Tilikum Strikes Again

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March 5, 2010 • Kaila Hammond  
Filed under BuccaNews

           Every year millions of excited spectators enter the Shamu Stadium at SeaWorld Orlando to watch the spectacular show put on by killer whales and their trainers. Little kids typically rush to the front where they are guaranteed to get soaked from the giant splashes. And parents sit nearby where they are safe from getting wet and can keep a close eye on their came to an end.

            In a flash of a second the happy, upbeat scene changed. The amazed spectators turned into horrified on lookers as they watched a scene they would never be able to forget. On February 24, 2010 a SeaWorld trainer, Dawn Brancheau, was grabbed by Tilikum, one of the three orca whales, and dragged helplessly under water. The massive whale lunged out of water to thrash her around violently. The ordeal was fatal and Dawn Brancheau died at the age of forty. Brancheau was one of SeaWorld’s most experienced trainers at the site. From the age of nine Brancheau wanted to work with the killer whales at the Shamu Stadium; not knowing her dream was going to cause her death. Brancheau once recalled to a magazine that when she was nine as she was walking the aisles of Shamu Stadium she said to her mom, “This is what I want to do.”

            SeaWorld Orlando took immediate action when the circumstance arrived. They instantly began hustling out distraught audience members when an alarmed sounded and workers began scrambling to save the helpless victim. SeaWorld quickly shut down the park for the rest of the day while they tried to make sense of the fatal accident. Although Tilikum has been involved in two other deaths in his lifetime, SeaWorld has announced the fate of Tilikum will not be death. He may even perform again, but luckily SeaWorld representative said, “’I think it’s too early to say that he won’t perform again.” This recent event has brought further attention to the “killer” in killer whales and the consequences of housing wild life.