seaworld: Orca bang kills SeaWorld trainer

Orca bang kills SeaWorld trainer

A SeaWorld killer whale seized a trainer in its jaws Wednesday and thrashed the woman around underwater, killing her in front of a horrified audience. It marked the third time the animal had been involved in a human death. Distraught audience members were hustled out of the stadium immediately, and the park was closed. Trainer Dawn Brancheau, 40, was one of the park's most experienced. It was not clear if she drowned or died from the thrashing. A former contractor with SeaWorld told the Orlando Sentinel that the whale, 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. The park said it hasn't decided yet what to do with the whale. Brancheau's sister Diane Gross, of Indiana, said her sister "would not want anything done to that whale." Gross told the Associated Press that news of her sister's death "hasn't sunk in yet." A SeaWorld official said that because of Tilikum's size and involvement in two previous deaths, trainers were not supposed to get into the water with him.