Drowning and Traumatic Injuries Result in Trainers Death

Background: An autopsy report released Wednesday confirmed that SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau died of drowning and traumatic injuries to her spine, ribs, and head after a 12,000-pound killer whale pulled her underwater. On February 24, Brancheau was working with a whale named Tilikum at an Orlando SeaWorld, when the animal grabbed her by the pony tail and dragged her underwater. The medical officer's report says that Brancheau suffered a severed spinal cord, fractures to her jawbone, ribs, and cervical vertebra, in addition to drowning. Because of Tilikum's "aggressive nature," the rescuers weren't able to recover Brancheau's body until 40 minutes later. Tilikum has also been linked to two other deaths. In 1991, a trainer in Canada fell into the tank and was drowned by three whales, including Tilikum. Also, in 1999, the same whale was blamed for the death of a 27-year-old man who hid in the park and climbed into the whales tank after hours. Despite Brancheau's death and Tilikums storied background, the head of SeaWorld said that Tilikum "is a wonderful animal" and "will remain an active and contributing member of the team despite what happened." There has always been special precautions taken with Tilikum, due to his special size and weight. Now there will be even more special procedures put in place for trainers handling this whale.

Opinion: To me this is a very tragic loss for Sea World and its staff. It's yet another example why animals can never be tamed, they will always have that wild instinct to them to do what they were meant to do, and that is kill for food. It's also very sad that Sea World has not done anything to step in and protect the trainers from this whale especially because of the history the whale has. Its had numerous events leading up to this one that has injured trainers and put many people at risk. Fool me once shame on shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. SeaWorld should really focus on this and do what is necessary to keep the trainers safe. I say either release the whale into the ocean, or kill it so this never has to happen to a trainer again. This could have been easily prevented but it doesn't sound like SeaWorld cares if they lose a trainer.