shamu kills again

[Gseclipse02]

http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2...nk+at+SeaWorld

ORLANDO (Central Florida News 13) -- A trainer is dead after she was attacked by a killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando.
The accident happened either during or right before a Dine With Shamu event.
Witness and official accounts of exactly how Dawn Brancheau died differ.
The head of animal training at all SeaWorld parks, Chuck Tompkins, said Brancheau was petting the whale when it grabbed her and pulled her in.
However, at a 4:30 p.m. press conference, Orange County Sheriff's deputies said there was no sense of foul play. Deputies said around 2 p.m. Wednesday, the 40-year-old trainer was in the whale holding area when she slipped and fell into the Shamu tank. She was then fatally injured by the whale.
Witnesses describe her last moments as pure terror. They said the 6-ton whale grabbed her and then pulled her beneath the water.
Insiders said the whale involved in the incident has a violent past.

Tilikum has already been involved in the deaths of two other individuals, and is considered so aggressive that no one is supposed to be in the tank with it.
Investigators will now try to determine the exact facts of what happened and why.
"I must emphasize this is an extremely difficult time for the SeaWorld Parks and our team members. Nothing is more important than the safety of our employees, guests and the animals entrusted in our care," said SeaWorld Orlando President Dan Brown. "We have never in the history of our park experienced an incident like this, and all of our standard operating procedure will come under review."
According to a profile done in 2006, Brancheau had worked her way up into a leadership role at Shamu Stadium after spending more than a decade working with killer whales.
She was inspired to work with the whales after a trip to SeaWorld when she was 9.
The park remains open, but the dolphin and whale shows for the rest of the day were cancelled. SeaWorld in San Diego has also suspended its killer whale show following the Orlando accident.
It's not clear how SeaWorld in San Antonio is handling the shows since it is closed until the weekend

[Europhyllia]

I think I'd rather not dine with shamu then...

[Gseclipse02]

Lol

I hear seaworld is having half price whale burgers

[Europhyllia]

That would be preferable to feeding the diners to shamu for sure!

[RayAllen]

You can take the animals out of the wild, but can not take the wild out of them.

Perfect example of you can only expect the unexpected.

[Europhyllia]

Interesting how he just got passed down after having trouble in Canada.

Would have been nice if they had some kind of rehab facility for the animals that obviously do not enjoy this line of work. It's not like they asked to be captured and used for entertainment. Some place where they can just swim and eat fish and be left alone. Passing them on to another park seems so unlikely to solve any problems. I wonder what the reasoning behind doing that was?

Edited to add: I just read that they can be successfully released back into the wild:

But “the vast majority of the orca whales in captivity would be far better off to be returned to the wild. Orcas are unbelievably ill-suited to life in theme parks and can be successfully returned to the wild. We know, because we have done it,” says David Phillips, director of the International Marine Mammal Project for the Earth Island Institute, who led the effort to rescue, rehabilitate, and release the killer whale Keiko, made famous in the movie “Free Willy.” “Orcas deserve a better fate than living in cramped pools.

[Roo&Lis]

I'm kind with animal rights activist about this. You can't keep a WHALE in a swimming pool. Kind of like keeping a tang in a 20 gallon tank.

[photek1051]

agree they need to free willy

[Valkim]

That is why they are called Killer Whale...

[saabtech]

I'm kind with animal rights activist about this. You can't keep a WHALE in a swimming pool. Kind of like keeping a tang in a 20 gallon tank.

more like keeping a tang in an eye dropper. but good point non the less.