I'm sure most of you would have seen this article in The Straits Times. For those of you who haven't heard of it, here's the newslink:
In short, this article is exactly what I said in my title. An whale "murdered" a trainer (Dawn Brancheau) in SeaWorld Parks. According to eyewitness, the whale "took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off."
I'm sure this incident will deeply tarnish the reputation of Seaworld Parks. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SeaWorld). Renowed worldwide for their variety of thrill rides and their display of marine animals, Seaworld Parks is one of the most successful adventure parks in the world. The incident will most probably make visitors question the safety of Seaworld Parks and the long-term outcome might easily be that visitors are afraid that the marine animals there might cause harm to them, and Seaworld Parks will undoubtedly lose its popularity.
I also feel sorry for the trainer who had to be the victim of such an unpredictable yet fatal accident. Here's some information on Dawn Brancheau:
According to a profile of Brancheau in the Sentinel in 2006, she was one of SeaWorld Orlando's leading trainers. It was a trip to SeaWorld at age 9 that made her want to follow that career path. Dawn was the youngest of six children who grew up near Cedar Lake, Ind.
Personally, I have no clues as to why the orca would behave in such a way to a trainer. Perhaps it was scared by the large audience? Perhaps it suddenly saw Brancheau as a threat to his safety? We will never know.
Comments are welcome.
Sean (:
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