Trainer killed at Seaworld, Orlando

[Isafari]

A friend in Florida rang to tell me......many reports available but here is the Orlando Sentinel report...

HERE (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-seaworld-orlando-shamu-injury-20100224,0,942688.story)

"A SeaWorld employee died this afternoon during an incident at SeaWorld's Shamu Stadium, an Orange County Sheriff's Office official confirmed.

SeaWorld, rescue personnel and the Sheriff's Office are not revealing the identity of the victim, although a local TV station is reporting that a female employee was killed after she was grabbed by one of the theme park's whales at the start of a public show.

Park guest Victoria Biniak told Local 6 that the trainer was a veteran of SeaWorld and had just finished explaining to the audience the show they were about to see.

At that point, Biniak said, the whale came up from the water and grabbed the woman.

"He was thrashing her around pretty good. It was violent,'" Biniak told Local 6.

The whale "took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off."

She said sirens went off and everyone was forced to leave the stadium.

Guests were evacuated from the area, and the whale show was cancelled. The park is not shut down.

Orange County Fire Rescue personnel arrived on scene within five minutes of receiving a 911 call for an unknown medical condition just prior to 2 p.m., a spokesman said. The woman was dead when rescue officials arrived.

The Sheriff's Office is on the scene."

[Tinkfan]

My goodness, that is just terrible. Prayers to her poor family

[BUTTERHEAD1]

How very sad for this woman and her family. I can only imagine the horror on the faces of the children who witnessed this incident.RIP

[Britchick]

how tragic, thoughts are with the family :redroses:

[daveann]

very sad :(

[Slowhand]

My heart goes out to that poor lady.
It only goes to show however that these are wild animals that they deal with and not domesticated pets.

[Isafari]

Apparently it happened during Dine With Shamu.

[Claire]

A male whale called Tilikum involved apparently. So very, very sad. Thoughts go to the family and friends of the victim.

[Britchick]

just seen the live press conference. 40 year old female fell into a pool and that's when it happened.

[lozzy]

What a horrible thing for anyone to see, My thoughts are with the poor family.
It's very weird as I have just watch the most amazing program on bbc2 about a killer whale who got lost and made friends with the locals.

[Tink]

Oh good g-d, this is terrible. :(

[Keith]

just seen the live press conference. 40 year old female fell into a pool and that's when it happened.

a lot of eyewitnesses saying that's not how it happened and that she was definitely grabbed and pulled in :/ :( very sad indeed however it happened

[Britchick]

Even more frightening if true Keith

[Keith]

Reports now saying that the 40-yr old SeaWorld trainer killed today was Dawn Brancheau. She had 16 years of experience with the orcas.

[Isafari]

Rest in peace Dawn :redroses:

You were an amazing lady.

[Keith]

An audience member said a show was just starting when the whale "took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around" Victoria Biniak told WKMG-TV

Brazilian tourist Joao Lucio DeCosta Sobrinho and his girlfriend were at an underwater viewing area when they suddenly saw a whale with someone in its mouth.

The trainer was identified as Dawn Brancheau, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he had not been cleared to officially release her name.

According to a profile of Brancheau in the Orlando Sentinel in 2006, she was one of SeaWorld Orlando's leading trainers. It was apparently a trip to SeaWorld at 9 years old that made her want to pursue this career.

"I remember walking down the aisle (of Shamu Stadium) and telling my mom, 'This is what I want to do,'" she said in the article.

Brancheau worked her way into a leadership role at Shamu Stadium during her 12-year career with SeaWorld, starting at the Sea Lion & Otter Stadium before spending the past 10 years working with killer whales, the newspaper said.

She also addressed the dangers of the job.

"You can't put yourself in the water unless you trust them and they trust you," Brancheau said.

From the Orlando Sentinel 24/02/2010

[Tinker]

a lot of eyewitnesses saying that's not how it happened and that she was definitely grabbed and pulled in :/ :( very sad indeed however it happened :yes: I watched World News Tonight on ABC . Witnesses reported the whale jumped up grabbed Dawn by the arm and trashed her while rapidly swimming . Before this witnesses said, the whales seemed aggitated . That must have been a sign of Big Ts fury .
I got chills in my legs when I saw whom it was . Jim & I just looked at each other with our mouths open , she looks very familiar . I think I have pictures on my desktop of her performing .
My thoughts & prayers go out to her family, friends & associates . She died doing what she loved most . RIP Dawn !

[Tinker]

It was apparently a trip to SeaWorld at 9 years old that made her want to pursue this career.

"I remember walking down the aisle (of Shamu Stadium) and telling my mom, 'This is what I want to do,'" she said in the article.

Oh Dear G_D , it is her ! She told that story during Believe .

[Beccaberry]

Tragic.

[gwennie81]

Sea World is EVIL and should NOT EXIST! Why on EARTH would you think of putting a WHALE in a ZOO? If you want to learn about an animal, go on the internet. That's what it's for. Sorry, but I have a real problem with zoos in general. I think they are horrible and should not exist. People claim that "thanks to zoos, many animals have been saved from endangerment." I think that's a bunch of hooey and animals should be left alone in the wild and protected in national parks. If they become extinct, that's just natural selection. I personally think we should conserve as much land (and water) as possible, before it's too late. Urban density, Americans! It's coming!

[Britchick]

While I respect your opinion Gwennie I don't think this is the time or thread for it.

[mumof2]

:redroses:

[lozzy]

Sea World is EVIL and should NOT EXIST! Why on EARTH would you think of putting a WHALE in a ZOO? If you want to learn about an animal, go on the internet. That's what it's for. Sorry, but I have a real problem with zoos in general. I think they are horrible and should not exist. People claim that "thanks to zoos, many animals have been saved from endangerment." I think that's a bunch of hooey and animals should be left alone in the wild and protected in national parks. If they become extinct, that's just natural selection. I personally think we should conserve as much land (and water) as possible, before it's too late. Urban density, Americans! It's coming!
Many people may agree with this statement but I really don't feel this is the place to voice opinion as it is a thread for people to send they thoughts to the family and friend of the poor woman that has sadly lost her life doing something she loved.

[Dawn]

No words...just true sadness. :(

[josh.p.]

:( I'm 99.9% sure that she is the lady we saw performing at Seaworld.

My thoughts are with her family :sorry:

[ukwdwnut]

how tragic :(

[josh.p.]

Did she perform in 'Believe'?

[Isafari]

Did she perform in 'Believe'?

She did Josh, yes. More recently she did a lot of the Dine with Shamu. Dawn was at SW for years and performed in all of the Shamu shows at some stage.

[foreverducky]

How horrible and devastating.

May she rest in peace.

[mainecoon lover]

:rose3: RIP Dawn

[MystikPiglit]

I feel for the parents of children watching the show. It will be very difficult to explain the tragedy to them.

[Tinker]

Dawn's sister appeared on MSNBC , she said Dawn would not want anything done to Tilly . IMHO, they knew he was dangerous from previous incidents . I have to feel for the whale . SW is stating it would not survive on its own . Could they not try with modification ? This poor mammal was speaking out the only way he knew how too .
SW has announced all Shamu shows are canceled indefinitely . San Diego included .
We were planning on going to SW in a few weeks, but not now . Jim & I are so devastated that this senseless incident happened, that we can't bring ourselves to go .

[Kate]

I have seaworld on my facebook, world of discovery have said that they are still going to work with the orca but that their procedures are going to be looked at.

[Tink]

I understand how we feel (the posters here on this thread) and passions run high all around.

It is very hard to separate the tragedy of the loss of a talented, intelligent woman, and what some of us feel is a tragedy of the captive animal.

Thank you all for being considerate of the complexities and the high emotion surrounding this complex issue. :grouphug:

[Tinker]

right back at ya :hug2:

[Kathmandu]

We have tickets to SeaWorld for our upcoming trip, I am so sad about this tragedy :(

[Keith]

We have tickets to SeaWorld for our upcoming trip, I am so sad about this tragedy :(

Me too ;( but she died doing EXACTLY what she always wanted to do and how many of us can say the things we dreamed about at 9 were what we ended up doing day to day?

I know she wouldn't have wanted it to put people off going to Seaworld and I'll be going back during our next trip for sure.

[Shellyamc]

So very sad. Such a confusing situation in so many ways.

RIP..

[Tinker]

I can't bring myself to do it , not because of the mammal activists . That it is So Sad that there will be no more Shamu shows . I leave in 24 days, I'm not saying I'll never go back, but not right now .

[Dawn]

So very sad. Such a confusing situation in so many ways.

RIP..

I think this expresses it perfectly.

[Tink]

It absolutely does.

[Lisa1976]

You have to remember that although they're trained they are still wild animals.

We are over here at the moment and there are lots of reports flying around and some of the supposed "eyewitnesses" seem to change their stories from channel to channel. The one woman who said she witnessed it with her 5 year old kid her story was different on this mornings news.

It's very sad but the trainers all know the risks.

[Tinker]

Very True Lisa !

[Isafari]

SeaWorld Orlando show tribute to Dawn.......

1LC7AY3Szm4&feature=player_embedded

[Britchick]

thanks for sharing Diane

[Tink]

Local news had a report of the crowd chanting that they wanted to see the whales, so the show is back on.

The tribute to Dawn is incredibly moving fora ll who see it (in person in particular). PETA is of course picketing but it's not much of a showing.

[Tinker]

Thanks for sharing, Isafari ! I shed some tears .

[Slowhand]

I bet there wasn`t a dry eye in the house for that show.
It was also great to see the crowd just standing there and applauding after the show instead of making the usual mad dash to exit...very moving.

[josh.p.]

How moving. :sigh:

[ukwdwnut]

very touching

[Shellyamc]

very touching..I'm all misty

[Kate]

Beautiful. The show brings a lump to my throat at the best of times

[ukwdwnut]

the whale went berserk for a few minutes, dawn was already in the water when it went mad, she wasnt grabbed from the side as ive heard reported...no help was given in the water only from the side trying to distract the whale with buckets of fish