Word: whale
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Something about SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau's ponytail may have triggered the attack. That's what an official at the Orlando marine park told reporters the day after the 16-year veteran at SeaWorld was killed by Tilikum, a 12,000-lb. (5,500 kg) killer whale. On Feb. 24, in the middle of an otherwise routine show, the 40-year-old trainer was standing at the edge of a tank when the 29-year-old animal leaped from the water, grabbed her by the ponytail and began thrashing her about. As horrified visitors watched both from around the tank...
Tilikum is not a first-time offender. In 1991 - eight years after he was captured off the coast of Iceland - he and two other killer whales drowned a trainer during a performance at Sealand of the Pacific in Vancouver. In 1999, a man who trespassed in SeaWorld after hours and apparently jumped in the whale tank was found dead the next morning, lying across Tilikum's back. Is the big whale a bad seed? At least one marine-mammal expert thinks that yes, that's at least part of the answer...
...pool, keeping her in his mouth. She apparently remained there until the staff at SeaWorld managed to beach him and move him to a separate pen. No one at SeaWorld was available to confirm reports that Brancheau's body was badly mangled. (See a 2006 story about a killer-whale attack in San Diego...
...Killer-whale-trainer fatalities tend to be drownings: the human is pushed down and kept underwater. In such situations, experienced trainers know to try calming the whale with signals even as they try to control their own panic. But the violent and abrupt nature of the attack on Brancheau has stunned many in the profession. She was one of the best and most experienced in the field, featured in many of SeaWorld's promotions and advertisements...
...Whales like Tilikum that have gotten violent are likely to be separated from the rest of the performing troupe, kept in isolation and trained only by the most senior of staff. But the policy is generally not to destroy such animals - a policy that most trainers agree with. "I would not put any animal down," says Shawna Karrasch, who now trains horses but once worked with killer whales at SeaWorld San Diego. "People are killed riding horses, but that doesn't stop us from getting back on them." She says the trainers know the dangers they face when they enter...