Dawn Brancheau, Animal Trainer at SeaWorld Orlando, Killed by Killer Whale Named "Tilikum" in Shamu Stadium

Dawn Brancheau, animal trainer at SeaWorld Orlando, killed by killer whale, Tilikum, after falling into the whale's tank. She reportedly drowned.

Dawn Brancheau, an animal trainer at SeaWorld Orlando, was killed Wednesday afternoon during an accident at Shamu Stadium, law enforcement officials said. Brancheau, 40, has extensive training experience and has worked at the park since February 1994. According to the Orlando Sentinel, park officials said she was in a whale holding area when she apparently slipped or fell into the tank and was fatally injured by one of the park's killer whales.

Two witnesses told the Orlando Sentinel that one of the park's whales had the woman by the upper arm, tossing her around in its mouth as it swam rapidly around and around in the tank. Brancheau was bleeding from the face or mouth, according to eyewitness reports to the Sentinel, and the whale turned her over and over as it swam.

This is, indeed, a sad turn of events. It seems as though that whale, named Tilikum, has been involved in at least one other accident in the park.  The whale was sold to SeaWorld as a stud in 1992, and was involved in an accident when authorities found the body of a naked man lying across his back in July, 1999, the Orlando Sentinel said. Authorities concluded that the man had either entered the park after hours or was hidden in the park until it closed and died from hypothermia in 55-degree water. Additionally, the whale was blamed for the drowning of one of his trainers in 1991 while he was performing at Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia. This begs the question of why in the world this whale was part of the show since he has displayed troublesome behavior in the past? The management of SeaWorld saw dollar signs, instead of protecting the welfare of their trainers.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Ms. Brancheau. SeaWorld has suspended its killer whale show in the aftermath of this terrible accident. What's sad is that these animals and others in zoos and aquariums across the globe are taken out of their natural habitat and forced to live in confined spaces and fed by humans. I have always found this to be quite inhumane and a little abhorrent, if you ask me. I know some people will blame the whale, but it's called a killer whale for a reason. Take Roy Horn, one half of Siegfried & Roy, who was mauled by a Bengal tiger in 2003. He had been around this tiger for a long time and the animal just snapped for whatever reason and left him fighting for his life. People it is not normal to domesticate these animals.

UPDATE#1: Orange County Sheriff's Office investigators said today that Dawn Brancheau died from "multiple traumatic injuries and drowning" after a killer whale pulled her underwater by her long pony tail near the theme park's Shamu Stadium.