Killer Whale kills trainer during show
Dawn Brancheau at work in a 2005 photo
Dawn Brancheau was very good at her job and enjoyed it very much.
Dawn Brancheau 40, was killed after the 30-year-old, 12,300-pound bull orca named Tilikum, jumped out of a tank, grabbed her around the waist and pulled her underwater. Ms. Brancheau was one of the most experienced trainers on staff and one of the few allowed to work with the powerful and dangerous animal. According to her sister, Ms. Brancheau was fulfilled and happy in her job.
People who have seen the 70′s movie, ORCA would not be surprised by these actions. The shocking thing is that this is the THIRD death caused by Tilikum. In 1991 Tilly along with 3 other whales killed a trainer who accidentally slipped and fell into the tank. In 1999 Tilly killed a man who sneaked into the park after hours.
Tillikum performing in a file photo.
Investigation Into SeaWorld Trainer’s Death Begins
Tilikum Blamed For Two Previous Deaths
WESH.com | February 25, 2010
ORLANDO, Fla. — Investigators with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be at SeaWorld on Thursday working to determine what led to the death of a trainer who was pulled into the water by a killer whale.
Officials with SeaWorld and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office will also participate in the investigation.
A park official confirmed Wednesday that the whale involved in the trainer’s death at the Orlando park actually pulled the victim into a tank.
Chuck Tompkins said Dawn Brancheau, 40, was rubbing the killer whale named Tilikum after a show on Wednesday, when the whale grabbed her and pulled her into the water at about 2 p.m. Tompkins is in charge of animal training at all SeaWorld parks.
Tompkins said Brancheau had more experience with Tilikum than most of the other 28 trainers at the Orlando park. He said only about 12 of the trainers had worked with him. Brancheau had 17 years of experience with killer whales, which are also known as orcas.
Tilikum is the largest killer whale in captivity, and because of his size and involvement in two previous deaths, trainers were not supposed to get into the water with him. SeaWorld does not plan to euthanize Tilikum because of the latest incident.
Naomi Rose, a senior scientist at the Humane Society of the United States, said Tilikum has now been involved in the deaths of three people. Tilikum was blamed for the death of a trainer at SeaLand of the Pacific in Canada in 1991. He was transferred to Orlando in 1992.
“Using these animals in entertainment is not good for animals or people. Sadly, we’ve seen evidence of that again today,” Rose said in a release.
Animal expert Jack Hanna said there is some risk involved with working with the creatures, but he said they can be loving and are extremely smart.
“Is it a dangerous animal? Of course it is. It’s called a killer whale. When you film these animals, like they do in Glacier Bay in Alaska, you film the killer whales in South America, you see these animals coming up on the beach. They can come up on the beach 10 to 15 yards to grab a sea lion and bring it back in the water,” Hanna said
A former employee of SeaLand of the Pacific in Canada said he’s surprised it happened again. Steve Huxter was head of Sealand’s animal care and training department near Victoria, British Columbia, when part-time orca trainer Keltie Byrne fell into the whale pool after a 1991 show.
She died after being dragged around by three whales, including Tilikum.
Huxter said he was surprised to hear Tilikum was blamed for killing Brancheau. He called Tilikum a well-behaved, balanced animal.
The previous death at SeaWorld in Orlando happened in 1999, when a man snuck into the killer whale’s tank and was found dead and draped over Tilikum’s back. The death was ruled a drowning.