SeaWorld Whale Kills Trainer, Sparks Controversy

Following the death of a veteran SeaWorld trainer in Orlando, Fla. earlier this week, animal rights activists have continued their campaign to keep marine mammals out of theme parks across the country.

Dawn Brancheau, 40, was killed Wednesday afternoon after a six ton male orca, also known as a "killer whale", grabbed her from the side of the pool and held her underwater during a show at Shamu Stadium.

Brancheau joined the park in 1994, and had more experience with the 29-year-old orca, Tillikum, than most of the other trainers.

In a "Good Morning America" interview, SeaWorld's curator of zoological operations, Chuck Tompkins said Tillikum reacted to Brancheau's ponytail accidentally brushing against his face.

"She was interacting with him, petting him on the nose," Tompkins said.  "Dawn had very long hair in a ponytail. That ponytail had swung in front of him. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her underwater."

SeaWorld closed the Orlando Park immediately after the incident, and suspended its orca show in San Diego. They do not plan to euthanize Tillikum.

Jaime Zalac, a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, called the death "a tragedy that didn't have to happen."

Zalac says the organization had advocated to SeaWorld "to stop confining oceangoing mammals to an area that to them is like the size of a bathtub… and to stop forcing animals to perform silly tricks over and over again."

Founder and General Counsel for Animal Legal Defense Fund. Joyce Tischler said, "These behemoths are denied all of their natural, instinctual inclinations, and we humans tend to think, ‘Well, this is just a bad animal.'"

Tischler continued, "But it is a wild animal, used to running free in an entire ocean, but now confined to a very small space...I would be asking, ‘Why was this animal kept after the first death?'"

The orca is the largest member of the dolphin family and is known to be the most powerful predator in the world. They can range from 23 to 32 feet and up to six tons; however, they are not considered a threat to humans.

"Several animals are used for entertainment, food, and experimental purposes," said Diamond Hanson, a freshman physician assistant major. "It is perfectly fine to say that whales can be used for entertainment, however they must be used with caution. On the bright side, families love to watch animals partake in tricks and games no matter what the size."

Junior international business major Alycia Holland agrees with the animal activists, saying that animals should not be confined to a drastically smaller environment than that of their natural environment.

"I think [killer whales] should be able to be free in their own habitat and not be forced to entertain," Holland said. "It should be considered animal cruelty to force them to entertain in front of thousands of people."

Tillikum has also been linked to two other deaths, including the drowning of a trainer at a British Columbia marine park in 1991, and the drowning of a 27-year-old man whose body was found floating in a tank at SeaWorld in 1999.

Stating that the death in 1991 was before SeaWorld owned Tillikum, Tompkins added,

"This is the first time in 46 years that we've ever had an incident like this with a trainer. To mark him as a killer is unfair."