February 24th

Februar 24th 2010 - Orcas trainer Dawn Brancheau drowned at Seaworld

Dawn Brancheau had been working as an Orcas trainer fr 16 years before the fatal accident in 2010. She was doing an after training session with Tilikum, one of the Orcas in the park, when he grabbed her left arm. The animal dragged her under water, crushed her and drowned her. Brancheau was not the first accident to include Tilikum. His first victim was in 1991 when a marine biologist slipped and fell into the pool he and two female orcas inhabited. In 1999 was another person drowned when he climbed into the pool after closing time. The blame for those accidents have primarily been laid on he conditions Tilikum have been living under while in captivity. Dawn Brancheau's family created the Dawn Brauncheau Foundation to honor her memory.

Dawn Brancheau's death received a lot of attention, in particular after the movie "Blackfish" was released. This movie focused on the captivity of orcas and of the accidents they have been involved in. Sea World Orland received sever criticism for their treatment of Orcas and of Tilkum in general after the movie. This led to changes in Sea Worlds regulations of human contact with the animals. We recommend to watch the movie Blackfish which can be found on Amazon or on Netflix.

CC Ed Schipul