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.