VIDEO: Tape Surfaces Of Whale That Crashed On Sailboat!
Posted on Jul 23, 2010 @ 06:35AM - 1 comment
So much for the skeptics who thought a photo of a whale crashing into a South African couple's ship was photoshopped: a video of the incident was captured by a nearby boater, proving the stranger-than-fiction occurrence to be true.
Watch the clip on RadarOnline.com
VIDEO: 40-Ton Whale Crashes Into Sailboat -See The Shocking Photo
Posted on Jul 22, 2010 @ 06:00AM - 9 comments
Free Willy, this wasn’t.
A South African couple sailing near Robben Island in Cape Town over the weekend didn't get the quiet day they were looking for, when an endangered Southern Right Whale -- estimated at 30-feet-long and weighing 40-tons -- crashed into their yacht!
Watch the clip on RadarOnline.com
Feds Charge Sushi Restaurant And Chef For Illegally Selling Whale
Posted on Mar 11, 2010 @ 05:06PM - 2 comments
Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles filed criminal charges Wednesday against a Santa Monica sushi restaurant, Hump, and one of it's chefs for illegally selling whale meat. Typhoon Restaurant Inc. owner of the Hump restaurant and their chef, Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, were named in the criminal complaint for selling an endangered species, Sei whale meat.
They were formally charged with illegally selling a marine mammal product which is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and fines ranging from $100k-200k. The criminal complaint says The Hump and the sushi chef were involved in illegal sale of a marine mammal product for an unauthorized purpose. Sei whales are endangered species and the sale of all whale meat is prohibited in the United States by the Marina Mammal Protection Act.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Whale Advocate Blames Sea World For Whale Trainer’s Death
Last fall animal activists working with Louie Psihoyos, the Academy Award winning director of best documentary of The Cove, went to The Hump, requested whale meat and pocketed a sample. Psihoyos turned their evidence over to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement which began the investigation.
PHOTOS: Tiger Woods’ Kids Go To Sea World
The criminal complaint states that a search warrant was executed at the restaurant last Friday and that The Hump sold whole whale sushi on three occasions and that meat sold as whale on two of the occasions was tested by scientists who tested the DNA of the meat and determined that it was Sei whale. Receipts given to the customers at The Hump stated they had purchased whale.
"Someone should not be able to walk into a restaurant and order a plate of endangered species," United States Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. told RadarOnline.com, "Federal law has a variety of provisions, including criminal statutes, intend to protect this planet’s threatened natural resources. People should be aware we will use these criminal statutes where appropriate to protect endangered species including to ensure that they do not end up part of a meal."
AUDIO: 911 Call In Whale Trainer’s Death Released
"Making illicit products like whale meat available on the market only encourages the illegal hunting of marine mammals such as the Sei whale - a species that is already threatened by extinction," Martina Sagapolu of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement told RadarOnline.com. "While there is a market for illegal products and delicacies, we are dedicated to finding and prosecuting those who would exploit protected resources that are under threat."
AUDIO: 911 Call In Whale Trainer's Death Released
Posted on Mar 04, 2010 @ 06:57AM - 4 comments
RadarOnline.com has been following the tragic death of Florida SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau, and on Thursday we received the 911 call that was made moments after Tilikum, a 12,000-pound killer whale, dragged Brancheau and held her underwater, where she drowned.
The first call was made by an unidentified woman who wasn't aware of the magnitude of what had happened, but sensed trouble.
"They are at Shamu Stadium. We actually have a trainer in the water with one of our whales," the 911 caller told the operator. "The whale that they're not supposed to be in the water with -- so we don't know what's going on. We were just told to call and have people here on standby when they get the person out."
The operator said: "You don't know if the person was injured or they're having a medical problem?"
"No idea," the caller responded. "I don't even think they're out of the water yet, they're still in there with the whale."
Asked the operator: "OK. But someone is on scene and they are getting them out of the water now?"
"There are people working on it, yes," the caller responded. "There's about two to three dozen people over there right now."
The caller contacted 911 two additional times after the initial contact, once to report that park officials had begun using a device called the AED (automated external defibrillator) and a second to confirm that emergency vehicles should enter the theme park via Gate 3.
Brancheau, a 40-year-old Indiana native, was married with no kids. More than 1,200 people showed up to her funeral in Illinois earlier this week.
VIDEO: Expert - Whale Trainer Made Fatal Mistake
Posted on Feb 26, 2010 @ 01:50AM - 9 comments
The Florida SeaWorld trainer who was drowned by an orca whale Wednesday made a mistake that triggered the animal's deadly reaction, her former trainer told Good Morning America Friday.
In a new twist to a story RadarOnline.com has been following closely, Thad Lacinak said the late Dawn Brancheau broke protocol with Tilikum, the 12,000-pound whale who dragged and held her underwater, drowning her.
The break in protocol was Brancheau lying down in a 4-inch "slide out" device intended for the trainers to stand on, Lacinak said.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW & VIDEO: Mother Of Killed Whale Trainer -"My Daughter Died Doing What She Loved"
Posted on Feb 25, 2010 @ 10:54AM - 14 comments
Marion Loverde, the mother of SeaWorld whale trainer Dawn Brancheau, exclusively told RadarOnline.com on Thursday that her daughter would not want Tilikum the killer whale to be “put down”.
The 40-year old trainer -- whose dream was to work at SeaWorld’s Shamu Stadium - died when 12,000 lbs Tilikium pulled her into the orca’s tank on Wednesday afternoon, drowning her as horrified visitors looked on.
Meanwhile, RadarOnline.com has obtained video of Brancheau performing with Tilikium back in 2008 at SeaWorld.
VIDEO: Witness Describes Whale Attack; Whale Killed 2 In Past
Posted on Feb 25, 2010 @ 05:30AM - 6 comments
A woman who saw the whale attack in an underground viewing area at the Orlando, Florida SeaWorld Wednesday, told The Today Show Thursday about the tragic string of events that led to the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau.
PHOTOS: Dawn Brancheau At Florida SeaWorld
RadarOnline.com has the latest on Brancheau, who drowned Wednesday after Tilikum, a 12,000-pound male orca whale, grabbed her in his jowls and pulled her under the water, drowning her.
Witness: Whale Emerged From Water With Trainer In Its Mouth
Posted on Feb 25, 2010 @ 04:15AM - 17 comments
Eyewitnesses to the whale attack at Orlando, Florida SeaWorld recounted the horror Wednesday when Tilikum, a 12,000-pound male orca whale, grabbed trainer Dawn Brancheau and pulled her into the water, where she drowned.
PHOTOS: Dawn Brancheau At Florida SeaWorld
Michigan native Eldon Skaggs was eating his lunch in the area during the Dine With Shamu program, RadarOnline.com has learned, when tragedy reared its’ ugly head.
Killed SeaWorld Trainer Believed in Trust Relationship with Whales
Posted on Feb 24, 2010 @ 08:39PM - 6 comments
Dawn Brancheau, the SeaWorld Orlando trainer who recently was killed by a whale, believed in the special relationship between the trainer and the animal. RadarOnline.com unearthed an old interview in which she discussed her childhood passion for the profession and talked about trust in the tank.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Whale Advocate Blames Sea World For Trainer's Death
"You can't put yourself in the water unless you trust them and they trust you," Brancheau told the Orlando Sentinel in January 2006 when the theme park revamped its signature Shamu show to feature new interactions between the whales and their trainers.
She reportedly died on Wednesday after slipping into the pool of a 30-year old whale named Tilikum- an animal responsible for two previous deaths.
Tiger Woods Takes Kids to Sea World
In the interview, she also described the moment she decided to be a trainer.
"I remember walking down the aisle [of Shamu Stadium] and telling my mom, 'This is what I want to do,'" she said about a trip to SeaWorld when she was nine. She began her career working at the Sea Lion & Otter Stadium before then spending over a decade working with killer whales.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Whale Advocate Blames Sea World For Trainer's Death
Posted on Feb 24, 2010 @ 07:47PM - 37 comments
“What we’re looking at is negligence,” Captain Paul Watson told RadarOnline.com in an exclusive interview about the death of a female trainer at Sea World in Orlando.
The Canadian Whale Rights Advocate says both Sea World and Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia are to blame. Police say the famous orca killed 40 year old Dawn Brancheau at Sea World when she slipped and fell into his pool, but a witness said the whale actually grabbed her and shook her.
Sea World has shut down their parks in Orlando and San Diego.
The 30 year old whale, whose name is Tilikum, is the largest whale in captivity, and is responsible for two previous deaths.
Tiger Woods Kids Go To Sea World
“They didn’t seem to learn any lessons from the incidents,” Captain Paul told RadarOnline.com from a satellite phone in the middle of the Antartic where he is on a whaling mission, “they knew it was capable of killing a human being.”
Sealand in Canada closed in 1991 after Tilikum and two other whales killed a part time trainer. Shortly thereafter he was sold to Sea World.
Watson, who met the whale in Canada, says he is surprised that more incidents don’t happen because the mammals are housed in tiny tanks and they are capable of tremendous strength. Tilikum weighs 12,300 pounds.
He says there are only two choices: either destroy the whale or send him back into the wild.
His suggestion: “Put it back where they got it from: the waters of Victoria, British Columbia.”
