SeaWorld Orlando trainer killed in whale attack

ORLANDO, Fla. — A SeaWorld Orlando animal trainer was killed Wednesday afternoon during an accident at SeaWorld‘s Shamu Stadium, park and law enforcement officials said.

Law-enforcement sources said the victim was Dawn Brancheau, a 40-year-old with extensive training experience.

Park authorities said a trainer was in a whale
holding area when she apparently slipped or fell into the tank and was
fatally injured by one of the park’s killer whales.

Authorities provided few immediate details, but two witnesses told The Orlando Sentinel
that one of the park’s whales had the woman by the upper arm, tossing
her around in its mouth as it swam rapidly around and around in the
tank.

Brazilian tourist Joao Lucio DeCosta Sobrinho, 28, and girlfriend Talita Oliveira, 20, were at an underwater viewing area when they suddenly saw a whale with someone in its mouth.

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

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

The woman was bleeding from the face or mouth, they said, and the whale turned her over and over as it swam.

Other eyewitnesses who were in the park for the
Dining with Shamu program, which features a private buffet next to the
killer whale habitat, told the Sentinel that a female trainer was
petting a whale when it grabbed her and plunged back into the water
with her. The whale reappeared on the other side of the tank.

“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,” SeaWorld President Dan Brown said in a brief statement to reporters. “We’ve initiated an investigation to determine, to the extent possible, what occurred.”

Brown said no SeaWorld park had
ever before experienced a similar incident and pledged a thorough
review of all of the park’s standard operating procedures.

“This is an extraordinarily difficult time for the SeaWorld
parks and our team members. Nothing is more important than the safety
of our employees, guests and the animals entrusted to our care,” Brown
said, his voice breaking slightly. “We extend our deepest sympathies to
the family and friends of the trainer and will do everything possible
to assist them in this difficult time.”

Orange County Fire Rescue personnel arrived on scene within five minutes of receiving a 911 call for an unknown medical condition just prior to 2 p.m. EST, a spokesman said. The woman was dead when rescue crew arrived.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration dispatched an investigator from Tampa, Fla., to investigate, an OSHA spokesman said.

The whale that is used primarily for the Dining with
Shamu program is named Tillikum, and that whale has been involved in at
least one other incident at the park.

Tillikum, nicknamed “Tilly,” has a controversial
past. The large whale was blamed for the drowning of one of his
trainers in 1991 while he was performing at Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia.

Sold to SeaWorld as a stud in
1992, the whale was involved in a second incident when authorities
discovered the body of a naked man lying across his back in July 1999.

Authorities later concluded the man, who had either snuck into SeaWorld after hours or hidden in the park until it closed, most likely drowned after suffering hypothermia in the 55-degree water.

But they also said it appeared Tillikum had bit the
man and tore off his swimming trunks, likely believing he was a toy to
play with.

A former contractor with SeaWorld told the Sentinel that Tillikum is typically kept isolated from SeaWorld‘s other killer whales and that trainers were not allowed to get in the water with him because of his violent history.

SeaWorld has had incidents with its killer whales
in the past. In 2005, a trainer was injured by what park officials
called an “overly excited” whale that bumped the trainer during a live
performance. The injuries were minor.

Many animal-rights activists have long criticized SeaWorld and other marine parks for keeping orcas and other wildlife in captivity. Russ Rector, a former dolphin trainer in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said keeping the animals captive makes them dangerous.

“Captivity is abusive to these animals. And the
abuse mounts up. And when these animals snap — just for a minute —
they’re so big and can be so dangerous that it’s like a shotgun,”
Rector said. “It does an incredible amount of damage in just a moment.”

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