Orca kills SeaWorld trainer

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Orca kills SeaWorld trainer

'Started thrashing,' witness says; 2 earlier deaths cited

ORLANDO - A SeaWorld trainer died Wednesday when she slipped or fell into a pool and was fatally injured by an orca, a sheriff's official said. Witnesses, however, said it appeared the orca had actually pulled the trainer into the pool.

The same orca, or killer whale, has been tied to two deaths in 1991 and 1999, SeaWorld later reported. The Humane Society of the United States cites those attacks as reasons to keep killer whales out of theme parks.

Jim Solomons of the Orlando County Sheriff's Office said the trainer slipped or fell into the orca's tank. A source later identified the victim as Dawn Brancheau, 40, who was one of the park's most experienced trainers.

WKMG-TV reported that a witness, Victoria Biniak, said she saw the incident from a viewing area.

"The trainer was explaining different things about the whale ... and then the trainer that was down there walked away from the window ... and then Tilly (the whale) took off really fast in the tank and he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing (her) around," Biniak said.

A couple from Michigan said the incident happened as a noontime show was winding down, with some in the audience staying to watch the animals and trainers.

Eldon Skaggs said Brancheau was on a platform with the whale and was massaging it. He said the interaction appeared leisurely and informal.

Then, Skaggs said, the whale "pulled her under and started swimming around with her."

Skaggs said an alarm sounded and staff rushed the audience out of the stadium as workers scrambled around with nets. The theme park was later closed.

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.

The couple left and didn't find out until later that the trainer had died.

Two other witnesses told the Orlando Sentinel that the orca grabbed the trainer by the upper arm and tossed her around in its mouth while swimming rapidly around the tank.

Brazilian tourist Joao Lucio DeCosta Sobrinho and his girlfriend were at an underwater viewing area when they suddenly saw the orca with someone in its mouth.

The couple said they watched the orca show at the park two days earlier and came back to take pictures. But on Wednesday the whales appeared agitated before the incident occurred.

"It was terrible. It’s very difficult to see the image," Sobrinho said.

A former contractor with SeaWorld told the Sentinel that the 30-year-old, 12,300-pound male orca, which is also called Tillikum, is typically kept isolated from other orcas and that trainers were not allowed to get in the water with him because of his violent history.

In a brief statement, SeaWorld President Dan Brown said "it is with great sadness that I report that one of our most experienced animal trainers drowned in an incident with one of our killer whales this afternoon. We've initiated an investigation to determine, to the extent possible, what occurred."

Brown added that no SeaWorld park had ever before had a similar incident and vowed that all standard operating procedures would be reviewed.

The Sentinel reported that the incident happened during a "Dining With Shamu" show where visitors eat while watching a performance, and that Tillikum is the orca most often used for that.

Two earlier deaths

The Humane Society stated that in 1991, the same orca, "along with two female (killer) whales, drowned a young part-time trainer named Keltie Byrne at Sealand of the Pacific in Canada."

The orcas "weren't trying to kill Byrne, but Tillikum and his orca companions didn't know that humans can't hold their breath as long as whales," Humane Society scientist Naomi Rose said in a report on the group's Web site.

Tillikum was later shipped to SeaWorld Orlando, the Humane Society noted, and in 1999, "a man who had apparently stayed in the park after closing hours jumped into Tillikum's tank ... He was found dead the next morning, naked and draped across the whale. The man's swim trunks were found in the water, and his body was scraped up, a sign that Tillikum had dragged him around the bottom and sides of the tank."

An autopsy ruled that the man died of hypothermia in the 50-degree water. But officials also said it appeared Tillikum bit the man and tore off his swimming trunks, likely believing he was a toy to play with.

Rose, an orca biologist, told msnbc.com that SeaWorld had since "tried to keep trainers out of the water" with Tillikum "but the hazard is always there."

Some two dozen orcas are kept in captivity in the U.S., most at SeaWorld facilities, Rose said. Worldwide the number is 47.

"In the developing world, the South Pacific and Asia, it's the hot fad," she said of keeping marine mammals in captivity.

Previous orca incidents at SeaWorld

"There have been numerous incidents by other killer whales," Rose said. "These animals are big, they are social, they are moody, and they can hurt you."

Last December, a killer whale drowned a trainer at a Spanish zoo.

Several attacks on trainers have been at SeaWorld parks.

In November 2006, trainer Kenneth Peters was bitten and held underwater several times by a 7,000-pound killer whale during a show at SeaWorld's San Diego park. He escaped with a broken foot. The 17-foot-long orca who attacked him was the dominant female of SeaWorld San Diego's seven killer whales. She had attacked Peters two other times, in 1993 and 1999.

In 2004, another killer whale at the company's San Antonio park tried to hit one of the trainers and attempted to bite him. He also escaped.

Killer whales, or orcas, are not actually whales but the largest member of the dolphin family. The name killer whale comes from them being observed as sometimes killing whales for food.

Trainer profiled in 2006

According to a profile of Brancheau in the Orlando Sentinel in 2006, she was one of SeaWorld Orlando’s leading trainers. It was apparently a trip to SeaWorld at 9 years old that made her want to pursue this career.

"I remember walking down the aisle (of Shamu Stadium) and telling my mom, 'This is what I want to do,'" she said in the article.

Brancheau worked her way into a leadership role at Shamu Stadium during her 12-year career with SeaWorld, starting at the Sea Lion & Otter Stadium before spending the past 10 years working with killer whales, the newspaper said.

She also addressed the dangers of the job.

"You can’t put yourself in the water unless you trust them and they trust you," Brancheau said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Tragic.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

I saw this on the news earlier. What a shame. But these people know they are taking risks working with wild animals.

[William33 110]

It is a killer whale, after all... Sad though...

[Calypso 464]

I saw this on the news earlier. What a shame. But these people know they are taking risks working with wild animals.

Right, bro. Wild animals such as leopards look so tempting for a cuddle but they really belong to the wild and they can't be our pets. Orcas in the Farallon Islands even kill great white sharks.

May the trainer rest in peace.

Keep your sheep healthy, Spooky. They are very harmless.

[Dakine 26]

Why do you think Orcas are nicked named "killer whales"?

I've seen them grab 600 lb sea lion off a buoy and throw them 20 feet in the air! Chopping them in 1/2 while doing so.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Let the captive animals go free, for G-d sake. Why do people support places like this? The need for entertainment must be great.

[jundp 191]

Let the captive animals go free, for G-d sake. Why do people support places like this? The need for entertainment must be great.

I agree. Perhaps this whale has been trying to tell people just that since 1991....

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Let the captive animals go free, for G-d sake. Why do people support places like this? The need for entertainment must be great.

I understand your point of view, but if not for zoos etc, some of these magnificent creatures will be gone for good. Look at the wild population of lions, tigers, etc. There are more in captivity than in the wild. Of course they shouldn't be puppets for our entertainment and made to perform.

[Calypso 464]

There must have been a reason for a killer whale to deliberately harm humans. That's not their nature. Moreover, these creatures are very intelligent. I will say the same as what Nagi wrote last week about the zebra that escaped... the ocean is very big that being placed in an artificial environment won't keep any creature grateful, happy, or content.

Sharks, even great whites, don't see humans as food but they are often curious so they usually bite what they see (surf boards, hard trash floating, people, etc.) and get a taste.

[Nagishkaw 510]

I understand your point of view, but if not for zoos etc, some of these magnificent creatures will be gone for good.

Like that hasn't happened since creation.

[Calypso 464]

I understand your point of view, but if not for zoos etc, some of these magnificent creatures will be gone for good. Look at the wild population of lions, tigers, etc. There are more in captivity than in the wild. Of course they shouldn't be puppets for our entertainment and made to perform.

Right again!

Zoos and other wild life reservations do not only rehabilitate animals but also help in growing the number of surviving species.

In the wild, even if a mother panda has two baby pandas, she will only take care of one that the other is left until it dies. That's their nature. Pandas in wild life reservations in China are given the best. When a mother panda gives birth to two babies, the caretakers get the other one for keeping so the mother nourishes one panda baby only. When that panda baby is fed and the mother is asleep, the caretakers replace the fed panda with the other baby that they took out earlier so it gets its turn for some loving from its mother. It's going to be one at a time for the mother in order for both baby pandas to live.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Let the captive animals go free, for G-d sake. Why do people support places like this? The need for entertainment must be great.

Free Willy?

There must have been a reason for a killer whale to deliberately harm humans. That's not their nature. Moreover, these creatures are very intelligent. I will say the same as what Nagi wrote last week about the zebra that escaped... the ocean is very big that being placed in an artificial environment won't keep any creature grateful, happy, or content.

Sharks, even great whites, don't see humans as food but they are often curious so they usually bite what they see (surf boards, hard trash floating, people, etc.) and get a taste.

I wonder if she tasted like tuna...

[one...two...tree 2,762]

poor woman.

[Malrothien 6]

This has been all over the news here (I'm in Orlando). The woman died doing what she loved (minus the falling in part...). I hope that her family is able to find peace.

I also, too, hope that they do not harm this animal in any way.