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Killer Whale Kills Trainer: SeaWorld Update and 'Fatal Mistake'

by Amy Judd | February 26, 2010 at 10:46 am

2086 views | 10 Recommendations | 3 comments

It seems that everyone on the internet is searching for the 'Killer Whale Kills Trainer Video 2010' (here is a home video of Tilikum the whale before the attack) but in an update on Friday, SeaWorld has revealed that they will be resuming the Killer Whale shows on Saturday, but they will not have any trainers in the water with any Orcas until a complete review of the incident has been conducted.

According to the Charleston Daily Mail, Tilikum (or Telly for short) will not be kept in isolation since the attack on trainer Dawn Brancheau, and SeaWorld wants him to still be part of the social group of whales there. Chuck Tompkins, who is in charge of all training at SeaWorld parks told the Daily Mail that he doesn't expect the Killer Whale shows to change much despite the tragic death, however the interaction with Tilikum will mostly likely change.

"We have every intention of continuing to interact with this animal, though the procedures for working with him will change," SeaWorld said in a post on its blog.

The medical examiner's office have stated that they believe the cause of Dawn Brancheau's death to be multiple traumatic injuries and drowning and it is believed that the trainer made a 'fatal mistake' with her long braid that was hanging down her back.

Tilikum was reportedly lying just in front of Brancheau and she was lying down with him on the ledge when he saw her long braid swinging and grabbed it. Visitors watched in horror as Tilikum then dragged the trainer around the tank with her in his jaws.

Witnesses told Orlando-area television stations that Dawn Brancheau, 40, had just introduced the 12,000-pound whale when it came out of the water and grabbed her, apparently by her pony tail.

SeaWorld has stated that Tilikum will not be punished for the attack as he most likely grabbed the ponytail as a game because it was something new drifting around in the water.

"She was an excellent trainer, one of the best I've seen in my life ... But allowing her ponytail to drift into the water like that in front of the animal turned out to be a fatal mistake,"

said Thad Lacinak, who helped to train Dawn Brancheau.

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stejeb

at 13:47 on February 26th, 2010

They can make all the excuses and rationalisations they like, what it boils down to is simple the "training" they talk about with these creatures is forcing them to do tricks to get their food. They don't belong in a tank, they suffer menntaly, physically and emotionally from the captivity. And given the slightest opportunity at the wrong time and someone dies. The name is a dead giveaway, it's their nature to hunt and kill their prey. How about letting them go, if people want to see them, let them get a boat.

And just out of curiosity, how would they have "punished" it anyway? Ground it? Smack it's bum? Have it put down?

YankeeJim

at 15:11 on February 26th, 2010

SeaWorld earns an income from fish tricks from which they commit a percentage to fish perpetuity to ensure that in the end, the monger does not starve and we get omega three.

Tp (not verified)

at 18:59 on February 26th, 2010

This pony tail thing kills me. First this Tompkins guy thought he could get away with telling the police "she slipped in". Then eyewitness accounts made it difficult to continue with that. Eyewitnesses consistently described her being initially grabbed around the waist, pulled in, and shaken violently in the water. So now she didn't slip but was grabbed by the ponytail, something NONE of the initial eye witness accounts mentioned. Anything to a. place the blame on the dead trainer (who can't argue her case), not the money-making whale, or more accurately the immoral captivity-for-profit business. "Oh it was the pony tail, she had it coming" - implying that as long as they don't wear ponytails all will be fine from now on. And b. Minimize the gruesomeness of the incident by phrasing it as "playing with a ponytail". It was what is was. The truth will set you free. It might set the whales free as well. Blaming the(dead) victim - shamefull.