Mysterious and Tragic.

From CNN


Orlando, Florida (CNN) -- A whale trainer at SeaWorld died from "multiple traumatic injuries and drowning" after a 12,000-pound killer whale grabbed her ponytail and pulled her underwater in front of shocked onlookers at Shamu Stadium, the Orange County Sheriff's office said Thursday.
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The county medical examiner ruled Brancheau "most likely died from multiple traumatic injuries and drowning after one of the park's killer whales pulled her into a pool behind Shamu Stadium," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

"AND drowning"? I never finished medical school, but I'm pretty sure that if you drown, THAT is the cause of death. Let's face it- people drown as a result of aspirating too much water. Dead men don't aspirate ANYTHING (you know- cuz they're DEAD). If there's water in the lungs of a corpse, it's because they were still breathing when they were exposed to the water. Of course, naming the cause of death "multiple traumatic injuries and drowning makes for better entertainment so I "understand".

The statement confirms Tompkins' account, saying that Brancheau was interacting with the whale, named Tilikum, in knee-deep water "when the animal grabbed her by the hair, said to be in a long ponytail, and pulled her underwater."

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WESH: Watch tourist's video seconds before whale attack

This video is largely uninteresting but you get a glimpse of Ms. Brancheau smiling naively at the whale just before the "horseplay" commences toward the end of the clip.

"While this incident remains the subject of an ongoing death investigation, there are no signs of foul play," the sheriff's statement said. "All evidence and witness statements indicate that the death was a tragic accident."

Someone was killed by a Killer Whale and anyone suspected foul play? Very funny. Someone got in the water with a Killer Whale with a history of horseplay/killing people and it's a "tragic accident"? What's tragic here is that these people are allowed to confine wild animals in the name of "furthering scientific research through funding and revenue realized from facilities like Sea World".

Earlier accounts varied on how Brancheau ended up in the tank.

A witness told CNN affiliate WKMG-TV that the whale approached the glass side of the 35-foot-deep tank at Shamu Stadium, jumped up and grabbed Brancheau by her waist, shaking her so violently that her shoe came off. A SeaWorld employee, who asked not to be identified, described the incident the same way.

"shaking her so violently that her shoe came off". I heard another account wherein her shoe "went flying off". Either way, people watch way too many youtube videos but flying shoes must be some kind of running joke perpetrated by God and physics.

Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Solomons said Brancheau slipped into the tank.

Tilikum has been linked to two other deaths. He and two other whales were involved in the drowning of a trainer at a Victoria, British Columbia, marine park in 1991. The trainer fell into the whale tank at the Sea Land Marine Park Victoria and was dragged underwater as park visitors watched.

You'd think they'd put up a rail or something to prevent people from "slipping" or "falling" into the tank. On second thought, since these are all Libs "communing" with nature and somehow, mysteriously and tragically experience the inevitable, maybe we should install "slip n' slides" and an unlimited supply of WD-40.

In 1999, Tilikum was blamed for the death of a 27-year-old man whose body was found floating in a tank at SeaWorld, the apparent victim of a whale's "horseplay," authorities said then.

More on "horseplay" later in this post.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office said the man apparently hid in the park until after it closed, then climbed into the tank.

The 22-foot-long whale was "not accustomed to people being in his tank" and "wouldn't have realized he was dealing with a very fragile human being," Solomons said at the time.

Yes- because if he had realized he was dealing with a very fragile human being, that would have made all the difference in the world. Let's face it, they've captured, confined, and harassed a highly-intelligent, large, wild animal and suddenly and miraculously, it sees very fragile human beings as "friends". I guess you have to be well-practiced in self-deception to believe that one.


Because of Tilikum's history, as well as his size, trainers did not get into the water with him, Tompkins told CNN. Specific procedures were in place for working with him, he said, although "obviously, we need to evaluate those protocols."

Well, in her defense, she didn't mean to get in the water with him- she slipped. Of course, I'm sure that if she wasn't 100% certain that she'd be fine if she got just a bit closer... a bit deeper into the wading area... she never would have gotten herself into trouble in the first place. I'm not sure how many years of experience she had working with Orcas but it seems to me that she should have consulted with an expert before getting anywhere near the water.

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Tompkins pointed out that the 1991 incident occurred before SeaWorld owned Tilikum and that no one is sure what took place in the incident eight years later.

Yes because if they kept complete and accurate records, they'd lose their funding.

Tilikum could have been trying to play with Brancheau or get her attention or companionship, said Nancy Black, a marine biologist who has studied whales for 20 years. Such whales play with seals and sea lions in the wild, tossing them in the air, she said. But they do not kill them and end up letting them go.

Yes- but they also kill them and eat them.

"I don't believe the killer whale purposely intended to kill the woman," she said. "It was more likely an accident, I would guess." But, she said, the whale could also have been frustrated for some reason.
Tompkins said there were no indications of any problem with Tilikum or any other animal just before the incident, and that Brancheau "had done a great session with him ... he seemed to enjoy what he was doing at the time."

She's been studying whales for 20 years and goes on record to say that she has NO IDEA IN THE WORLD what happened. That's TWENTY YEARS of study without gaining any useful ore relevant knowledge. I suspect it's time her grants be reviewed. 

The incident, however, raises larger questions regarding the captivity of wild animals.
A spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called the death "a tragedy that didn't have to happen."


Jaime Zalac said the organization had called on SeaWorld "to stop confining oceangoing mammals to an area that to them is like the size of a bathtub, and we have also been asking the park to stop forcing the animals to perform silly tricks over and over again. It's not surprising when these huge, smart animals lash out."

I'm going to step out of character for a minute here and state that this is a rare occasion that I agree with PeTa. Wild animals should not be confined like this.

Black told CNN that killer whales in the wild live in family groups, and males stay with their mothers their entire lives. Family members rely on each other for social structure and play, and they cover hundreds of miles of ocean, she said.

"I think they do need more space, and situations like that do cause a lot of stress for them, most likely." She said Tilikum had a "flopped fin," something seen in captivity but not much in the wild.

But Tompkins said, "We have a tremendous track record with these animals at SeaWorld" and a very small percentage of problems. It's useful to have animals in the park, he said, because it gives scientists a chance to study them and gives members of the public an opportunity to see them and learn about them.

"This is the first time in 46 years that we've ever had an incident like this with a trainer," he said. Although Tilikum is large and has to be handled carefully, "to mark him as a killer is unfair."

In 2006, a trainer at the adventure park was hospitalized after a killer whale grabbed him and twice held him underwater during a show at Shamu Stadium.

Yes- unfair. I mean, this is only the third incident. In California with their "three strikes" law, he'd be set free by now.