OMG...a trainer was killed today!

[TitanBrett]

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.

By refreshing I mean it would be nice for them to not spin the event into some sort of "bad luck" happenstance. nobody is ever going to know what was in the mind of that whale and if Sea World's official story becomes "death by ponytail" I'm going to be disappointed in them. I think it should be stressed by Sea World that hopefully this was horseplay gone awry but we will never know for sure and that these whales have feelings and emotions both positive and negative. tbo.com was reporting earlier that the whale had to be lured into that pen and raised out of the water before they could retrieve the trainer's body. That doesnt sound like merely a snagged pony tail to me.

 

[KBF]

By refreshing I mean it would be nice for them to not spin the event into some sort of "bad luck" happenstance. nobody is ever going to know what was in the mind of that whale and if Sea World's official story becomes "death by ponytail" I'm going to be disappointed in them. I think it should be stressed by Sea World that hopefully this was horseplay gone awry but we will never know for sure and that these whales have feelings and emotions both positive and negative. tbo.com was reporting earlier that the whale had to be lured into that pen and raised out of the water before they could retrieve the trainer's body. That doesnt sound like merely a snagged pony tail to me.

You have tounderstand, that this whale NEVER has a trainer in the tank with him. And when she was in, you can only imagine the what the whale was thinking. It could have started out harmless with the whales curiosity of what her ponytail was. Maybe he thought it was something to play with. So he tugged at it and she fell in. When she was in, the whale may have seen her as something to play with. Remember, he isnt used to having anyone in his tank with him. If youve ever had a dog, and you give him a new chew toy, he is going to hold that in his mouth playing with it for awhile and he is not going to let it go for anything. Because thats something fun for him and something entertaining. Tilly, if he thought she was a toy, wasnt going to give her up until he was done playing with her. If he was really intending to hurt her, she would have had ripped to shreds. As someone else pointed out, there was no blood. Yes there were signs of trauma, but thats to be expected if your being dragged around by a 12,000 pound animal.

 

[NemoMom07]

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.

Beatifully stated.

 

[nana2tots]

If this was the first accident i could understand, but from what i am hearing , this is the 3rd person killed from this whale, don't u think something should be done about this.
I know i want be going back, because they should respect their employees better than this. She probaly had no choice , she was doing her job.
I Pray that this family can get through this, and i hope Seaworld pays deeply for this. It's uncall for to have such Vicious animal on display.

 

[TitanBrett]

You have tounderstand, that this whale NEVER has a trainer in the tank with him. And when she was in, you can only imagine the what the whale was thinking. It could have started out harmless with the whales curiosity of what her ponytail was. Maybe he thought it was something to play with. So he tugged at it and she fell in. When she was in, the whale may have seen her as something to play with. Remember, he isnt used to having anyone in his tank with him. If youve ever had a dog, and you give him a new chew toy, he is going to hold that in his mouth playing with it for awhile and he is not going to let it go for anything. Because thats something fun for him and something entertaining. Tilly, if he thought she was a toy, wasnt going to give her up until he was done playing with her. If he was really intending to hurt her, she would have had ripped to shreds. As someone else pointed out, there was no blood. Yes there were signs of trauma, but thats to be expected if your being dragged around by a 12,000 pound animal.

As a passholder I have seen all the different whale shows numerous times so I am well aware that they dont get in the water with him. All I am saying is that we will never know the intent of the whale and it's just a little too simple to say it was the pony tail, case closed. Regarding the lack of blood, whales dont necessarily use their teeth to kill something they dont intend to eat. Obviously there is a need on this board for everyone to believe that it was just some silly hair malfunction, to that end Ill bow out of this conversation.

 

[Rip]

By refreshing I mean it would be nice for them to not spin the event into some sort of "bad luck" happenstance. nobody is ever going to know what was in the mind of that whale and if Sea World's official story becomes "death by ponytail" I'm going to be disappointed in them. I think it should be stressed by Sea World that hopefully this was horseplay gone awry but we will never know for sure and that these whales have feelings and emotions both positive and negative. tbo.com was reporting earlier that the whale had to be lured into that pen and raised out of the water before they could retrieve the trainer's body. That doesnt sound like merely a snagged pony tail to me.

I think someone stated earlier that there are multiple video cameras in and around that tank, so I'm sure the proper authorities will be able to tell if it was a freak accident or not. I guess I'm just not as cynical as some because the most plausible explanation for it seems to be just that, that it was a freak accident and nothing more. I realize it makes better headlines to throw in the other two deaths that he was associated with, but when you find out that the first one was due to another orca pulling the girl in the pool and the second was a guy dying from hypothermia due to climbing in his tank naked at night, it kinda takes the shock value away.

As far as the report you reference, it could be that the animal was distressed because of the incident itself, or they could be totally incorrect or exaggerating. It was pretty well shown that the news was getting 2-3 things wrong for every 1 thing they got right.

 

[NemoMom07]

If this was the first accident i could understand, but from what i am hearing , this is the 3rd person killed from this whale, don't u think something should be done about this.
I know i want be going back, because they should respect their employees better than this. She probaly had no choice , she was doing her job.
I Pray that this family can get through this, and i hope Seaworld pays deeply for this. It's uncall for to have such Vicious animal on display.

Read the post by KBF. It explains the other 2 incidents. Tiliy was in the wrong place at the wrong time you could say. Tiliy never went out and attacked the victims.

 

[Rip]

If this was the first accident i could understand, but from what i am hearing , this is the 3rd person killed from this whale, don't u think something should be done about this.
I know i want be going back, because they should respect their employees better than this. She probaly had no choice , she was doing her job.
I Pray that this family can get through this, and i hope Seaworld pays deeply for this. It's uncall for to have such Vicious animal on display.

Well, the first time it was another orca entirely that grabbed the girl and dragged her into the tank. The second time, some stoner climbed into his tank at night, naked, and died of hypothermia. I think you should probably listen to what her own family is saying, but it seems from your tone that you have your mind made up irrespective of actual facts.

 

[KBF]

As a passholder I have seen all the different whale shows numerous times so I am well aware that they dont get in the water with him. All I am saying is that we will never know the intent of the whale and it's just a little too simple to say it was the pony tail, case closed. Regarding the lack of blood, whales dont necessarily use their teeth to kill something they dont intend to eat. Obviously there is a need on this board for everyone to believe that it was just some silly hair malfunction, to that end Ill bow out of this conversation.

Were all looking for answers. Whatever the case may be, it was a sad event which hopefully never happens again.

 

[Thumper_Man]

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.

Nicely said.

On our last trip to SW, we experienced first hand about the trainers not forcing the whales to perform. The dominant female was in no mood to perform, so the others females followed her lead. The trainers tried to entice them to do some tricks; but the whales refused so the trainers just let them be. The trainers gave the crowd a history lesson about the whales and called off the show after 10 minutes when they were certain the whales were not up to performing.

 

[SandrA9810]

I've seen Blue Horizons cut out the whale scene because they were just swimming back and forth really fast.

All the trainers know the potential dangers of doing their job. It's stated over and over again. While this might be a rare instance, anything can happen with large whales. They know it every time they get in that tank. So don't act like she didn't know that this could happen.

 

[JennMouse32]

of course everyone will blame the orca.. its always the animals fault.. its their fault they are esstienally wild animals that have wild instincts and are in captivity..oh yeah sure blame the animal.. just some dumb creature.. more like stupid humans..yes i feel very strongly about this.. it is a tragedy that someone was killed..it always is.. but it is stillunfair to blame it on the animal... the lady killed worked there for 12 years, she knew the risk she took everyday with those orcas..​

 

[Rip]

of course everyone will blame the orca.. its always the animals fault.. its their fault they are esstienally wild animals that have wild instincts and are in captivity..oh yeah sure blame the animal.. just some dumb creature.. more like stupid humans..yes i feel very strongly about this.. it is a tragedy that someone was killed..it always is.. but it is stillunfair to blame it on the animal... the lady killed worked there for 12 years, she knew the risk she took everyday with those orcas..​

I don't think anyone is blaming either the animal or the trainer.

 

[JennMouse32]

they will.. any animal hurting/killing a human they blame the animal and usually kill them..​

 

[donaldduck352]

they will.. any animal hurting/killing a human they blame the animal and usually kill them..​

No there not gonna put Tilli down.I think they will move it to another aquarium were there will be less human contact!!!

I and many are not blaming the animal,like other posters stated she known the risk in her job.Watching the news tonight the family wrote A letter to SW and stated that working with these animals is what she wanted and loved.

 

[Poohbear123]

I agree with Bob Barker in this case..I have never been to SeaWorld and have NO desire to go there. The Whale and Dolphin shows are NOT entertaining to me, and I feel very sorry for them, as they deserve a better life than what they have inside a small tank, to entertain humans. Its deplorable... I feel sorry for the trainer and her Family also....

 

[mylittleprincess]

So I guess that everyone that is against Sea World & having Dolphins & Whales in captivity feels that all animals in zoos should be let go as well? My heart goes out to the family of Dawn & to the Sea World family.

 

[livndisney]

If this was the first accident i could understand, but from what i am hearing , this is the 3rd person killed from this whale, don't u think something should be done about this.
I know i want be going back, because they should respect their employees better than this. She probaly had no choice , she was doing her job.
I Pray that this family can get through this, and i hope Seaworld pays deeply for this. It's uncall for to have such Vicious animal on display.

Why would you say Sea World doesn't respect their employees? Are you an employee?

Dawn was doing what she loved. She spent so much time with these animals-her own family says they were like her "children".

 

[Timmy Boy]

If this was the first accident i could understand, but from what i am hearing , this is the 3rd person killed from this whale, don't u think something should be done about this.
I know i want be going back, because they should respect their employees better than this. She probaly had no choice , she was doing her job.
I Pray that this family can get through this, and i hope Seaworld pays deeply for this. It's uncall for to have such Vicious animal on display.

You sound like someone who would have said "This would have never happened at Disney."

Shame on you.

 

[SandrA9810]

We've been domesticating animals for how long now??
Why is a dog any different than a whale? because there's more of them? Because it can fit into your lap? I swear people turn into PETA the minute a "wild" animal becomes headlines. But they still see no problem with having a pet at home. At one point in time dogs and cats were wild animals and took thousands of years to get them to the point they are now. Want to talk about larger animals, several easter nations use "domesticated" elephants and camels as a way of getting around. We use horses.