A Trainer from SeaWorld Died from Injuries and Drowning

On Thursday, March 4, 2010, Krista wrote a blog about Dawn Brancheau, a whale trainer, who was killed by a killer whale named Tilikum at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida on February 24th, 2010. Brancheau died from multiple injuries and drowning after Tilikum pulled her into a pool. They say that Tilikum has a history involved with deaths. 1991, Tilikum killed a trainer in British Columbia after the trainer fell into the tank. Tilikum drug him down. In 1999, a man was found in the tank and was said to have been killed by Tilikum's horseplay. Tilikum's history and size emphasized that the trainers shouldn't get in the water with the whale. Brancheau was in knee deep water when Tilikum came and grabbed her ponytail and pulled her underwater. Tilikum had to be coax into a different tank before Brancheau could be reached. This is a tragic accident. Researchers believe that Tilikum didn't tried to kill the trainer, he was probably trying to play with her as they behave in nature. This has raised a lot of questions about the captivity of animals, issues about space, tricks and situations the whales are put in.

Web site:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/25/florida.seaworld.death/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Krista thinks this is a tragic incident and I agree with her. It is tragic because a person was lost doing something that she loved. I think that the killer whale didn't try to kill Brancheau, I think that he was just trying to play with her. Brancheau had been training the whale for a long time and loved the animal. A killer whale and other animals are like kids in a way, they don't know better. There have been stories about animals acting out before, whether they are in captivity, the wild, or a family pet. Krista says that animals are animals, they are living creatures, just like us. She also says that people act out all the time and that humans are animals too. I agree with her. Animals are animals, living creatures like us. We act out, so animals act out too. Neither one, human or animal, is perfect. People love zoos, they love the fact that they get to see animals that they don't normally get to see, up close. I think that if we are going to put animals in captivity, we need to give them enough space and the thinks they would have in the wild. I think that having animal shows, where the animals do tricks, is a good way to show how smart the animals are but we need to remember that they are wild animals. They are animals who need their space and don't need to be forced to do things they don't want to do.

Krista's Blog:
http://earlyushistory8.blogspot.com/2010/03/seaworld-trainer-died-from-traumatic.html