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Throughout recorded history, a wild orca has never killed a human*. However, in captivity, four people have died in killer whale related incidents. Let's learn more about these people, and why their deaths did not have to happen. My sincere condolences to the families of Keltie Byrne, Daniel Dukes, Alexis Martinez, and Dawn Brancheau. May they rest in peace, and may their legacies have meaning.
Content on this page describes death, mutilation, bleeding, drowning, and violent behavior. If this upsets you, please do not read on. If you believe I should not be describing these events for any reason, please let me know. I believe it is valuable to understand the power of these animals and the effects of the captivity industry, and also to display the absolute truth of these events, so that they may not be falsified or used. To my knowledge, everything described on this page is the full and absolute truth. However, I do not want to disrespect these people, whose lives were infinitely more valuable than anything I may have to say.
These people did not deserve to die. They are not at fault for their deaths. An industry, a system, is at fault. I wish that they were here with us today. I hope that those who are responsible for these preventable deaths are held accountable.
*In 1972, a surfer in Point Sur, California, USA, was bitten on the leg by a transient killer whale and required over 100 stitches. The surfer, Hans Kretschemer, said that the animal bit down hard on his leg, and then let go a moment later. He also observed sea lions swimming in the area, and so most believe that the whale thought Kretschemer was a sea lion, and when he realized the mistake, let go and swam away. This is the only documented wild orca attack.
Yes, they could. In all marine parks, waterworks-style shows or not, trainers are in close contact with large, sometimes unpredictable, smart, predatory aquatic animals. There is no doubt in my mind that, if an orca really set their mind to it, someone else could be badly injured or even die.
There are some whales more inclined to this behavior than others. The ones I strongly suspect could be dangerous under the right circumstances are Keto, Tekoa, Orkid, Shouka, and Ikaika. Keto has already tragically killed one of his trainers, and I suspect this event was very stimulating for him, and that he may repeat it if given an opportunity. Tekoa has broken a trainers arm and caused her right lung to collapse in one particular attack. Had he gone only a little further, that trainer easily could have died. Orkid has one of the longest records of aggressive or troubling behavior of any captive orca. She's really intelligent, and definitely has some frustrations. Shouka has also caused pretty extreme injuries to trainers and displayed aggressive behavior, particularly in Antibes. I'm not sure if she has continued these behaviors in San Diego. Ikaika has acted in a sexually aggressive manner in the past, and repeatedly pulled and bitten trainers. SeaWorld seemed very worried about this in 2011-2012 when they requested that MarineLand send him back to their facilities.
The truth of the matter is that every captive orca is capable of killing a human, and the vast majority of them haven't. I believe that aggressive behavior stems from situational stressors, from built up frustrations, and from psychosis. Killing is simply this aggression escalating to the next level.
Name: Keltie Byrne
Date of death: February 20, 1991
Age at death: 21
Location of death: Sealand of the Pacific, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Whale(s) involved in death: Tilikum, Haida II, and Nootka IV
Keltie Byrne was a part time employee at Sealand of the Pacific. She was a national champion swimmer and marine biology student. At Sealand of the Pacific, trainers never entered the water with the whales, and the husbandry conditions were subpar and would probably be considered illegal today. According to eyewitnesses, Keltie was walking by the side of the whales' pool when she slipped and fell into the pool. Before she could fully extract herself, Tilikum took her boot and foot in his mouth and pulled her to the center of the pool. All three whales pulled her underwater repeatedly, while Byrne screamed for help to those on deck. Efforts were made to separate Byrne from the whales, or to extract her, with nets and rescue tubes, but they didn't make it in time. Furthermore, the whales ere very excited, and would not allow Byrne to be taken from their possession. Byrne died from drowning, as the whales continuously pulled her underwater.
Name: Daniel Patrick Dukes
Date of death: June 6, 1999
Age at death: 27
Location of death: SeaWorld Orlando, Orlando Florida, USA
Whale(s) involved in death: Tilikum
Daniel Dukes' death is shrouded in mystery. It is rumored that he was a drifter who wanted to enter the water with a whale. It seems that he stayed in SeaWorld Orlando after hours, and waited until night, then entered the pool where Tilikum was resting. The next morning, Dukes was found dead, bitten, and unclothed, on Tilikum's back by park employees. SeaWorld claims that no one knows what happened between Dukes' entry of the pool and the arrival of the morning staff, but I think there is probably more to it than that.
For one, SeaWorld is completely covered in cameras, both inside and outside the pools. There are very few blind spots. I find it questionable that there is absolutely no tape of this incident. Additionally, there are trainers with the whales 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To me, it doesn't exactly make sense that the night shift trainer was completely unaware of a person entering the tank and dying until the morning.
Additionally, Tilikum had a history. He had killed, or aided in killing, a person just eight years before. To me, it seems very unlikely that Tilikum would be unaware of a person in his pool, or that he would not engage with that person. Dukes definitely had injuries that could not have been sustained from drowning. His body was bitten up quite a lot.
The official cause of Dukes' death was ruled as hypothermia, but his injuries point to something more sinister.
Name: Alexis Martinez
Date of death: December 24th, 2009
Age at death: 29
Location of death: Loro Parque, Puerto de la Cruz, The Canary Islands, Tenerife, Spain
Whale(s) involved in death: Keto
Alexis Martinez was the senior orca trainer at Loro Parque. During a Christmas Eve training session in 2009, Keto had been repeatedly refusing to complete at a variety of behaviors. It was not the first time this had happened. Martinez himself described Keto as frustrated and unruly.
The whale came between Martinez and the slideout. He had done this before. Then, he pulled Martinez under the water. Keto then rammed the trainer's body into the bottom of the pool, causing destruction of his ribcage and spine, and complete collapse of most of his internal organs, as well as copious amounts of internal bleeding. This is likely what killed Martinez. Keto carried the deceased Martinez around in his mouth and on his rostrum. Eventually, other park employees were able to remove Martinez from the water and onto the slideout, but there was nothing they could do. The injuries he had sustained were unsurvivable. Witnesses describe blood pouring out of his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.
Name: Dawn Brancheau
Date of death: February 24, 2010
Age at death: 40
Location of death: SeaWorld Orlando, Orlando Florida, USA
Whale(s) involved in death: Tilikum
Dawn Brancheau was performing a 'Dine with Shamu' show in G pool of SeaWorld Orlando with Tilikum on February 24, 2010. She was a senior trainer at the park and known for her attention to detail and safety. She was a Senior 1 trainer, the highest possible.
As the show wound down, she asked Tilikum to perform a half-perimeter pec wave, where he swam around the pool and waved his fin at the audience. When he made it halfway around the pool, Brancheau gave him a whistle, signaling for him to come back and receive his reward. However, Tilikum either did not hear or ignored this signal, and did a full perimeter pec wave instead. He performed this behavior well, but it was not what Brancheau had asked him to do, and so she gave him a neutral whistle signal and did not reward him. She did a few more behaviors with him around G pool, giving him fish and gelatin. This concluded the show. Dawn then signaled Tilikum to meet her at the slideout on the left side of G pool from the audience point of view and laid down in front of him. This is called a relationship session, and whales at SeaWorld do them multiple times a day. Whales are very tactile and like to be rubbed, hugged, and scratched. They are desensitized to the sensation of being touched by human hair and other things that might otherwise upset them.
This is where things become controversial. Some believe that Tilikum grabbed Dawn's arm, whereas others maintain that he grabbed her ponytail or her head. Regardless, Tilikum took Dawn in his mouth and pulled her into the pool. Tilikum, due to his past behaviors, was not supposed to have trainers in the water with him at all. Eyewitnesses claim that Tilikum tossed Brancheau around in the water, and that the trainer curled herself into a defensive ball in attempt to protect herself. Eyewitness accounts also maintain that Brancheau screamed when Tilikum initually grabbed her. Things escalated. He blocked her from getting out of the pool, or from getting away from him at all.
Some describe Tilikum shaking her back and forth in an almost canine manner. By this point, Brancheau had certainly died, but it took a significant amount of time for park employees to retrieve Dawn's body. During this time, the park was in full emergency procedures. Employees had tried a variety of techniques to regain control over the whale, such as signals, whistles, underwater sound signals, and sirens. None of them helped. At this point, the other whales in the park, (Kayla, Kalina, Katina, Trua, Malia, Taima, Nalani, and Trua) were becoming agitated because of the sounds and sirens. However, none of them were involved in this incident or in G pool or the med pool, where these events took place.
Eventually, Tilikum was herded into the med pool with a net, and the floor was lifted out from under him, beaching him. He was extremely agitated and refused to release Brancheau's body. Eventually, trainers whom Tilikum knew and recognized were able to help him relax enough for Dawn's body to be removed from his possession. In the struggle, Dawn's right arm was separated from her body, but her entire body was recovered from the scene.
Dawn's is perhaps the most well known death on this page. It was not her fault. She was acting just as her coworkers acted. She did nothing out of line or turn. Tilikum simply decided to take violent action.
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