OMG...a trainer was killed today!

[NYDisneyKid]

free willy

 

[TitanBrett]

free willy

freeing him would probably be a death sentence. Nobody should be anywhere near him anymore though I would say.

Here is a link stating that they will still interact with him

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/orange_news/022510-SeaWorld-procedures

 

[MommaMouse411]

I too was shocked and sadden by this..I love Seaworld..we go all the time..its tough to see a person lose their life but she was lover of these animals..and she understood the risks...but it breaks my heart...for both trainer and whale...its a tough issue..but these animals/mammals are in captivity and so we are going to see some humans get killed or hurt by them..its truly not the animals fault...its in their nature..

heck I don;'t trust domesticated animals..and I have a dog..but you just don't know how they will react to something it could be anything that sets them off!!!...

 

[live4christp1]

I'm curious as to how much say the trainers have in wether or not it is safe for a show to go on. If several of the trainers had commented in the last week or show (and even during shows) that the animals were not cooperating. Or they fill uneasy can the call the show? Or are they pressured with "the show must go on?"

While definately not on the same caliber, while visiting Birmingham Zoo this summer and watching the Sea Lion training/show.......at the point were the trainers were working with a larger and more aggressive male. When he refused to cooperate on a couple of occasions the trainers apologized but said that for the safety of both the animal and the trainer they could not continue the show.

I know that one of the big highlights at SW is the show featuring these magnificient animals but I sure hope that there are measures in place that if the trainer feels it is unsafe they shouldn't feel they have to proceed. If the whales are behaving differently, etc. they shouldn't be forced (or try to force) to perform.

Sure there will be times people are disappointed by not seeing a show but we will get over it. How many times have we gone to a park and a ride was broken, a show was canceled due to technical problems, or a parade didn't happen because the weather wouldn't permit it.

I'd much rather the parks err on the side of caution and keep everyone safe than to be putting someone in danger.

 

[joviroxx]

I'm curious as to how much say the trainers have in wether or not it is safe for a show to go on. If several of the trainers had commented in the last week or show (and even during shows) that the animals were not cooperating. Or they fill uneasy can the call the show? Or are they pressured with "the show must go on?"

While definately not on the same caliber, while visiting Birmingham Zoo this summer and watching the Sea Lion training/show.......at the point were the trainers were working with a larger and more aggressive male. When he refused to cooperate on a couple of occasions the trainers apologized but said that for the safety of both the animal and the trainer they could not continue the show.

I know that one of the big highlights at SW is the show featuring these magnificient animals but I sure hope that there are measures in place that if the trainer feels it is unsafe they shouldn't feel they have to proceed. If the whales are behaving differently, etc. they shouldn't be forced (or try to force) to perform.

Sure there will be times people are disappointed by not seeing a show but we will get over it. How many times have we gone to a park and a ride was broken, a show was canceled due to technical problems, or a parade didn't happen because the weather wouldn't permit it.

I'd much rather the parks err on the side of caution and keep everyone safe than to be putting someone in danger.

Ive been at Sea World when the whales aren't being cooperative. They do not force the animals to do anything. They gently prod, try their commands, but if they don't do it, they don't do it. They apologize to the audience, explain that they are animals with moods, just like us and that was it. Its happened a couple of times when Ive been there. They laugh it off and try to keep going to the next thing and thats it.

 

[tcoopman]

Just to throw my two cents in...My family and I were there two weeks ago and greatly enjoyed Sea World. I think this is a terrible accident - no one can really know Tili's intentions. He's a whale...does it really matter? Sadly, people die on the job all the time in all different lines of work. How many orca trainers are killed on the job? Compared to the number of fishermen who have lost their lives at sea (Deadliest Catch anyone?), or truck drivers killed in vehicle accidents... I think the trainers' safety record is pretty darn good for a group of people who work with gigantic, intelligent, moody, social animals who eat meat - and that's why this is news.

Should they look at safety protocols? Absolutely. Preventing another occurrence should be the goal but there will never be any guarantees as long as the job involves contact with the whales.

Does this bring up the "animals should be left in the wild" debate? Only because this is in the news. IMO, while we (humans) left everything in the wild, we tried to kill it all - that's a reason there are endangered species. By taking a few of these animals out of the wild and raising them (and breeding them) in captivity; and displaying their intelligence, the social bond they can create with people, and their majestic beauty, I believe we (humans) are helping to protect the rest of the wild population. After seeing a show like Believe, who would ever want to kill a creature like that?

Of course we feel for the trainer's family - it is a terrible tragedy they must now endure. But it isn't something that everyone should get extreme about in the big picture.

 

[livndisney]

I'm curious as to how much say the trainers have in wether or not it is safe for a show to go on. If several of the trainers had commented in the last week or show (and even during shows) that the animals were not cooperating. Or they fill uneasy can the call the show? Or are they pressured with "the show must go on?"

While definately not on the same caliber, while visiting Birmingham Zoo this summer and watching the Sea Lion training/show.......at the point were the trainers were working with a larger and more aggressive male. When he refused to cooperate on a couple of occasions the trainers apologized but said that for the safety of both the animal and the trainer they could not continue the show.

I know that one of the big highlights at SW is the show featuring these magnificient animals but I sure hope that there are measures in place that if the trainer feels it is unsafe they shouldn't feel they have to proceed. If the whales are behaving differently, etc. they shouldn't be forced (or try to force) to perform.

Sure there will be times people are disappointed by not seeing a show but we will get over it. How many times have we gone to a park and a ride was broken, a show was canceled due to technical problems, or a parade didn't happen because the weather wouldn't permit it.

I'd much rather the parks err on the side of caution and keep everyone safe than to be putting someone in danger.

The trainers can and will shut down a show when an animal is not responding. They do not force the animal (like you could force a 20,000 pound mammal lol). They may try the command again or redirect. But safety comes first. Those trainers will not put the animals in danger and they will not put themselves or any other trainer in harms way.

 

[KBF]

This is my take on everything that happened. First off, the other two incidents Tilly was involved it. The first happened in a Canadien Park in 1991, a trainer slipped and fell in a pool wih tilly and two other female whales. None of these whales had ever had a trainer in the water with them. One of the female whales was pregnent at the time. It was the female whales who grabbed the trainer and started thrashing her around and killed her because the one was pregnant and they were protecting her. The 2nd was in 1999 when a park guest stayed and snuck in th park overnight and decided to swim or fell in with Tilly. The cause of death was ruled Hypothermia as he was naked when he was found. Yes he had bruises on him from Tilly, but if Tilly really wanted to, he could have ripped the guy to shreds. Now this happens. And its a very sad incident. It seems like an accident. Seaworld is saying Tilly grabbed her hair after it fell in front of tilly. And he pulled her down once she was in the tank. 1 incident involving a seaworld trainer is more than enough. But think about how many shows are done each day 365 days a year. Probably 5000+ shows during a year. Seaworld has been opened since the 1970s and this is the first time a trainer has died in the park.

The point of that statement is that Seaworld takes the upmost safety measures when in comes to the animals and trainers. This is an unfortunate accident and im sure they will look into what can be done so this never happens again. As far as Tilly goes, he cant be released into the wild. He would never survive. Whales live in Pods, not on their own. He wouldnt be able to fend for himself and would die. Especially after being in the care of man for so long. And offspring would face the same problem. You cant release a whale after its been in captivity or born in captivity. They cant survive on their own.

People have brought up that the whales misbehave. I have been to Seaworld enough to know that the trainers never frce the whales to do anything they dont want to, if they are having an off day, the trainers will let them be. I happen to know that this time of year is breeding season for the whales and they tend to become aggresive because of this. Sometimes the whales act up when their trying to show dominance to one another. We all have days where were stressed or upset by something. And whales are no exception. They have those days too, whether their in captivity or in the wild.

So overall, this is a horrible thing that has happened. I think that Seaworld will do everything in their power to make sure this doesnt happen again. I think there will be different ways of handling Tilly in the future such as keeping a certain amount of feet back when interacting with him. Seaworld would never put Tilly down. It wouldnt be right and they know it. Plus if they did, you know how many animal rights activists and regular people would be enraged by that. That would hurt seaworld. So they would never do that. This was an unfortunate accident. And my thoughts and prayors are with Dawn and her friends and family. Hopefully this never happens again.

 

[steery1]

Anyone know if this is her......................?

 

[MellieluvsDisney]

I totaly agree with KBF's comment.

Releasing Tilly into the wild is a death sentence for him. SW should revise their safety procedures, but I think this is just a tragic accident. The trainers know the dangers of working with such big animals, and I doubt that Dawn would've wanted Tilly's death.

My heart goes out to her husband and family for this tragic accident.

 

[live4christp1]

The trainers can and will shut down a show when an animal is not responding. They do not force the animal (like you could force a 20,000 pound mammal lol). They may try the command again or redirect. But safety comes first. Those trainers will not put the animals in danger and they will not put themselves or any other trainer in harms way.

I'm glad to know that they can indeed stop the show if they feel the need too. Was just getting the impression from some of the statements to the press from others that they (trainers) had expressed some concern about this particular whale on different occasions.....and then with the comments about the whales or whale not following commands on more the one recent occasion if they (trainers) did indeed have that ability.

I know we've been there before and had shows get canceled because of the weather or cut short but never been there when one of the animals was being a particular problem.

Thanks!

 

[DisneyFairytale]

Just to throw my two cents in...My family and I were there two weeks ago and greatly enjoyed Sea World. I think this is a terrible accident - no one can really know Tili's intentions. He's a whale...does it really matter? Sadly, people die on the job all the time in all different lines of work. How many orca trainers are killed on the job? Compared to the number of fishermen who have lost their lives at sea (Deadliest Catch anyone?), or truck drivers killed in vehicle accidents... I think the trainers' safety record is pretty darn good for a group of people who work with gigantic, intelligent, moody, social animals who eat meat - and that's why this is news.

Should they look at safety protocols? Absolutely. Preventing another occurrence should be the goal but there will never be any guarantees as long as the job involves contact with the whales.

Does this bring up the "animals should be left in the wild" debate? Only because this is in the news. IMO, while we (humans) left everything in the wild, we tried to kill it all - that's a reason there are endangered species. By taking a few of these animals out of the wild and raising them (and breeding them) in captivity; and displaying their intelligence, the social bond they can create with people, and their majestic beauty, I believe we (humans) are helping to protect the rest of the wild population. After seeing a show like Believe, who would ever want to kill a creature like that?

Of course we feel for the trainer's family - it is a terrible tragedy they must now endure. But it isn't something that everyone should get extreme about in the big picture.

Great post!

 

[KBF]

Anyone know if this is her......................?

Thats not her.

Nice picture though.

 

[Tillikumtrainer]

considerably with the latest analysis of the video(s)

the last thing was shown was Dawn laying next to him rubbing Tillikum down. Her hair was in a ponytail and i guess when she signalled him to turn over, her hair was right next to his mouth. Im going to assume from what was shown, her hair was caught in his teeth and as stated the thrashing was him trying to get the hair out of his mouth- there was no blood in the water, if he intentionally wanted to hurt her, he would take her to the bottom and let her drown. (as orky and corky did to their calf). people say they saw him swiming with her in his mouth but never stated waist hand foot etc. However blaniks eyewitness account is embellished if he had grabbed her by the waist she would have been ripped in half, an orca's tooth is the size of a human thumb. there was no blood in the water or his tearing her to pieces as they do with seals and baleen whales.

Cant people face it, a freak accident is a freak accident. DWS has 6 cameras 2 underwater and 4 around the dine with shamu area, two are above on the roof facing the tanks. So im sure they have many angles of this accident. Tillikum is in the medpool but he has access to the other shaded pool.

Alot of heresay on this subject of freeing the whale and euthenization. they as stated:

"We have every intention of continuing to interact with this animal, though the procedures for working with him will change. We are still reviewing this incident and will evaluate the situation and make a decision accordingly."

If they were to put Tilly down then they have to put Kasatka down for trying to intentionally drown ken peters and also Ky SWT For trying to drown his trainer in 2004.

Im sure they will observe him for a few days, review the accident in detail as per angles and make changes to interactions/ training techniques. I have spent many years around him on so many occasions, like us they have good and bad days. their moody or just frusterated. You cant assume because the media blew the whole thing out of the water, that their right.

 

[Natasha&Matt]

An Update

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...orlando-shamu-injury-20100224,0,6076530.story

SeaWorld Orlando investigation: Killer whale pulled in trainer by ponytail

Trainer Dawn Brancheau was pulled underwater by her ponytail; She died from "multiple traumatic injuries and drowning," a new report says

 

[doombuggy]

considerably with the latest analysis of the video(s)

the last thing was shown was Dawn laying next to him rubbing Tillikum down. Her hair was in a ponytail and i guess when she signalled him to turn over, her hair was right next to his mouth. Im going to assume from what was shown, her hair was caught in his teeth and as stated the thrashing was him trying to get the hair out of his mouth- there was no blood in the water, if he intentionally wanted to hurt her, he would take her to the bottom and let her drown. (as orky and corky did to their calf). people say they saw him swiming with her in his mouth but never stated waist hand foot etc. However blaniks eyewitness account is embellished if he had grabbed her by the waist she would have been ripped in half, an orca's tooth is the size of a human thumb. there was no blood in the water or his tearing her to pieces as they do with seals and baleen whales.

Cant people face it, a freak accident is a freak accident. DWS has 6 cameras 2 underwater and 4 around the dine with shamu area, two are above on the roof facing the tanks. So im sure they have many angles of this accident. Tillikum is in the medpool but he has access to the other shaded pool.

Alot of heresay on this subject of freeing the whale and euthenization. they as stated:

"We have every intention of continuing to interact with this animal, though the procedures for working with him will change. We are still reviewing this incident and will evaluate the situation and make a decision accordingly."

If they were to put Tilly down then they have to put Kasatka down for trying to intentionally drown ken peters and also Ky SWT For trying to drown his trainer in 2004.

Im sure they will observe him for a few days, review the accident in detail as per angles and make changes to interactions/ training techniques. I have spent many years around him on so many occasions, like us they have good and bad days. their moody or just frusterated. You cant assume because the media blew the whole thing out of the water, that their right.

Excellent post!

 

[Rip]

yes yes, by all means, everything is fine, tragic accident....

I dont care about whales being captive. What I do care about is that we gain a better understanding of what happened so that it can be avoided in the future. If the whale did it on purpose or with malice(assuming a whale could have those emotions) then that is something we should know. It would be dangerous to the trainers if this is turned into some sort of "oh he was just playing" BS. Of course nobody on here has any idea whether it was an accident or not we are all just speculating.

As far as not being the time to debate it, if a trainer getting killed is not the time to talk about safety, then when is that time?

That's quite a bit different than saying it would be "refreshing" to hear that the orca did it on purpose.

Generally speaking, debates in the immediate aftermath of something like this (particularly when no one knows the facts) are nothing more than knee-jerk, emotional responses that rarely yield productive results. The fact of the matter is that these and other marine mammals are going to continue to be used for entertainment purposes. If this is nothing more than a case of her hair becoming entangled in his mouth, then there are probably a few minor protocols that would need modifying in order to help prevent something like the from happening again.

 

[Rip]

considerably with the latest analysis of the video(s)

the last thing was shown was Dawn laying next to him rubbing Tillikum down. Her hair was in a ponytail and i guess when she signalled him to turn over, her hair was right next to his mouth. Im going to assume from what was shown, her hair was caught in his teeth and as stated the thrashing was him trying to get the hair out of his mouth- there was no blood in the water, if he intentionally wanted to hurt her, he would take her to the bottom and let her drown. (as orky and corky did to their calf). people say they saw him swiming with her in his mouth but never stated waist hand foot etc. However blaniks eyewitness account is embellished if he had grabbed her by the waist she would have been ripped in half, an orca's tooth is the size of a human thumb. there was no blood in the water or his tearing her to pieces as they do with seals and baleen whales.

Cant people face it, a freak accident is a freak accident. DWS has 6 cameras 2 underwater and 4 around the dine with shamu area, two are above on the roof facing the tanks. So im sure they have many angles of this accident. Tillikum is in the medpool but he has access to the other shaded pool.

Alot of heresay on this subject of freeing the whale and euthenization. they as stated:

"We have every intention of continuing to interact with this animal, though the procedures for working with him will change. We are still reviewing this incident and will evaluate the situation and make a decision accordingly."

If they were to put Tilly down then they have to put Kasatka down for trying to intentionally drown ken peters and also Ky SWT For trying to drown his trainer in 2004.

Im sure they will observe him for a few days, review the accident in detail as per angles and make changes to interactions/ training techniques. I have spent many years around him on so many occasions, like us they have good and bad days. their moody or just frusterated. You cant assume because the media blew the whole thing out of the water, that their right.

 

[Kallisti]

I'm pretty sure this is her, and I'm also sure it's how she'd like to be remembered - working and playing with the animals she loves... (June 2007, Believe show by the way)

 

[Head_in_the_clouds]

Yes, that is her .