Shamu kills trainer

[Twitchin Kitten]

This is exactly why wild animals shouldn't be for show purposes or petting zoos. This isn't the first incident with Shamu and I'm sure it won't be the last.

Female Trainer Killed At SeaWorld's Shamu Stadium


Posted: 2:40 pm EST February 24, 2010
Updated: 3:47 pm EST February 24, 2010

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Sources at SeaWorld Orlando told Eyewitness News that a female trainer was killed Wednesday afternoon by a whale that had been at the park since 1992. The sheriff's office also confirmed that an employee was killed.

"Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded this afternoon to SeaWorld along with Orange County Fire Rescue units in Response to a call for service regarding an employee, in the Killer Whale tank, which had been injured/attacked," the sheriff's office wrote in a release Wednesday afternoon.

Orange County homicide detectives are on the scene.

Eyewitnesses are reporting that a trainer was pulled into the Shamu Stadium tank and killed after 2:00pm. There are a total of eight whales in Shamu Stadium. According to a source at SeaWorld, the whale involved in the attack is named Tilikum.

Around six months before Tilikum came to SeaWorld Orlando, the whale was involved in an incident that resulted in the trainer’s death. In 1999, a man who snuck into the park was found dead in the whale’s tank.

A caller to WFTV said at least half of the park was closed down Wednesday afternoon.

According to Wikipedia (see full listing), "Tillikum measures 22 feet 6 inches long and weighs in at 12,300 pounds (as of 2007). His pectoral fins are six and one half feet long, his massive flukes curl under, and his 6-foot-tall dorsal fin is flopped completely to his left side, and weighs close to 200 pounds. He is the largest Orca in captivity and also the most successful sire in captivity, with 13 offspring, 10 of which are still alive."

WFTV is working quickly to gather more information.

Click the headline to go to the news page.

[lady cop]

always a risk with wild animals.

link:

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loca...2688.story



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[Twitchin Kitten]

Ahem.... Can I merge this with the one I posted on this story in the news section?

[lady cop]

i'm sorry TK! i didn't notice you had posted it! :doh2: of course merge it.

[lady cop]

i hate to think of the trauma to kids who saw this.

[lady cop]

this whale was involved with 2 other deaths.

Local 6 is reporting that the whale involved in the incident is named Tillikum, and that whale has been involved in at least one other incident at the park.

Tillikum, nicknamed "Tilly," has a controversial past. The large whale was blamed for the drowning of one of his trainers in 1991 while he was performing at Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia.

Sold to SeaWorld as a stud in 1992, the whale was involved in a second incident when authorities discovered the body of a naked man lying across his back in July 1999.

Authorities later concluded the man, who had either snuck into SeaWorld after hours or hidden in the park until it closed, most likely drowned after suffering hypothermia in the 55-degree water.

But they also said it appeared Tillikum had bit the man and tore off his swimming trunks, likely believing he was a toy to play with.

A former contractor with SeaWorld told the Sentinel that Tillikum is typically kept isolated from SeaWorld's other killer whales and that trainers were not allowed to get in the water with him because of his violent history.

[Twitchin Kitten]

Gee, you think maybe this whale should just be let free? I mean for shit's sake, it doesn't take a genius to realize this is not a happy animal and its' environment is making him that way!

[Black Sun]

People shouldn't make KILLER whales do stupid tricks.

What's next dunking your head with great white sharks?

I've been to Seaworld and enjoyed it, but they should just feed the animals and fish and leave them the fuck alone.

[lady cop]

File photo of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau, who was killed during an accident at the park Wednesday, February 24, 2010. (ORLANDO SENTINEL FILE / December 30, 2005)

she wanted to be an orca trainer since she was 9.


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[Black Sun]

Anthropomorphism is clearly indicated in that photograph. Superimposing human like qualities and motivations on animals that simply don't have them, wild animals should be given distance and respect at all times, they live in a world of instinct we will never understand as humans.