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Whale kills SeaWorld trainer during Orlando show Thu Feb 25, 2010 1:27 pm
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A killer whale has killed a 40-year-old female trainer at the SeaWorld marine park in Orlando, Florida.
Officials described the incident as an accident, saying the woman fell in the water, but witnesses said the whale jumped up and grabbed her by the waist.
Guests were evacuated while fire crews tried to rescue the woman, but they were unable to revive her.
The killer whale - called Tilikum - was also involved in the death of a trainer in Canada in 1991, reports said.
Other whales were also said to have attacked trainers at Sea World parks in 2006 and 2004.
Conflicting accounts
Wednesday's incident took place at around 1400 local time (1900 GMT) inside Shamu Stadium.
"One of our most experienced animal trainers drowned in the incident," SeaWorld chief Dan Brown said in a brief statement to the media. He said an investigation was under way.
Jim Solomons, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Office, said the trainer "apparently slipped or fell" into the tank, but that it was too early to tell if she was attacked by the whale.
"There is no sense of foul play. Right now this appears to be an accident," said Mr Solomons.
The official account differed from that of eyewitnesses.
Park guest Victoria Biniak told a local TV channel that the trainer had just finished explaining to the audience what they were about to see.
At that point, she said, the whale "took off really fast, and then he came back around to the glass, jumped up, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started shaking her violently. The last thing we saw was her shoe floating."
Another male audience member gave CNN a similar version of events.
The entertainment park, known for its killer whale, seal and dolphin displays, was closed after the incident. SeaWorld in San Diego also suspended its killer whale show.
Previous attacks
The killer whale, known as Tilikum, was reportedly involved in several incidents in the past, the BBC's Andy Gallacher reports from Florida.
One involved the death of another trainer in 1991 while Tilikum was performing in British Columbia, Canada.
After the whale - nicknamed Telly - was sold to SeaWorld Orlando it was involved in a second incident when authorities discovered the body of a naked man lying across his back in 1999.
Officials later concluded the man, who had either sneaked into SeaWorld after hours or hidden in the park until it closed, most likely drowned after suffering instant hypothermia.
There have been incidents involving other whales at SeaWorld.
In November 2006, trainer Kenneth Peters was bitten and held underwater by a 7,000lb (3,000kg) female killer whale during a show at SeaWorld's San Diego park. He escaped with a broken foot.
In 2004 another whale at the company's San Antonio park attempted to bite a trainer, but he too escaped.
Though called a killer whale, the orca (Orcinus orca), is actually the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family.
Animal rights group Peta says it has long been asking SeaWorld to stop taking wild, ocean-going mammals and confining them to an area that, to them, is "the size of a bathtub".
Officials described the incident as an accident, saying the woman fell in the water, but witnesses said the whale jumped up and grabbed her by the waist.
Guests were evacuated while fire crews tried to rescue the woman, but they were unable to revive her.
The killer whale - called Tilikum - was also involved in the death of a trainer in Canada in 1991, reports said.
Other whales were also said to have attacked trainers at Sea World parks in 2006 and 2004.
Conflicting accounts
Wednesday's incident took place at around 1400 local time (1900 GMT) inside Shamu Stadium.
"One of our most experienced animal trainers drowned in the incident," SeaWorld chief Dan Brown said in a brief statement to the media. He said an investigation was under way.
Jim Solomons, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Office, said the trainer "apparently slipped or fell" into the tank, but that it was too early to tell if she was attacked by the whale.
"There is no sense of foul play. Right now this appears to be an accident," said Mr Solomons.
The official account differed from that of eyewitnesses.
Park guest Victoria Biniak told a local TV channel that the trainer had just finished explaining to the audience what they were about to see.
At that point, she said, the whale "took off really fast, and then he came back around to the glass, jumped up, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started shaking her violently. The last thing we saw was her shoe floating."
Another male audience member gave CNN a similar version of events.
The entertainment park, known for its killer whale, seal and dolphin displays, was closed after the incident. SeaWorld in San Diego also suspended its killer whale show.
Previous attacks
The killer whale, known as Tilikum, was reportedly involved in several incidents in the past, the BBC's Andy Gallacher reports from Florida.
One involved the death of another trainer in 1991 while Tilikum was performing in British Columbia, Canada.
After the whale - nicknamed Telly - was sold to SeaWorld Orlando it was involved in a second incident when authorities discovered the body of a naked man lying across his back in 1999.
Officials later concluded the man, who had either sneaked into SeaWorld after hours or hidden in the park until it closed, most likely drowned after suffering instant hypothermia.
There have been incidents involving other whales at SeaWorld.
In November 2006, trainer Kenneth Peters was bitten and held underwater by a 7,000lb (3,000kg) female killer whale during a show at SeaWorld's San Diego park. He escaped with a broken foot.
In 2004 another whale at the company's San Antonio park attempted to bite a trainer, but he too escaped.
Though called a killer whale, the orca (Orcinus orca), is actually the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family.
Animal rights group Peta says it has long been asking SeaWorld to stop taking wild, ocean-going mammals and confining them to an area that, to them, is "the size of a bathtub".
