SeaWorld Trainer Killed: Dawn Brancheau Killed by "Dangerous" Whale
Photo: Dawn Brancheau during SeaWorld "killer whale show," March 2009
PICTURES: Dawn Brancheau SeaWorld Trainer Killed
Brancheau was involved in an everyday activity the killer whales are accustomed to at SeaWorld. She was rubbing Tilikum the whale from a poolside platform when, without warning, the 12,000-pound creature reached up from its tank, grabbed her ponytail in its mouth and dragged her under, according to The Associated Press.
PICTURES: Dawn Brancheau SeaWorld Trainer Killed
Because of his size and the previous deaths, trainers were not supposed to get into the water with Tilikum, and only about a dozen of the park's 29 trainers worked with him. Brancheau had more experience with the 30-year-old whale than most. She was one of the park's most experienced trainers overall.
"We recognized he was different," said Chuck Tompkins, the head of animal training at all SeaWorld parks.
PICTURES: Dawn Brancheau SeaWorld Trainer Killed
He said no decision has been made yet about what will happen to Tilikum, such as transferring him to another facility.
A SeaWorld spokesman said Tilikum was one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer in 1991 after the woman lost her balance and fell in the pool at Sealand of the Pacific near Victoria, British Columbia.
PICTURES: Dawn Brancheau SeaWorld Trainer Killed
Tilikum was also involved in a 1999 death, when the body of a man who had sneaked by SeaWorld security was found draped over him. The man either jumped, fell or was pulled into the frigid water and died of hypothermia, though he was also bruised and scratched by Tilikum.
Wednesday's attack was the second time in two months that an orca trainer was killed at a marine park. On Dec. 24, 29-year-old Alexis Martinez Hernandez fell from a whale and crushed his ribcage at Loro Parque on the Spanish island of Tenerife. Park communications director Patricia Delponti said the whale, a 14-year-old named Keto, came from SeaWorld but is not Tilikum's offspring.
SeaWorld has suspended the killer whale shows at all of its parks, which also include locations in San Diego and San Antonio, to review procedures.