MIAMI: Whale kills trainer as horrified spectators watch, A killer whale killed a 40-year-old female trainer in an apparent attack witnessed by horrified onlookers at Florida’s SeaWorld entertainment park.
Authorities at first said the woman died after apparently falling into the whale’s tank, but an eyewitness claimed the animal leapt out of the water to grab her in its mouth.
The Orlando Sentinel newspaper reported that SeaWorld executive Chuck Tompkins later confirmed witness reports that Tilikum dragged the trainer into the water.
“We’re in the process of investigating all of the people and the animals,” Tompkins said.
“One of our most experienced animal trainers drowned in an incident with one of our killer whales this afternoon,” said Dan Brown, general manager at the Orlando, Florida entertainment park.
“This is an extraordinarily difficult time for the SeaWorld parks,” he said said at a televised press conference.
The massive animal had reportedly been involved in two previous incidents in which a trainer and a man who apparently jumped into his tank were killed.
Jim Solomons of the Orange County Sheriff’s office said the trainer killed Wednesday — identified by SeaWorld as Dawn Brancheau — died after slipping into the tank.
“She apparently slipped or fell… and was fatally injured by one of the whales,” he said. “This appears to be an accidental death, it’s a tragic death.”
The whale, named Tilikum or “friend” in the Native American language Chinook Jargon, is among the killer whales, dolphins and seals whose shows have made SeaWorld so popular.
But he has been involved in previous human deaths, including in 1991 when a part-time trainer at the Sealand of the Pacific facility in Canada was killed in his tank, according to the Humane Society of the United States.
In 1999, after being shipped from Canada to Orlando, he was blamed for the death of a man who had apparently stayed in the park after closing.
The Humane Society said the man jumped into Tilikum’s tank and was found dead the next morning, his naked body covered in scratches that suggested he had been dragged around the bottom and sides of the tank.
An eyewitness told CNN that Tilikum attacked the trainer as she showed him off to park visitors following the Dine with Shamu show.
“He just took off like a bat out of you know what, took off really fast and came back around to the glass, jumped up, and grabbed the trainer by the waist and started shaking her violently,” witness Victoria Biniak said.
“The sirens were going off. People were running out. I’ve never seen so many SeaWorld employees come out of the woodwork.”
Another eyewitness told CNN that the whales in the tank had begun ignoring the trainers.
“We could tell this whale was not in a good mood at all. We literally could tell it was not cooperating,” said the unnamed witness.
Though killer whales, also known as orcas, are a common attraction at entertainment parks, they are known for aggressive “play” and behavior in the wild, including batting seals or dolphins back and forth.
They are huge creatures — Tilikum weighs in at least 11,000 pounds — and “are among the most curious of all whales, with a great tendency to ‘play’ and to manipulate objects,” according to SeaWorld’s website.
Tilikum was captured in November 1983 off the coast of Iceland and is one of several killer whales on display at the Orlando park, which was partially closed down after the trainer’s death.
SeaWorld’s website said its shows involving killer whales in Orlando and in San Diego, California, have been suspended.
Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released a statement saying the death was a “tragedy that didn’t have to happen.”
was first posted on February 25, 2010 at 1:00 pm.
Channel, where she provides live news cut-ins at night Monday through Wednesday. Earhardt also reports for FOX’s Hannity’s America on Sunday nights with her own segment called “Ainsley Across America”. She has co-hosted Fox and Friends.
