PDA

View Full Version : Sea World Woman Killed by Captive Orca



The Publisher
02-24-2010, 08:19 PM
February 23rd, 2101, Florida, ScubaMagazine.net

An employee of Sea World in Orlando, Florida has been killed in an attack today by one of Sea World's captive Killer Whales.

Today Orange County Florida Sheriff's Officials and Sea World management refused to confirm the identity of the women killed, but reports are in that it was one of the trainers who performed in the Killer Whale show. ScubaMagazine.net has learned the victims name was Dawn Brancheau.

1325

A woman present reported that the victim explained to the audience what they were about to see in the show, when the Killer Whale rapidly surfaced and grabbed the woman by the waist and started thrashing her violently.

The whale "took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off." said the eye-witness.

A warning siren was deployed and all show attendees were ordered to immediately leave, although the remained of the park remained open.

Orange County Fire personnel arrived within 5 minutes of the attack but the woman was dead upon their arrival.

It is being reported that the Whale Shark that attacked the trainer was named Tillikum, a Killer Whale that has been involved in previous incidents according to reports.

Tillikum, as seen below, is the largest orca whale in captivity weighs in excess of 12,300 pounds and has sired the most amount of offspring of any captive Killer Whale.

http://www.scubamagazine.net/photo/data/500/medium/Tillikum.jpg

Below is a photo of the victim, doing what she loved to do.
1324

"Tillikum" The Killer Whale Kills SeaWorld Trainer: RAW Witness Account (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a45_1267062499)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbegU5x_c8s

acelockco
02-24-2010, 09:35 PM
Maybe it is time we stop keeping these animals in captivity for our entertainment.

greenturtle
02-25-2010, 12:39 PM
That is so sad!

Here's what we read in the papers today:


Feb 26, 2010
Killer whale to stay in park

MIAMI - SEAWORLD said on Thursday a five-tonne killer whale that attacked and killed its trainer in front of horrified onlookers will remain in its programme, amid raging debate on whether to keep such animals in captivity.

Grisly new details emerged over how Tilikum the orca - already linked to two other human deaths since 1991 - grabbed his veteran trainer by her ponytail and dragged her down into his tank without warning during a midday show on Wednesday.

He was so aggressive that rescuers could not immediately jump in and assist the experienced trainer Dawn Brancheau, officials said. Instead, trainers guided the massive black-and-white bull orca toward a smaller pool and lifted him out of the water by a large scale or platform to free Brancheau's dead body from its jaws.

In a grim twist, the smaller pool was apparently the same spot where the naked body of Daniel Dukes was found draped dead over Tilikum's back in July 1999 after the man sneaked into SeaWorld after hours to swim with the animals.

Even before the latest deadly attack, trainers were barred from swimming in the water with Tilikum, standing on platforms instead. SeaWorld Orlando's only mature breeding male, he was also often kept in a smaller tank away from the park's other orcas.

The Orange County Medical Examiner's office said Brancheau, who had 16 years of experience working with orcas, likely died from multiple traumatic injuries and drowning, with all evidence pointing to a tragic incident. -- AFP

greenturtle
03-04-2010, 02:47 PM
SeaWorld witnesses: Trainer was pulled from killer whale’s mouth

By Willoughby Mariano, Orlando Sentinel
12:53 p.m. EST, March 2, 2010


The chaotic moments surrounding Dawn Brancheau's death were detailed Monday in dozens of witness statements released by the Sheriff's Office, and they told authorities that Tilikum the killer whale kept Brancheau underwater for many minutes and did not want to let her go even as rescue personnel tried to free her.

Brancheau was face-to-face with Tilikum, a 6-ton orca, performing what co-worker Jan Joseph Topoleski called a "relationship" session when Tilikum bit down on her ponytail.

"Within the span of two seconds, she was pulled into the pool, unable to get her hair released from his mouth," said Topoleski, 32, who was at the scene as a SeaWorld trainer-spotter.

Agitated, Tilikum circled the pool with Brancheau in his mouth, witnesses said. His tail moved wildly. Sirens rang out, and rescue workers rushed to deploy nets that would help them separate the orca from the other animals and keep Tilikum under control.

Two rescuers wrote that they had trouble deploying one of the nets, which made progress slow.

Mark Barner, 23, of Orlando, watched the rescue attempt from the Dine with Shamu show, where he was clearing tables. He said it took "what seemed like" 10 minutes to get the nets in place.

As rescuers worked, an increasingly agitated Tilikum surfaced and dove with the trainer's body in his mouth, over and over again. He would not let go.

Some guests were attending the Dine with Shamu show, watching Brancheau and the whale by the edge of the pool.

Other guests were in an underground viewing area on a photo tour, watching Tilikum through glass as he interacted with the trainer.

Chahine Kish, 33, of Orlando, also watched from the Dine with Shamu area. "I saw Tilly surface with a trainer in his mouth. He was becoming frantic himself."

The whale would not let go, witnesses said, and other animals in the water nearby did not heed trainers' calls to move.

Demae Haye, who also was eating following the Dine with Shamu show, told officer he saw Tilikum grab Brancheau's feet and take her underwater.

He said another trainer sounded an alarm, "call[ed] more trainer[s] over and brought nets out and tried to separate the trainer from the whale. Pretty much after that the whale was . . . under the water with the trainer."

Rescue workers used nets to corral Tilikum into a series of pools.

"I could see a woman's ponytail in the whale's mouth," SeaWorld rescuer Valerie Greene said. "We were then instructed to let the whale be and net the other whales in the adjoining pools. . . . He [Tilikum] eventually went over and we got the net over him and we were able to get the body out of his mouth. We had to get the net out once more to get him to let go of her arm."

Trainer Natalie Ciper said she arrived for work just after Brancheau was pulled into the water. She rushed to put on a wetsuit to help with the rescue.

"Prior to suiting up, I saw Tilikum gated in [the] F holding [pool] holding Dawn by the arm with a net around him," she said in her statement. The pool's false bottom was raised, but the orca would not let go of Brancheau.

They pried open the orca's mouth twice before Brancheau was freed, according to the statement of Jodie Ann Tintle, 31, a senior animal trainer.

greenturtle
04-01-2010, 05:01 AM
Severe injuries......
--------------------
Autopsy: SeaWorld trainer died from drowning, traumatic injuries

By the CNN Wire Staff
March 31, 2010 5:48 p.m. EDT

Orlando, Florida (CNN) -- An autopsy report released Wednesday confirmed that a SeaWorld trainer killed after a 12,000-pound killer whale pulled her underwater died of drowning and traumatic injuries to her body, including her spine, ribs and head.

Dawn Brancheau, 40, was working with a whale named Tilikum in knee-deep water at SeaWorld in Orlando on February 24 when the animal grabbed her by the ponytail and pulled her underwater in front of shocked onlookers at the park's Shamu Stadium.

The autopsy report by the Orange County, Florida, medical examiner's office says Brancheau's spinal cord was severed, and she sustained fractures to her jawbone, ribs and to a cervical vertebra, in addition to the drowning.

Rescuers were not immediately able to reach Brancheau because of the "whale's aggressive nature," the county sheriff's office said. SeaWorld staff members recovered Brancheau after Tilikum was coaxed into a smaller pool and lifted out of the water by a large platform on the bottom of the smaller tank, authorities said.

A source at SeaWorld told CNN in February that after seizing her, the whale dove deep underwater. Brancheau's body was recovered about 40 minutes later.

Tilikum has been linked to two other deaths. He and two other whales were involved in the drowning of a trainer at a Victoria, British Columbia, marine park in 1991. The trainer fell into the whale tank at the Sea Land Marine Park Victoria and was dragged underwater as park visitors watched.

In 1999, Tilikum was blamed for the death of a 27-year-old man whose body was found floating in a tank at SeaWorld, the apparent victim of a whale's "horseplay," authorities said then. The Orange County Sheriff's Office said the man apparently hid in the park until after it closed, then climbed into the tank.

Because of Tilikum's history, as well as his size, trainers did not get into the water with him and specific procedures were in place for working with him, SeaWorld officials have said.

Two days after Brancheau's death, the head of SeaWorld said Tilikum "is a wonderful animal" and "will remain an active and contributing member of the team despite what happened."

"He's a very special animal that requires special handling," said Jim Achison, president of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. "Obviously, the procedures that we've had in place are something we're revisiting at this point."

Tilikum's size and weight -- 12,000 pounds, compared with 6,000 to 9,000 pounds for the facility's other killer whales -- were one reason separate procedures were in place for him at the Orlando facility.

The Publisher
04-02-2010, 02:23 PM
Right now the media ghouls are fighting in court to get the tapes showing Dawn being killed, all so they can satisfy their blood-lust so they can profit off of snuff films.

The family of Dawn is fighting to block the tapes, as is Seaworld, and so far they have a temporary court order blocking the media from getting the tapes.

The tapes belong to SeaWorld as they are security camera tapes, and the media had the gall to claim that they had a right to them!

What do you think?

lars2923
04-02-2010, 04:12 PM
Only if the process may be followed when the shoe is on the other foot.
May we go to the media and make claim to their videos?

L

jingjing
06-28-2010, 08:27 AM
The whale "took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off." said the eye-witness.
A warning siren was deployed and all show attendees were ordered to immediately leave, although the remained of the park remained open.??
??/

acelockco
06-28-2010, 04:18 PM
Of course the park remained open, remember this is all about making money for Seaworld, not about the animals they stole from the wild.