Whale kills SeaWorld trainer as guests watch

How horrible... ; :'(

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Officials in Florida say a veteran 40-year-old trainer at SeaWorld was fatally injured by a whale when she slipped and fell in its tank.

SeaWorld Orlando President Dan Brown says officials are investigating but it appears to be an accident. ; The incident happened during a Dining with Shamu event. ; Spectator Victoria Biniak told WKMG-TV that the trainer had just finished explaining to the audience a show they were about to see Wednesday when the whale appeared to grab the trainer and thrash her around. ; Brown says SeaWorld has never experienced an incident like this. ; The employee's has not been released, pending notification of next of kin. ; Reports are that SeaWorld Orlando bought the whale, called Tilly, in 1991 from a SeaWorld park in Vancouver, Canada for $1.5 million.

http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2010/2/24/587273.html?title=Whale+kills+SeaWorld+trainer+as+guests+watch

 

Unimaginably horrible. What a completely preventable tragedy. It's so easy to relax around wild animals and forget that they are, in fact, wild when there haven't been any incidents in so long.

Please remember to pray for this woman's family and friends and co-workers.

Just heard that San Diego SW had suspended their whale and dolphin shows for today, too.

 

I heard that, too, and now they are talking about it on the news. Yes, its #3 for this "Killer" Whale. People take it for granted because they train them and produce cute shows with fun scripts that they are safe. They are wild animals.

We live with parrots, which are wild animals, too. You can never build enough equity with an undomesticated, wild animal to assume that they are trustworthy. We both have the scars to prove it. In the case of a parrot bite, it's never - ever the animal's fault. Just like the terrible tragedy with this whale is not the whale's fault. We shouldn't be surprised when an animal acts instinctively and displays normal behaviors that would, in the wild, save or preserve their lives.

I hope they will review and change the way they deal with these amazing and HUGE animals going forward.

 

We were there a few years ago and went to see the Shamu Show and it never started on time- we watched for about 15 minutes past the start time as the trainers opened and closed gates and the whales just swam around- and finally they announced the show was canceled because the animals were not cooperating. ; I guess when a whale refuses to cooperate there is really nothing much you can do about it. ; I remember they asked for no applause because the whales know it is a reward.

On a side note the local television news is reporting a lot of guests are upset because they emergency evacuated the park but did not tell anyone why- so I guess some people were panicked and afraid it was some kind of terrorist attack.

 

Sad news indeed. ;

 

Very sad indeed. ; :'( They may not use this particular animal in shows again given its history, but I doubt there will be any major changes. People who work with animals know there is always a risk involved, but do it anyway for the love of the job. I've always been fascinated by big cats. I could sit and watch them for hours. But I would never, ever, want to work with them. Growing up with house cats, I remember no matter how much you are around them, there is still a wild animal inside. I still have a scar from playing with my cat where I wasn't quite fast enough.

Erich

 

this is so sad

 

It's horrible what happened. Whales are such large creatures, who don't seem to realize their own strength. For all we know, Tilikum could have been playing with his trainer. He isn't used to humans being in his pool, he is not a water work whale. (Meaning he is never to be joined in the water by a human. He is the whale who splashes the audience during the show 'Believe'.)

It's unfortunate that these things happen, but I do sort of get upset when people say that whales shouldn't be trained, perform, etc. Yes, its true that we can never REALLY train the creatures, and that they are unpredictable. But so are dogs. How many times have trained dogs turned and attacked their owners? And the above mentioned parrots, and cats. Even humans snap and kill others. It happens, unfortunately. But some people are willing to take the risk to work with these magnificent creatures.

In any case, Dawn Brancheua's family is in my prayers. :'(

 

Wild animals of this size and intelligence should not be kept in prisons for our amusement. If there were a way to repatriate our parrots in their normal environments I would do it in a nanosecond. We didn't think it was wrong either until we spent almost 30 years living with intelligent, sentient creatures who deserve to live the lives they were intended to live.

Parrots' respiratory systems were designed so that they could fly - not sit in captivity. It breaks my heart every day to look in at them and love them like I do and realize that they will never know what it is to fly freely.

I respectfully disagree with Miss Manday about the keeping of whales in captivity. There is no parallel between whales and dogs in any situation that I can think of.

 

The DAK parrots have to have their feathers clipped so they won't attempt to fly. You will probably recall the pair of Hyacinth Macaws that used to be displayed in the Oasis area. They learned, as they all eventually figure out, that they could glide down and were regularly escaping their habitat and getting too close to the guests. DAK sold/traded them to the zoo in Sanford where they live in a very large flight cage on display. It's nowhere as nice as the surroundings at DAK, but it's pretty nice and they have a lot more freedom of movement.

DAK cares for their animals about as well as any zoo can, Sea World doesn't even come close with their Killer Whales just due to their size, the environments are enriched and interesting, but it sure doesn't compare to free. I know that some zoos are OK and are trying and really serve to educate the public, but some animals are simply not suitable for captivity, and the Killer Whale is a good example of that.

I know SW would say that their environments are adequate and their routines interesting, but performing the same behaviors over and over and over again (even if done willingly for food rewards) doesn't challenge them mentally or satisfy their instincts to hunt prey and explore and mate and live in family pods.