VIDEO: Witness Describes Whale Attack; Whale Killed 2 In Past
Posted on Feb 25, 2010 @ 05:30AM
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
Victoria Biniak told Matt Lauer she saw Tilikum going out of the water, grabbing a human and shaking her violently.
Biniak, a mother from Chicago, IIIinois, was there with her 5-year-old daughter and three other kids, said: "With the way that he was thrashing around ... and a shoe actually fell off and the sirens went off and people were running around everywhere.
"We were just standing around and were immediately ushered away," Biniak said, adding she saw a male trainer running back and forth with an oar in his hands while black nets were being thrown into the tank.
The whale has a bloodstained history, as Brancheau's is the third death he has been connected to in less than 20 years. In 1991, Tilikum reportedly drowned one of his trainers at the Sealand of the Pacific in Vancouver, British Columbia. Seven years later, a second dead man was found on the whale's back in another incident police said was a drowning.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have called Brancheau's death "a tragedy that didn't have to happen."
"For years, PETA has been calling on SeaWorld to stop confining oceangoing mammals to an area that to them is like the size of a bathtub," the animal rights group said in a statement. "It's not surprising when these huge, smart animals lash out."
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The Daily Juice
FREE THIS WHALE!!!!! have you ever heard of KILLER WHALES? this is one!!!
Posted Thu, 02/25/2010 - 3:27pm
If this whale has killed in the past, it's obvious it should not have been in the show tanks for any reason. I understand it can't be set free, but it must never be placed with humans again.
Posted Thu, 02/25/2010 - 2:22pm
That's right. The guilty parties here are the "Seaworlds" that allowed this whale to A) Not be set free (Money Money) and B) to be any where near people. They need to identify the people who didn't make the right decision.
Posted Thu, 02/25/2010 - 3:55pm
its their own fault. - they better effin set the whale free
Posted Thu, 02/25/2010 - 12:51pm
This whale has killed two people before this trainer--he should have been released back into the wild the first go around.
Posted Thu, 02/25/2010 - 11:53am
It must have been horrid to witness this and those poor children. Do the right thing Seaworld and free this whale.
Posted Thu, 02/25/2010 - 11:41am