Community | February 24, 2010 | 6 comments

1 killed in whale attack at SeaWorld

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hayden_augustus
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 it was a female employee who 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 what they would see during the performance.

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.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-seaworld-orlando-shamu...
  1. groups:
    Community,   Green
  2. tags:
    Animal Rights,  Animal Protection,  Attack,  Whales,  3 more
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6 comments // 1 killed in whale attack at SeaWorld

  • Mark_Marks
  • CalPal
  • jefftego
    • 0
      jefftego  

    • What is the message when the only examples of orcas killing people are from orcas in captivity?

      Once you learn about how they live in the wild, their social structures, life-long family bonds, and dialects & calls unique to each family group, it becomes extremely clear that they do not belong in captivity. There is just no way to duplicate their natural environment or provide what they need in captivity.

      And you add on to this their high level of intelligence, many would argue the nature of captivity is abusive to them.

      I've seen orcas both in captivity and in the wild, and there is no comparrison to seeing them in their own environment.

      Very sad for the trainer and her family.

    • 1 year ago
  • hayden_augustus
  • Eddie_Miller
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