40-year-old veteran animal trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed Wednesday when the 12,000-lb killer whale named Tilikum pulled her under water and began thrashing her about during an afternoon show at Orlando’s SeaWorld.
There were numerous spectators in the stadium and in the “Dine With Shamu” poolside buffet who watched in horror as the orca grabbed Brancheau, disappeared underwater and then resurfaced at the opposite end of the tank, still gripping her.
SeaWorld President Dan Brown said in an official statement, “It is with great sadness that I report that one of our most experienced animal trainers drowned in an incident with one of our killer whales this afternoon. We’ve initiated an investigation to determine, to the extent possible, what occurred.”
Amazingly, this is the third human death that Tilikum has been linked to. In 1991 Tilikum was involved in an incident with two other whales in which trainer Keltie Byrne was dragged under water and drowned at Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia. That park has since closed and Tilikum was purchased by SeaWorld in 1992.
In July of 1999 Daniel Dukes was found dead, draped across the back of Tilikum after he had apparently sneaked in the night before to swim with the whales. It was later determined that the man probably died from hypothermia stemming from the 55-degree water, but Tilikum had bitten his body and torn off his clothes.
Tilikum is SeaWorld’s largest orca and the only killer whale among the eight kept at the Orlando facility that trainers were not allowed to swim with. Brancheau was one of only 12 trainers out of 28 allowed to work with him. From The Orland Sentinel:
Still, Chuck Tompkins, the corporate curator in charge of animal behavior for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, said Tilikum was not an unusually violent orca.
“What you need to remember is, we’ve done thousands of interactions with this animal with no incidents whatsoever,” Tompkins told the Orlando Sentinel. He also noted that Tilikum had fathered many calves at SeaWorld, calling him “a valuable asset not only from a breeding standpoint but from a behavior standpoint, too.”
Here are some photos of Brancheau doing what she loved prior to her tragic death February 24, 2010:
(click thumbnails for larger images in the gallery):
(The pictures above were taken in March of 2009 with killer whale Nalani.)
SeaWorld’s official website says the following about future shows:
“SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Diego will be open Thursday, February 25 as scheduled (SeaWorld San Antonio is not yet open for the season) but Believe shows and Dine with Shamu experiences at all SeaWorld locations have been suspended; no decision has been made for future dates at this time.”
Photos: Barcroft/Fame Pictures
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