Were trainers allowed to swim with Tilikum?

SeaWorld Orlando has always known that Tilikum, a 12,000-pound orca that killed trainer Dawn Brancheau on Wednesday, could be a particularly dangerous killer whale. SeaWorld trainers were forbidden from swimming with Tilikum, as they often did with the resort's seven other orcas.



People Also Ask

SeaWorld Orlando has always known that Tilikum, a 12,000-pound orca that killed trainer Dawn Brancheau on Wednesday, could be a particularly dangerous killer whale. SeaWorld trainers were forbidden from swimming with Tilikum, as they often did with the resort's seven other orcas.

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

SeaWorld spokeswoman Aimee Jeansonne-Becka said the company does not need the lift floors anymore; trainers no longer perform in the water with killer whales.

MORE DETAILS

SeaWorld trainers will no longer ride dolphins at theme parks.

MORE DETAILS

Tilikum was estimated to be about 36 years old at the time of his death. He was brought to SeaWorld after Canada's Sealand of the Pacific closed in 1992. He had been at the amusement park ever since.

MORE DETAILS

Why was Tilikum not euthanized? Euthanasia is different in a veterinary setting, but we have never euthanized an animal for being aggressive, SeaWorld spokeswoman Leigh Andrus said. The plan is to review our protocols and continue to care for Tillikum with the same high level of care.

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia voted in a 2-1 decision to uphold safety requirements issued by the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 2010 that prohibit SeaWorld animal trainers from getting too close to potentially dangerous killer whales.

MORE DETAILS

The Shamu Show was canceled today. Tilikum, the whale that yesterday killed a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando, will not be put down, The Orlando Sentinel reports.

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS