SeaWorld trainers will no longer ride dolphins at theme parks. SeaWorld Entertainment is pulling the plug on its longstanding practice of trainers riding on dolphins in shows at its theme parks.
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SeaWorld often keeps dolphins, whales, and other animals trapped with incompatible tankmates. The tension leads to fights and even fatal injuries. Staff members drug some animals to try to relieve their endless frustration.
Today, trainers are able to effectively monitor the animals' health, weigh them, clean teeth, and perform sonograms on females to check on pregnancies, to name just a few things.
OSHA imposed the ban following an investigation into a Feb.24, 2010, incident in which a 12,000-pound killer whale named Tilikum pulled Dawn Brancheau underwater, drowning the trainer at the Orlando theme park. The court's administrative law judge ruled that SeaWorld's safety program is inadequate.
OSHA came back with the decision that SeaWorld was obligated to protect their trainers from any known risk, and having them in the water with the ocean's top predator was way too dangerous to ever have happen again. So the ruling stood, despite many appeals to judges in various levels of court.
On February 24, 2010, Tilikum killed Dawn Brancheau, a 40-year-old SeaWorld trainer. Brancheau was killed following a Dine with Shamu show. The veteran trainer was rubbing Tilikum as part of a post-show routine when the orca grabbed her by her ponytail and pulled her into the water.