An autopsy report released Wednesday confirmed that SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau died of drowning and traumatic injuries to her spine, ribs, and head after a 12,000-pound killer whale pulled her underwater. On February 24, Brancheau was working with a whale named Tilikum at an Orlando SeaWorld, when the animal grabbed her by the pony tail and dragged her underwater. The medical officer's report says that Brancheau suffered a severed spinal cord, fractures to her jawbone, ribs, and cervical vertebra, in addition to drowning. Because of Tilikum's "aggressive nature," the rescuers weren't able to recover Brancheau's body until 40 minutes later. Tilikum has also been linked to two other deaths. In 1991, a trainer in Canada fell into the tank and was drowned by three whales, including Tilikum. Also, in 1999, the same whale was blamed for the death of a 27-year-old man who hid in the park and climbed into the whales tank after hours. Despite Brancheau's death and Tilikums storied background, the head of SeaWorld said that Tilikum "is a wonderful animal" and "will remain an active and contributing member of the team despite what happened." There has always been special precautions taking with Tilikum, due to his special size and weight. Now there will be even more special procedures put in place for trainers handling this whale.
I don't understand how SeaWorld can keep this whale in active duty. This whale has shown aggression on several occasions, and should not be handled by humans. I think SeaWorld should do one of two things: either put the animal down or release it into the ocean. By keeping this oversized, aggressive whale around, they are endangering the lives of any trainer who handles Tilikum. In my opinion, they are asking for another tragic event to happen. How many deaths does this whale have to be tied to in order for it to be dealt with in more of a permanent matter. He may be "a wonderful animal," but that doesn't make up for his history of aggressive "fits," where someone usually ends up dead. These situations could surely be avoided. I also don't understand why we think we can train whales. Dolphins are one thing, because they are not aggressive by nature. But why would we want to train animals with the nickname of Killer Whale. It just doesn't make any sense to me.
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