This topic came up this weekend while I was visiting with an old volleyball coach. She and her family had just visited SeaWorld only weeks before the incident occurred.
A horrible incident happened at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida just last month in mid-February. A Killer-whale seized it's trainer in the tight clench of it's jaws. He then continued to pull her underwater and thrash around with her in his grip. This horrific scene happened in front of a live and terrified audience. Forty-year-old Dawn Brancheau, one of the park's most experienced trainers, was killed.
Because of past violent experiences, Tilikum, the killer whale, was normally kept separate from other killer whales. Trainers were not allowed to swim in the tanks with him either. This was the third time that the whale has caused death to a person.
It was very undetermined about what had actually happened that day. Some say that Brancheau slipped and fell in the tank, while others said that Tilikum jumped out of the water and grabbed her.
However, a couple claimed that the killing occurred during the end of a noon-time show. Eldon Skaggs said that the trainer was on a platform with the whale, massaging it, when all of a sudden it pulled her under and began swimming around. An alarm sounded and the staff then rushed the audience out while workers began scrambling around with nets.
Another audience member claimed that the whale took off really fast, came back, shot up in the air, grabbed Brancheau by the waist and began thrashing around, one of her shoes falling off. Two other audience members made comments that the whale grabbed her by the arm and began tossing her around while swimming rapidly through the tank.
Tilikum reportedly did not respond well to directions during the show and was acting somewhat "childish."
This occurrence has been the second time in just two months that a trainer has been killed at a marine park.
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This doesn't really surprise me. As much as we all know that these whales are specialized trained and have been worked with for many hours, things do eventually happen. If they have to keep this whale in a different tank than from the others, wouldn't you think they would not place that whale in these shows and involve them with these trainers? To have this happen during a show is different, because we usually hear of them when they are training and working with them. Working with Whales is a dangerous job.
ReplyDeleteThis is a horrible and saddening ordeal, but like you stated, the whale was separated from the others and has killed before. Why would they allow this whale to do show’s that involve a trainer close to the whales grasp? Like Ryan said, things eventually happen. I think that the Parks need to start reanalyzing their rules and regulations. Accidents happen but when you are working with wild animals, born in captivity or not, one needs to be prepared as much as possible. Also, special precautions need to be taken when working with any kind of animal. If one is a little different from the others, in sense that it shows more aggression or agitation, a person needs to make sure that there is virtually no way that either of them are in any danger.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other two comments posted. First off, this is a wild animal; secondly, this animal has shown aggression before. I realize that Sea World is known for fantastic tricks performed by its animals; however, regardless of how 'talented' an animal is, human safety needs to come first. My only hope with this ordeal is that Sea World management and employees take this experience to heart, and either don't involve aggressive animals in shows, or (and this is common sense, anyway) take several precautions while working with any animal.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about this even I thought this was a crazy event and that I didn't think it was even possible. I also agree with the other comments, that even if Sea World is know for fantastic animal tricks, none of it really matters if human safety isn't put first. If the animal has killed before than why was it put back into the performing ring, it really doesn't make any sense that he was put back in the show. I really believe that this should be remebered the next time the Sea World owners want to put this animal back into the show.
ReplyDeleteThis is tradegy for sea world,but why did they keep this whale around if it was the third time it has killed. I mean whats the point of having it around if it is a killer and can not be trianed.You would think the the trianers would have figured something out to defend themselves against a whale if it presented itself. I don't know if we will ever know what really happened on the fateful day. Somebody says one thing somebody says another.
ReplyDeleteI don't see why anyone should be suprised by these actions. I mean first of all they are called "KILLER" whales. They are not pets, they are wild animals and we should treat them as such. I think it's funny when people are suprised that a dog attacks a person. They were not always domesticated they used to be wild animals. Don't get me wrong it is a tragedy that a person was killed, but if we did not put ourselfs in those kind of situations then this thing would not happen and if it did it would not happen as often. I don't know why people think they can tame wild animals, they will always have an animal instinct in them. All in all it is a tragedy but people should know better than to mess with an wild animal.
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