The drowning death of Dawn Brancheau by a killer whale at Orlando’s SeaWorld on Wednesday February 24 was an unimaginable tragedy. It has forced theme park visitors to come to terms with the difficulties and risks that animal trainers must face on a regular basis, all for the sake of research and entertainment. 

SeaWorld has managed to emerge from this tragedy in a surprisingly positive light, as they have remained open and available to both their fans and their critics. Between SeaWorld’s blog that offers first-hand updates from park employees and videos from Chuck Tompkins, head of animal training, SeaWorld has proven that they do not intend to hide away from this crisis.   

In light of this tragedy, SeaWorld has elected to halt the use of Shamu’s Twitter account, which usually contained entertaining updates from the perspective of Shamu, and was extremely popular.  

Likewise, SeaWorld held another press conference today at 1 p.m. and addressed an array of questions. President and chief executive officer of SeaWorld Jim Atchison shared information regarding the company’s review of the incident and plans for the killer-whale program at the three SeaWorld parks. According to Atchison, no animal is ever punished at SeaWorld and Tilikum is no exception. Procedures to deal with the animals are currently under review and will be heavily scrutinized; no “in water training” is to be done.   

Despite the best efforts made by SeaWorld, hordes of spectators remain shocked at what they witnessed at the noon show on Wednesday afternoon. Tilikum, the star of the killer whale show that tragic afternoon, grabbed Brancheau by her long ponytail and dragged her underwater. The attempts made by workers to rescue Brancheau were ineffective. Witnesses say that they watched in horror as the whale charged through the water with Brancheau in its mouth.   

One spectator recounts that 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.” 

Tomkins claims that the whale gave no indication that there was anything wrong prior to the show. While the specifics of what prompted the event remains a mystery, Americans are asking why Tilikum was kept in captivity after having killed two others in previous years. Apparently, Tilikum’s size prompted a rule that no trainers were supposed to get in the water with him, and only about a dozen of the 29 park trainers worked with him.  

In 1991, Tilikum was among several other orcas responsible for the death of a trainer at SeaLand in British Columbia when a trainer lost her balance and fell in the pool. In 1999, Tilikum attacked a man that snuck into her tank after park hours. The bruised and scratched man was found lying draped over Tilikum, having died of hypothermia.   

Fox News anchor and attorney Megyn Kelly discussed with Bill O’Reilly whether Brancheau’s family has a valid lawsuit against SeaWorld. Kelly argues, “The problem for any potential litigants is that this woman knew the risks of working with a killer whale better than anyone. This is akin to astronauts who go up in a space shuttle and know there are risks.” 

SeaWorld has decided to keep Tilikum, but remains unsure as to whether Tilikum will perform again.    

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Joy Monroe said:

God's Law The scripture has a different ethic than SeaWorld: Ex 21:28 "If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted. Ex 21:29 "But if the ox tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death." At the very least, Tilikum should be killed and SeaWorld liable for allowing/assigning a trainer to a known man killer. Using the principles of God's law would be a mercy, a kindness to future trainers.

February 26, 2010

Bonnie said:

Common sense I am not going to disagree with Joy Monroe. I actually am in agreement. I do wish to point something out, however. An ox is a domesticated animal, the killer whale is not. SeaWorld, by holding Tilikum in captivity and attempting to use it for entertainment purposes, has taken the responsibility set forth in Exodus upon itself. The only difference is that SeaWorld should be accountable for the first death as well as the last. The same is true when some circus elephant suddenly goes on a rampage, or a lion mauls it's trainer. As Forrest Gump said: Stupid is as stupid does.

February 27, 2010

KB said:

The Bible answers everything. Don't pussy foot around it... you either follow the bible or you don't! What Ex 21:29 says "Kill them all"... EVERYONE INVOLVED MUST DIE! The bible also says if you work on the sabbath you should be put to death... so I guess we can start with Sea World and go from there huh.

March 03, 2010

SCHNORCHEL said:

Save the Whales! The Biodiversity folks must be smiling. At last they have seen an example of where they like to see humanity in the food chain. They must be applauding so see one of their own being eaten by an animal. Enough of with this sickening animal worship!

March 05, 2010