Forums Forums National News SeaWorld whale kills trainer as audience watches

Sauce

If it wasn't a captive and being used as a circus act for entertainment. it wouldn't have happened. Sorry for the girl but this is what happens when you think you can tame wild beasts and the like.

The article confuses me slightly - one part says the Whale jumped out of the tank, and one part says she slipped

Did the Whale make a consious decision to jump from the tank? Did the whale die if it actually jumped out of the tank

...somethings are not clear....

From SKY

Tom Bonnett, Sky News Online

A killer whale has dragged a trainer to her death during a public performance at the SeaWorld amusement park in Florida.


Dawn had 16 years of training experience.


Dawn Brancheau, 40, was giving a lecture in front of hundreds of people after a display at the Shamu Stadium in Orlando when the whale is said to have pulled her in.

"She was rubbing the killer whale's head, and (it) grabbed her and pulled her in," said Chuck Tompkins, Corporate Curator of Zoological Operations at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.

Media reports have said the whale grabbed her by the waist, thrashed her about and pulled her underwater in front of an audience of visitors.

Seconds after the incident, sirens went off and SeaWorld employees rushed in to evacuate the audience.



It was not immediately clear if Dawn fell or was pulled into the tank.


"We don't know what was going through the killer whale's head. It just got done doing a wonderful session with Dawn... his behaviour was great... that's the reason that she was rubbing his head," Mr Tompkins said.

"We don't have any other specifics yet. This is a terrible, terrible situation that's happened, it's a tragedy.

"Our greatest sympathy goes out to her family."

Dan Brown, president of SeaWorld Orlando, confirmed Ms Brancheau had drowned.

He said she had been one of the park's most experienced trainers, having worked there for 16 years.

The Orlando Sentinel said the whale has killed before.

Tillikum, known as 'Tilly', was blamed for the drowning of one of his trainers in 1991 while he was performing at Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia, the newspaper said.

He was then sold to SeaWorld in 1992 and in 1999 was involved in another death when authorities discovered the body of a naked man lying across his back.

Authorities said the man, who had either sneaked into SeaWorld after it had shut or hidden until past closing time, probably drowned after suffering hypothermia in the water.

A former SeaWorld employee told the Sentinel Tillikum is usually kept apart from the other whales and trainers are not allowed to get into the water with him because of his past.

...a large caliber bullet after something like this I would imagine

No, just set it free and let it live how its suppose to.

I guess that depends how long it has been in captivity, and if it has the skills to fend for itself

Wouldn't be a problem, the biggest cue of women i ever seen was at the cinema, when it had in big letters outside, Free Willy.

here's one thats happened before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Af67qv5Dzg

...it doesnt appear to be that uncommon either....

[youtube]Yu_yxLXFEo4[/youtube]

That music makes you do things like that, Oh, we're going to need a bigger boat.

Humans millions Whales two. R.I.P

Seen Dawn loads of times, great loss.

They are very careful with their use of words, there have been more accidents but not when a Whale has turned aggressive. One in specific was a male trainer doing a jump with one of the whales and ended up underneath it as it landed, it was reported as fatal but I have not seen an official statement.

Seaworld also introduced new rules about what the trainers were allowed to do after a trainer got crushed between a whale and the barrier, this didn't detract from the spectacular performance they give but just a matter of adjusting the routines when close to the edge.

Despite the large number of people who believe the whales should be freed, I consider the whales enjoy themselves and are stimulated more than when they are in the wild.

Although it is basically Seaworld's own words - These are big intelligent creatures - if they don't want to do something they won't, our training enables the whales to do things they want to do and enjoy. A trainer and a whale have a relationship that is built up over years, a lot of what goes on is on the whales terms not the trainers.

Having watched the whales during shows, training and relaxation time, I am thoroughly convinced the whales are in good hands. When whales are born they have shut the shows down to enable the mother, friend and baby to use the big show pool (combined to the two immediate pools behind) as baby whales have some special needs, specifically it must keep swimming, it is the mother and friend's job to "bully" the baby to keep swimming non-stop 24/7.

That'll be the same as our prisoners find jail more stimulating when they are inside and would much rather be in a cell than out in the pub. Flippin' 'ec digs. I think the whales are better off loose in the briny than in those little paddling pools.

The difference between criminals and these whales is that you gain the criminals cooperation by punishment - they don't punish the whales, they cooperate by persuasion and willingness and must be reasonably happy for this to happen.

Why are horses thought of differently? I never hear an up-cry about them being kept in a small paddock most of the day, nor many other "pets".

Yes you do see horses and ponies in relatively small paddocks but hey at least they get proper exercise. Theres only a certain amount of swimming and turns that a killer whale of that size could do in that very small tank it was in. The poor thing was probably frustrated being squashed in there day after day. You see the trainers couldnt let him out into the deep blue sea for exercise!! Because the creature would swim as hard as he could to get away from the damn place!!

But the Seaworld whales have an excellent medical service, nourishing food, protection from hunters and other predators as well as the company of some very pretty girls.

So if you had a choice between

(A)
No health service, medicines etc
Having to go long periods without sufficient food
Freedom to wander
Being hunted

or

(B)
Excellent health service.
Good food.
Daily mental stimulation and exercise.
Lack of freedom to wander.
Being safe

Which one would you choose - no brainer (assuming you want to stay alive)- why is it different for whales?

No whale would be willing stay in that environment, if it had a choice it would be away in the blink of an eye. They are trapped, captive and exploited by man for financial gain. There is no other reason. How its natural habitat of thousands of miles can be replaced by a few square yards is nothing but cruel. Unfortunately, this will go on while there are people willing to support it by paying at the gate.

well said bert. A captive whale would rather sense the sweet sensation of freedom than a BUPA health policy anyday! as for me... no brain......

Suppose the same goes for goldfish, horses, birds, people, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils,snakes, lizards, tortoises, dogs etc.

I was going to ask why people are so protective about Whales but turning that round it shows how effective awareness programs like Seaworld are in that people love the whales instead of hating them, this may even prevent them from becoming extinct

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you might find
You get what you need

(Mick Jagger & Keith Richards - before the plagiarism police hit me)

The only thing that will prevent whales and any other species from becoming extinct will be for them to be left alone in their own natural environment, of course countries like Japan and Norway etc need to stop hunting them. It also needs for zoo's, seaworld's and the like to stop hiding behind the pretense that they are doing it for conservation and research, when we all know their driving force is profit. They try to justify the capture and imprisonment of animals by hiding behind conservation. I just wonder how much of their great profits actually filter through to the benefit of animal conservation. Apparently according to news reports, the Seaworld in question have 6 million visitors through the gates every year, don't know what the charge is, but big business never the less, and its not done for the benefit of any species.

At Seaworld they take in some seriously badly damaged creatures especially Manatees and Turtles that have been sliced by propeller blades and nurse them back to health, where possible they also return most to the wild, in some cases the damage means they couldn't survive in the wild.

Public awareness is the highest motivational force to get politicians to take action against unnecessary animal slaughter. The relatively few Whales in captivity there, is a small price to pay to aid public awareness to 6 million people+ a year.

Yes, in an ideal world etc. etc. but back to reality, the more people, the more publicity = the more chance.

Despite the high turnover, I would not expect that Seaworld is a particularly high profit company compared to investment. To me Seaworld is an infinitely better attraction than Disney or Universal but the prices are a mere fraction of them. Anhauser-Busch (Budweiser) have other parks that probably make more money and I think the Seaworld profit to them is the publicity not so much cash.

BTW $100 (£50 when conversion is good) gets you a whole years access, tell me that's not a bargain compared to what you get in the UK for £50.

SKY NEWS

A killer whale that drowned its trainer in front of an audience at a show will not be put down or released into the wild, its owner SeaWorld says.


Dawn Brancheau, pictured with an orca, had years of experience as an animal trainer


The aquatic park operator says it will keep Tilikum despite calls that the male orca should be set free or destroyed because it is a danger to humans.

Dawn Brancheau, 40, died when the five-tonne whale seized her ponytail, dragged her into its pool and thrashed her to death in front of horrified spectators at Wednesday's show in SeaWorld Orlando, Florida.

Chuck Tompkins, chief of animal training at the SeaWorld parks, has defended the use of an animal that had already been involved in two other human deaths - that of a trainer in Canada in 1991 and a man who sneaked overnight into its tank in 1999.

"We didn't ignore those incidents," he said.

"We work with him very, very carefully. We did not get in the water with this animal like we do with other killer whales because we recognised his potential.

"We're going to make any changes we have to make sure this doesn't happen again."



Killer whale Tilikum performs in a SeaWorld show in September 2009


SeaWorld said it will suspend killer whale shows at its parks in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego while it reviews how the animals and their handlers work together.

But the company wrote in a blog post about Tilikum that it has "every intention of continuing to interact with this animal, though the procedures for working with him will change".

Witnesses to the fatal attack said the whale played with Brancheau like a toy.

"He kept pushing her and poking her with his nose," said Paula Gillespie of Delaware, who saw the attack from an underwater viewpoint.

"It looked like she was just totally caught off guard and looked like she was struggling.

"I just felt horrible because she's someone's daughter, mother. I couldn't stop crying."


They are going to keep Tilikum and he is going to kill someone else

Former dolphin trainer Russ Rector
The tragedy has renewed debate as to to whether the highly intelligent marine animals - capable of swimming a hundred miles in a day in the wild - are suitable for captivity.

The UK-based Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) believes not.

A spokesman said confinement "places these animals under considerable stress, shortens their life expectancy, and makes them liable to the type of aggressive behaviour towards humans (and other orcas) never seen in the wild".

He added: "WDCS believes Tilikum should be offered the chance of a better life in his native waters, hopefully one day returned to the wild.

"If he cannot demonstrate the ability to fend for himself in the wild, he could be retired to a sea pen in his native waters where he doesn't have to perform for the public and where he can live out the remainder of his life in a more natural environment, perhaps even joined by other captive orcas undergoing such rehabilitation."

Russ Rector, a former dolphin trainer, is adamant that the whale poses a threat if it continues to work with humans.

"They are going to keep Tilikum and he is going to kill someone else," said Mr Rector.

"If this was a big cat or a bear, it would have been put down after its first kill."

Meanwhile Brancheau's relatives have paid tribute to her as an "amazing trainer", adding: "For her husband, family and friends, Dawn was so much more.

"She was a compassionate and loving person who lived life to the fullest. She touched so many lives."