A killer whale in captivity has killed its trainer. This is a very sad news not only for the relatives of the Sea World Trainer killed by the whale but for everyone. Dawn Brancheau was a well known whale trainer who was working in Florida Stadium. According to some reports she was killed by the whale in front of hundreds of people during a live performance. The whale was said to have attacked her from behind without provocation. Here's a report about it from PETA:
This is not the first time that a killer whale in Sea World kills a person, this is in fact the third time. I guess Sea World should start thinking about this and not dismiss this as "just an accident". Using wild animals for entertainment and profit is quite (what's the word?) awful.
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Earlier this afternoon, another trainer at SeaWorld in Orlando was killed after being pulled into the tank by an orca named Tilikum (or Telly, for short). According to a witness, the whale, who has been involved in two previous fatal incidents involving human beings and who our captive wildlife director, Debbie Leahy, describes as "12,300 pounds of sheer rage," leapt out of the tank and grabbed the trainer by the waist, pulled her into the water, threw her around like a rag doll, and then held her underwater until she drowned.
SeaWorld officials canceled the dolphin and whale shows for the rest of the day, but SeaWorld remains open (have they no shame?!) and will continue to exploit and abuse these captive animals despite the many horrific injuries and deaths of trainers and animals that have occurred throughout the theme park's history.
This is not the first time that a killer whale in Sea World kills a person, this is in fact the third time. I guess Sea World should start thinking about this and not dismiss this as "just an accident". Using wild animals for entertainment and profit is quite (what's the word?) awful.
