulled her in, said Chuck Tompkins, head of animal training at all SeaWorld parks. Park officials say the veteran trainer drowned.
Audience member Eldon Skaggs said Brancheau’s interaction with the whale appeared leisurely and informal at first. But then the whale “pulled her under and started swimming around with her,” he told The Associated Press.
Skaggs, 72, said an alarm sounded and staff rushed the audience out of the stadium as workers scrambled around with nets.
Skaggs said he heard that during an earlier show the whale was not responding to directions. Others who attended the earlier show said the whale was behaving like an ornery child.
Another audience member, Victoria Biniak, told WKMG-TV the whale “took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off.”
Two other witnesses told the Orlando Sentinel that the whale grabbed the woman by the upper arm and tossed her around in its mouth while swimming rapidly around the tank. Brazilian tourist Joao Lucio DeCosta Sobrinho was at an underwater viewing area when he suddenly saw a whale with a person in its mouth.
Because of his size and the previous deaths, trainers were not supposed to get into the water with Tilikum, and only about a dozen of the park’s 29 trainers worked with him. Brancheau had more experience with the 30-year-old whale than most, and was one of the park’s most experienced trainer.
“We recognized he was different,” Tompkins said. He said no decision has been made yet about what will happen to Tilikum, such as transferring him to another facility.
A SeaWorld spokesman said Tilikum was one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer in 1991 after the woman lost her balance and fell in the pool at Sealand of the Pacific near Victoria, British Columbia.
Tilikum was also involved in a 1999 death, when the body of a man who had sneaked by SeaWorld security was found draped over him. The man either jumped, fell or was pulled into the frigid water and died of hypothermia, though he was also bruised and scratched by Tilikum.
SeaWorld suspended the killer whale shows at all of its parks, which also include locations in San Diego and San Antonio, to review procedures.
Breaking news story credit, the Associated Press
Breaking news video credit, CBS News
Duration : 0:2:16
[youtube fuN4qF32q28]
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Jkrunrmc, I agree …
Jkrunrmc, I agree with you completly
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Training KILLER …
Training KILLER whales is just plain stupid. Leave them in the wild where they belong.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
the idea of “sea …
the idea of “sea world” itself is stupid, they are wild animals, big predators, what’s the point of making them doing all kinds of small tricks? education? are you kidding me? They don’t do any of that in the wild, not at all.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
@Zoronii DO YOU …
@Zoronii DO YOU THINK IT DID IT ON PURPOSE YOU IDIOT?
Its a wild animal, no matter how many years you “tame” it, and wild animals are unpredictable. We dont know what triggered it, maybe the whale was playing, or it saw the trainer as a threat.
But killing the whale just because of a few mishaps during 10+ years time is just ignorant.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Did that witness …
Did that witness know what she was talking about at all? “It seemed agitated”…? Wtf, how do you know when a killer whale is agitated before it attacks? And why would they keep a “Killing” Whale or even take in one? Its SeaWorlds fault, they just had to get a real killing whale, didnt they?
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
excuse your french …
excuse your french and that is mean
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Fuck killer whales
killer whales
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Wow wat retards ppl …
Wow wat retards ppl r going 2 keep gettin attacked by killer whales…they should just stop using them for money notice how this happens every couple of years
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
And they keep the …
And they keep the whale… They are idiots
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
The people there …
The people there are stupid, first of all, instead of rushing the people out, they could have helped, second, why are they keeping the whale, that’s lime keeping someone who killed your parent[s] in your house.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Hahah she died cuz …
Hahah she died cuz she wanted da job way an idiot women
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
I live in San …
I live in San Antonio and I went to sea world the day the whale killed a guy
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
It’s killed before …
It’s killed before and they still use the whale! stupid! They don’t wanna set the whale free or at least keep It out of whale shows! But no they just care about money, the girl that died probably loved her job and loved those creature and they put her in the tank with a whale with a history of killing, shame on seaworld
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
@fatpigeonhgg I bet …
@fatpigeonhgg I bet u wouldn’t be saying that if ur mom or sister got killed. So stfu. The whale knew the trainer and it was trained to be gental. It CHOSE to treat her as a toy. Honestly I would shoot it my self if I got the chance.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
They need to get …
They need to get some other sea animal other that killer whales if they kill that many people. Like, the dolphins and seals?
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
it thought she was …
it thought she was a toy!
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Fuck off if you …
off if you think it should be put down for this. i think it’s a shame that beautiful creature like this has had it’s life reduced to “splashing the audience” every few hours for a show
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
It’s a KILLER whale …
It’s a KILLER whale!!! WTF do u expect it to do. It’s a wild animal that shouldn’t be held prison in sea world doing tricks. Set them free!!
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Its a wild animal …
Its a wild animal people have to realize that…
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
i did not know …
i did not know killer whales killed people
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Least it wernt …
Least it wernt asians (south park reference)
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
LOL ur the ignorant …
LOL ur the ignorant one….whales DONT EAT PEOPLE…to no extent…read the comment i put further up
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
@ IGGYGGYGGYGGY … …
@ IGGYGGYGGYGGY …ur an idiot…i mean yes to an exent killer whales can be aggressiv…but it is rarely not the case ..and the whole story behind it is that her pontytail was in the water..when sea creatures see things in the water they think “hey …ur in the water im going to play with you” witch makes me laugh at the lady who said he “jumped out of the water and grabbed her” …kind of ridiculous
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
I have trained wild …
I have trained wild animals, not whales but hawks and falcons. Sometimes a bird has been trained to do something on a movement or sound, just like the whale. You might unknowningly make that sound or movement just out of habit and the bird will react, good or bad reaction the bird does as trained. These whales hear in different frequencies and something might have triggered the reaction.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
they are called …
they are called killer whales. yes they are orcas but why do you think they were given the killer whale as a nick name… they kill.