Peanut Giggleface
Embarrassing my children... just another service I
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2010
My prayers are with her family.
I have also heard this scenario spoken about. It really is one that makes the most sense.A family witnessed the accident. They had attended the lunch show for their son's fifth birthday. After the show, they remained behind to take some additional video. The trainer, Dawn, was off to the side with Tili. She was bent down stroking him and feeding him. Tili rolled to the side. From the viewpoint of the witnesses, it appeared that her ponytail got caught in the whale's mouth. It pulled her in and dove with her.
At one point, they surfaced for a moment. She appeared to still be caught. This time, it stayed down for about five minutes.
The people screamed for help when they saw what happened. There were other tourists there are well. By the time the other trainers got to her, it was to late.
Tili did not do anything to intentionally harm her. It was simply a tragic accident.
If the trainers hair were to be caught up in the whale's mouth, it may very well look like he had her 'in his mouth'....also, the whale could have been thrashing about in order to get her dislodged.From our local news station:
"A SeaWorld killer whale snatched a trainer from a poolside platform Wednesday in its jaws and thrashed the woman around underwater, killing her in front of a horrified audience... Brancheau was rubbing Tilikum after a noontime show when the 12,000-pound whale grabbed her and pulled her in, said Chuck Tompkins, head of animal training at all SeaWorld parks. It was not clear if she drowned or died from the thrashing... Brazilian tourist Joao Lucio DeCosta Sobrinho and his girlfriend were at an underwater viewing area when they suddenly saw a whale with a person in its mouth."
Sounds like more than just her hair getting caught in the whale's mouth. I imagine that everything happened so quickly that many people were not really sure what they saw.
If the trainers hair were to be caught up in the whale's mouth, it may very well look like he had her 'in his mouth'....also, the whale could have been thrashing about in order to get her dislodged.
It always seemed to me that those animals were like her babies and I have no doubt she will be sorely missed. Her death is tragic and horrible but she died doing what she LOVED.
I'm finding myself thinking this is just not worth it. Here, Tili was involved in other tragic incidences and the whale was allowed to continue. Why?
It was specifically stated that the whales were feeling agitated in Orlando. Also, less than half the trainers were able to work with Tili; she was a problem all along. I just can't see even after one incident why you would take a chance again. And why or why aren't there more trainers helping each other out especially after a show? Maybe, it wouldn't have mattered, but maybe, it would have had a better result. They could have provided a diversion, used a sedation gun, etc. Maybe, the bottom line is the company is shorting the shows on staffing. I know the company is now reviewing procedures.
It's not fair for Tili, either. Who wants to be confined as they are when we know it's not right. It's just for our entertainment; it's not worth it. Everyone, do you remember Siegfried and Roy? It seems sooner or later this type of captivity leads to a tragic ending.
I don't know if Tili is allowed to breed, but that's another problem.
I'm no different then the rest and I enjoy all these shows. I just don't feel it's worth it. I really feel it needs to stop.
I have no doubt that Sea World will spin this story around so that it is nothing more than an "ooops" by the whale, Just like Siegfried and Roy. It would be refeshing to hear someone state that the whale perhaps got angry and reacted in a way that would be consistent with it's natural behaviors. A video will come out at some point that will answer some of these questions.
I'm finding myself thinking this is just not worth it. Here, Tili was involved in other tragic incidences and the whale was allowed to continue. Why?
It was specifically stated that the whales were feeling agitated in Orlando. Also, less than half the trainers were able to work with Tili; she was a problem all along. I just can't see even after one incident why you would take a chance again. And why or why aren't there more trainers helping each other out especially after a show? Maybe, it wouldn't have mattered, but maybe, it would have had a better result. They could have provided a diversion, used a sedation gun, etc. Maybe, the bottom line is the company is shorting the shows on staffing. I know the company is now reviewing procedures.
It's not fair for Tili, either. Who wants to be confined as they are when we know it's not right. It's just for our entertainment; it's not worth it. Everyone, do you remember Siegfried and Roy? It seems sooner or later this type of captivity leads to a tragic ending.
I don't know if Tili is allowed to breed, but that's another problem.
I'm no different then the rest and I enjoy all these shows. I just don't feel it's worth it. I really feel it needs to stop.
I saw this morning (not sure which major news channel) that Tilli has reproduced many offspring. Jack Hannah was on the telephone saying the importance of this animal breeding to save the Killer Whale population.
We can only hope these offspring find their way back into the wild, though my guess is that they do not.
This is a terrible thing to happen, but these are wild animals. Look at what happen to the poor women in CT with the chimp. I bet a million bucks that the owner never would have dreamed that her beloved pet would ever do that.
The only people that seem to want to hear that the whale got angry and retaliated are those that already think they shouldn't be in captivity in the first place.
As far as we know, this was nothing more than a tragic accident. Personally, I don't think this is either the time or place to debate whether the orcas "should" be used for entertainment purposes.
But that's just me.
through this, or any other orca. I also hope Tilikum is not destroyed, I'm sure that is the last thing Dawn Brancheau would have wanted.