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SeaWorld says its Shamu Believe show with
killer whales will resume this weekend after a whale killed its
trainer at the Orlando park.

      SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment President Jim Atchison says
trainers won't get in the water with the killer whales for now
until officials finish reviewing what happened to trainer Dawn
Brancheau.

      The veteran trainer was dragged into the water Wednesday by
killer whale Tilikum. The medical examiner says she likely died of
traumatic injuries and drowning.


      Atchison says whale shows will resume Saturday. He says he's not
sure how long it will be before trainers are allowed to get back in
the water with the animals.

The killer whale that drowned a veteran
trainer was just curious about her ponytail and dragged her into
the water to investigate a new toy, the former head of animal
training at SeaWorld Orlando said Friday.


      Thad Lacinak, who helped train Dawn Brancheau, said she was very
good but made a mistake by lying down on a watery shelf next to the
12,000-pound animal and letting her long hair get in front of the
22-foot orca named Tilikum - the largest killer whale in captivity.


      "She was an excellent trainer, one of the best I've seen in my
life ... But allowing her ponytail to drift into the water like
that in front of the animal turned out to be a fatal mistake,"
Lacinak, who left SeaWorld in 2008 after a long career to start a
consultancy, told The Associated Press.


      Lacinak said he'd been told how the attack happened by other
trainers who were at the scene Wednesday, when Tilikum dragged
Brancheau into the water as she gave him pats and other rewards
after a midday show. Based on their description, he said the rules
for handling the giant orca that were in place during his tenure
had either been broken or changed.


      There were special protocols for handling Tilikum because of the
animal's size and involvement in two earlier deaths. Tilikum was
one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer in 1991 at a theme
park near Victoria, British Columbia. In 1999, the body of a naked
man was found draped over Tilikum at SeaWorld. Officials said the
man had stayed in the park after closing, apparently fell into the
whale tank and died of hypothermia, but was also bitten by Tilikum.


      Lacinak said the protocols he knew would have prohibited a
trainer from lying down that close to this specific orca.


      "She laid completely down, which is a very vulnerable position
to be in with an animal like Tilikum. And apparently her ponytail
drifted into the water, he just opened his mouth, sucked it in and
pulled her in the water."

      It was playful curiosity, Lacinak said, and not a bloodthirsty
attack. Brancheau's ponytail was merely a "novelty item" to the
whale, who was not trained to be in the water with people.


      "It was a novel item in the water, and he grabbed hold of it,
not necessarily in an aggressive way," he said.


      Lacinak said the whale likely first grabbed the ponytail as a
toy, then dragged the trainer into the water in more of a playful,
investigative manner. Once the whale had her in the water, it
likely became a game.


      "It was more novelty, he's like, 'Hey look, you're in the
water, I'm going to play with you,"' Lacinak said.


      However, he added, once other trainers dropped nets in the
water, trying to separate the whale from the woman, it may have
become more aggressive trying to "keep his toy."


      The killer whale shows have been suspended at SeaWorld's three
parks in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego. Chuck Tompkins, chief
of animal training at SeaWorld parks, said Thursday that the shows
won't resume until trainers understand what happened to Brancheau.
He also said trainers will review safety procedures and change them
as needed.


      The park says Tilikum will not be destroyed, transferred or
released and that he is an important member of the eight-whale pod.


      Friends and co-workers remembered Brancheau, 40, as an
experienced and dedicated trainer.


      "Her personality and disposition was just a magnet," said
Robin Friday, a former curator of animal training at SeaWorld who
hired Brancheau in 1994. "I can never think of a negative
experience or time that I personally had or any employee had."


      The youngest of six children from Cedar Lake, Ind., Brancheau
had talked about training whales ever since a family trip to the
park when she was that age. To make the dream come true, she took a
job at a park in New Jersey after college, working with dolphins
and sea lions, before she was hired by the better-known SeaWorld.


      Brancheau's sister, Diane Gross, said the family considers her
death an unfortunate accident and that the trainer wouldn't want
anything done to the whale. Gross said her sister considered the
whales as if they were her children.


      Brancheau was killed in front of about 20 visitors who had stuck
around after the noontime show. They watched in horror as Tilikum
charged through the pool with her in his jaws.


      Authorities said that trainers trying to help her could not get
into the water because Tilikum was so aggressive. They had to coax
him into a smaller pool and raise him out of the water on a
platform before they could free her.


      She likely died from multiple traumatic injuries and drowning,
the Orange County medical examiner's office said Thursday.

      Associated Press writers Mike Schneider and Tamara Lush reported
from Orlando; Lisa Orkin Emmanuel reported from Miami; Mitch Stacy
from Tampa, Fla.; Noaki Schwartz from Los Angeles; Mitch Weiss from
Charlotte, N.C.; and Kelli Kennedy from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Bob
Springer from APTN also reported from Orlando.

Gallery

Disasters

Shamu Believe shows will resume just days after a crowd the Orlando park watched a whale kill its trainer.

SeaWorld: Whale show to resume after trainer death

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