FL - Dawn Brancheau, Female Trainer Killed at Shamu Stadium

[jon_burrows]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiT-FQVyoe8&feature=fvw

I think the whale was confused by the similarity between the little fish and her ponytail. How good is their vision? I think once he had her in his mouth he went feral but he also didn't know what to do.

They have keen vision and hearing both in and out of the water.

 

[Penelope]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiT-FQVyoe8&feature=fvw

I think the whale was confused by the similarity between the little fish and her ponytail. How good is their vision? I think once he had her in his mouth he went feral but he also didn't know what to do.

Gracenote-- thank you for posting that video. I had watched a brief clip of it once before, but not the full 6 minutes.

Some observations:

• You can clearly see that Tilly does not have many teeth left -- they truly are ground down. That is very sad, and does mean he will have to be in a semi-controlled environment for the rest of his life.
• You can clearly see the pony tail was long, fluffy and easy to grab onto. It amazes me that Dawn was allowed to wear her hair like that while working with him (not blaming her-- just an observation).
• It is hard to watch the trainer, knowing now that those were her last happy moments on this earth -- as I am sure that she was terrified as she was pummeled around and slowly drowned by that poor whale.

As for PETA -- they may be over-the-top and you may not agree with their tactics, but IMO their read on Jack Hanna is right on. Every time I see him on Larry King I change the channel because I consider him to be a fool. The people who carry those animals into Larry's studio are the ones that know those animals -- not Jack Hanna. IMO He is a mouthpiece for wild animal exploitation.

In addition, I agree with John_Burrows-- everything I have read about Tilly following the death of the first Trainer in BC was that they were going to return the whale to Iceland where it would be set free. In the 3 or 4 sources that I have read, no one ever mentioned euthanasia-- no one except Jack Hanna. It is obvious that, based on SeaWorld's behavior following this last death, euthanasia was not an option. SeaWorld just saw a good deal, jumped at it, and used their legal resources to secure the product (the whales). IMO it wasn't because they cared about the whales-- they just cared about the $$$ they would make off of their caprivity.

 

[jon_burrows]

Penelope -- I agree with everything you posted.

I change the channel too if Hanna comes on. It's disgusting the way he parades animals on stage and defends animal captivity. I saw a tiger cub paraded into a corporate event that I attended in Las Vegas. Step right up folks and get your picture taken with a tiger cub. The tiger cub was terrified, trembling, and trying to hide behind the handler's arms. He was passed from person to person still trying to hang onto the only person he knew. It was a very elaborate party but no place for a tiny tiger cub. Hanna doesn't seem to have a problem parading these animals all over the country.

I hope someone calls in on his next SeaWorld publicity tour and asks about the two killer whale deaths that occurred within an 8 month span at SeaWorld San Antonio.

Taku - 14 year old male died of pneumonia.
Halyn - 2 1/2 years old (died June 2008) You can see her in the concrete prison she lived in complete with bars swimming in circles: [video=youtube;BY6bP-VyHaw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY6bP-VyHaw[/video]

IMO

 

[LoveMyDogs]

That's so sad. Did they ever say how baby Halyn died?

 

[Penelope]

Penelope -- I agree with everything you posted.

I change the channel too if Hanna comes on. It's disgusting the way he parades animals on stage and defends animal captivity. I saw a tiger cub paraded into a corporate event that I attended in Las Vegas. Step right up folks and get your picture taken with a tiger cub. The tiger cub was terrified, trembling, and trying to hide behind the handler's arms. He was passed from person to person still trying to hang onto the only person he knew. It was a very elaborate party but no place for a tiny tiger cub. Hanna doesn't seem to have a problem parading these animals all over the country.

I hope someone calls in on his next SeaWorld publicity tour and asks about the two killer whale deaths that occurred within an 8 month span at SeaWorld San Antonio.

Taku - 14 year old male died of pneumonia.
Halyn - 2 1/2 years old (died June 2008) You can see her in the concrete prison she lived in complete with bars swimming in circles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY6bP-VyHaw

IMO

Thanks Jon_Burrows, but I could not watch but 20 seconds of it. It breaks my heart, but at least she did not have to suffer through 30 years in captivity. Unfortunately, whether captured or born in captivity... their options are very limited. The human species is so narcissistic.

 

[Melly53]

Hypocrisy is the mother of all credibility problems, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has it in spades. The group has its own (huge) dirty little secret.

PETA kills animals by the thousands according to government documents (State of Virginia Dept. of Agricultural and Consumer Services).

http://www.virginia.gov/vdacs_ar/cg...acility&form=fac_select&fac_num=157&year=2006

From 1998 to 2009 totals

Animals taken in 27,478
Adopted out 3,091
Euthanized 23,641

Animals taken in by PETA through their Spay/neuter program which are returned to their owners are not included in the above figures.

The group put to death over 90 percent of the animals it took in just during the last five years. And its angel-of-death pattern shows no sign of changing.

You can see PETA's year by year break down of the number of animals taken in, adopted, transferred to other facilities, and euthanized, as well as the percentages here:

http://petakillsanimals.com/petasdirtysecret.cfm

To put that into perspective by contrast, the Norfolk SPCA, whose shelter is located less than 4 miles from PETA's headquarters, found adoptive homes for 73 percent of its animals in 2003.The Virginia Beach SPCA adopted out 66 percent. But PETA could only manage 14 percent.

In 2000, when the Associated Press first noted PETA's Kervorkian-esque tendencies, PETA president Ingrid Newkirk complained that actually taking care of animals costs more than killing them. "We could become a no-kill shelter immediately," she admitted.

PETA kills animals but its leaders dare lecture the rest of us? Oh and I really loved this one:

PETA Vice-President MaryBeth Sweetland said this in January 1990 in "Glamour" magazine:

"I'm an insulin-dependent diabetic. Twice a day I take synthetically manufactured insulin that still contains some animal products -- and I have no qualms about it ... I'm not going to take the chance of killing myself by not taking insulin. I don't see myself as a hypocrite. I need my life to fight for the rights of animals."

So animal products are fine when it's your own butt on the line?

 

[rpipergirl]

Just because no one else posted it I will. Killer Whales/Orcas are actually the largest species of dolphin. They are in fact not Whales at all.
My opinion is that The Orca was angry because she stopped giving him atention and turned away to the people because this is when he attacked. I don't think he tried to kill her persay I think he was "teaching her a lesson" so to speak. JMHO

 

[time4coffee]

I'm not sure the that tilli confused the ponytail for one of the feeding fish because in the videos I've seen it seems the fish are thrown into the open mouths of the orcas while they are encouraged to simply lay there. I haven't seen a video where the orcas jump up, grab a fish, and swim off with it underwater as part of their eating in captivity. so I think tilli attacked the woman. the behavior of "eating" vs "swimming off with the trainer" are just too different. not to say that isn't their eating behavior in the wild- to swim off with a kill. especially after seeing the video where a) the orcas attacked the pelican, and b) an orca repeatedly "jumps" on a man keeping him underwater and in front of him. I think this was a tragic incident of humans interacting with nature. tilli was a wild animal. not domesticated. not bred for hundreds of years to live in captivity. he was/IS an undpredictable, beautiful, wild animal. my thoughts and sympathies to the woman's family and friends, as a human loss is always tragic. I just don't see this as the fault of the trainer OR the orca. just a sad consequence of interacting with nature. still on the fence about the morality of places such as sea world. I want to look more into the actual sizes of the pools etc. I confess I've really enjoyed seaworld and zoos when I've visited, and learned a lot while I was there. are orcas and dolphins performing tricks to raise awareness and educate the public really more appalling than horses raised to race? or chickens kept in dark barns their whole lives just to be eaten? do we all become vegetarians and never get to see nature's amazing diversity in person? what are the answers? this incident raises a lot of questions for me.

 

[Penelope]

Just because no one else posted it I will. Killer Whales/Orcas are actually the largest species of dolphin. They are in fact not Whales at all.
My opinion is that The Orca was angry because she stopped giving him atention and turned away to the people because this is when he attacked. I don't think he tried to kill her persay I think he was "teaching her a lesson" so to speak. JMHO

Your opinion is very interesting-- I had not considered that reaction/reason. Early on in the thread it was mentioned that killer whales are not whales but a species of dolphin. In posting #57, page 3 of this thread I gave the link to an article that talks about how a growing number of studies suggest that whale and dolphin brain power is only matched by the higher primates, including man. We may never know why Tilly did what he did -- was it "to teach her a lesson"; was it because he was angry, frustrated, bored, or playful; or was it just some primal instinct that came into play when that ponytail moved?

 

[Penelope]

I'm not sure the that tilli confused the ponytail for one of the feeding fish because in the videos I've seen it seems the fish are thrown into the open mouths of the orcas while they are encouraged to simply lay there. I haven't seen a video where the orcas jump up, grab a fish, and swim off with it underwater as part of their eating in captivity. so I think tilli attacked the woman. the behavior of "eating" vs "swimming off with the trainer" are just too different. not to say that isn't their eating behavior in the wild- to swim off with a kill. especially after seeing the video where a) the orcas attacked the pelican, and b) an orca repeatedly "jumps" on a man keeping him underwater and in front of him. I think this was a tragic incident of humans interacting with nature. tilli was a wild animal. not domesticated. not bred for hundreds of years to live in captivity. he was/IS an undpredictable, beautiful, wild animal. my thoughts and sympathies to the woman's family and friends, as a human loss is always tragic. I just don't see this as the fault of the trainer OR the orca. just a sad consequence of interacting with nature. still on the fence about the morality of places such as sea world. I want to look more into the actual sizes of the pools etc. I confess I've really enjoyed seaworld and zoos when I've visited, and learned a lot while I was there. are orcas and dolphins performing tricks to raise awareness and educate the public really more appalling than horses raised to race? or chickens kept in dark barns their whole lives just to be eaten? do we all become vegetarians and never get to see nature's amazing diversity in person? what are the answers? this incident raises a lot of questions for me.

BBM. When I was in my 20's, I became a vegetarian. Over the years, I have gone back to eating a bit of meat, and as I get older, I find myself going back to a meatless diet.

This discussion about Tilly and SeaWorld has raised a lot of questions for me, too. Up until the trainer was killed, I never even thought about the performing killer whales, dolphins and other animals/fish at SeaWorld. Everything I have learned since then has got me thinking.

I think we have to respect all animals. Even if we are raising them to eat them, I think that, as humans, we must give them the best possible life we can. Living in rural Manitoba, I see the cattle who are raised on the land with the freedom to move around, uncrowded. But we also have chickens raised in darkness, and pigs being raised in overcrowded conditions in hog barns. A number of these barns have burned down over the past couple of years, with sometimes 5,000 to 8,000 pigs burning to death inside them, with no way to get out.

IMO, it's great to let people see Tilly and the other killer whales in the SeaWorld shows, but not at the expense of these animals lives. I believe they are more intelligent than our scientists believe-- but just different than us humans. It is upsetting to think that they can feel sorrow and pain, but because they are not human, many of us refuse to recognize this or to consider that possibility.

 

[BOZGAL]

SeaWorld Trainer's Family Wants to Prevent Release of Video Footage of Accident
Tuesday, March 09, 2010

The family of a SeaWorld Orlando trainer who was drowned by a killer whale after a Feb. 24 performance, is gearing up for a legal battle to prevent video footage of the incident from appearing online or on television, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Forty-year-old trainer Dawn Brancheau died from multiple traumatic injuries and drowning after a 22-foot-long whale pulled her into the pool by her ponytail after a performance.

Read more here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,588563,00.html

This video does not need to be released.

JMO

 

[LoveMyDogs]

I agree, bozgal. Out of respect for Dawn and her family, the video should not be released.

 

[Melly53]

SeaWorld Trainer's Family Wants to Prevent Release of Video Footage of Accident
Tuesday, March 09, 2010

The family of a SeaWorld Orlando trainer who was drowned by a killer whale after a Feb. 24 performance, is gearing up for a legal battle to prevent video footage of the incident from appearing online or on television, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Forty-year-old trainer Dawn Brancheau died from multiple traumatic injuries and drowning after a 22-foot-long whale pulled her into the pool by her ponytail after a performance.

Read more here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,588563,00.html

This video does not need to be released.

JMO

snipped from the link:

SeaWorld's cameras recorded the death, and the tapes were voluntarily turned over to law enforcement. The Orange County Sheriff's Office, who now has the video, has received several calls from sources trying to obtain copies of the video, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Once the Orange County Sheriff's Office concludes its investigation, the material would become public under Florida law.
SeaWorld Orlando has "offered to assist them [Brancheau's family] in any way we can, including helping them prevent the release of these images," a park spokesman said Monday.
Brancheau's family said through a spokesman that public airing of the killing would only worsen their grief.
They could seek a court injunction to stop the release, at least temporarily. The family has been consulting the lawyer who represented Dale Earnhardt's widow in a court fight over his autopsy photos.


I agree that out of respect for the family the tape should not be released to the media, but under Florida's Sunshine law it may be difficult to stop. Earnhardt's widow did succeed in keeping Dale's autopsy photos private but I remember the actual crash being shown a number of times in the media. I wonder if the same principal will be applied here. I sincerely hope for the family's sake that they are successful because I can only imagine the extra pain her family will feel if they are allowed to be released.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

I agree that tape should not be released.

So, are they saying it becomes public knowledge due to the Sunshine Law? If so that's very unfortunate.

Sleuthing cases, I love the sunshine law...but in this instance, it would be horrible.

Prayers for the family. I hope and pray that video is never released.

 

[BOZGAL]

Yes it would be horrible if released. I remember too well Teresa's fight to keep Dale's autopsy pictures private, but she had alot of $ & power to fight with. Not sure how expensive this would be. I just know this would be very disrespectful to Dawn's memory and its not anything that the public needs to see or would benefit from. I pray they are successful.

JMO

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Yes it would be horrible if released. I remember too well Teresa's fight to keep Dale's autopsy pictures private, but she had alot of $ & power to fight with. Not sure how expensive this would be. I just know this would be very disrespectful to Dawn's memory and its not anything that the public needs to see or would benefit from. I pray they are successful.

JMO

BBM

Well, the article above said SeaWorld would help the family any way they can on this so maybe they can pick up some of the expense.

 

[kgeaux]

BBM

Well, the article above said SeaWorld would help the family any way they can on this so maybe they can pick up some of the expense.

I totally agree that it is completely wrong to release the video of Dawn's death. What kind of person would want to watch it, anyway? What self-respecting "news" agency would even ASK for the video to be released. A person's death should be treated with respect by the public, as though it were a holy thing.

I hope Sea World covers the entire cost of keeping this video private. They've got the money to do it, and Dawn's family has already lost so much, they don't need to lose money too.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

I totally agree that it is completely wrong to release the video of Dawn's death. What kind of person would want to watch it, anyway? What self-respecting "news" agency would even ASK for the video to be released. A person's death should be treated with respect by the public, as though it were a holy thing.

I hope Sea World covers the entire cost of keeping this video private. They've got the money to do it, and Dawn's family has already lost so much, they don't need to lose money too.

I agree. They've said they would help in any way to fight this. So, maybe they will.

 

[Melly53]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...trainer-video-20100315,0,6867.story?track=rss

The family of the SeaWorld Orlando trainer drowned by a killer whale last month gained a temporary order to keep photos and videos that captured her death out of the public eye.

An Orange County Circuit Court judge late today granted Dawn Brancheau's family its request for a temporary restraining order against the Medical Examiner's Office and the Orange County Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's Office is investigating Brancheau's Feb. 24 death at the theme park.

By Florida law, materials collected by the Sheriff's Office as part of its investigation will become public record when the agency's probe concludes.

Orange Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Kirkwood set a March 24 hearing to determine the lengthy of the injunction. At that hearing, any other interested parties can be heard.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/23012766/detail.html

snipped:

Autopsy Shows Trauma To SeaWorld Trainer
Trainer Attacked By Killer Whale Last Month

POSTED: Wednesday, March 31, 2010
UPDATED: 1:55 pm EDT March 31,2010



SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau
ORLANDO, Fla. -- An autopsy shows a SeaWorld Orlando trainer who was attacked by a killer whale suffered blunt-force trauma to her head, neck and torso before she drowned.

According to an autopsy report released Wednesday, the medical examiner's office ruled Dawn Brancheau's official cause of death as drowning and traumatic injuries. Her death was ruled an accident. Toxicology tests found no drugs in her system.