Whale kills trainer

SeaWorld killer whale snatched a trainer from a poolside platform in its jaws and thrashed the woman around underwater, killing her in front of a horrified audience.

It marked the third time the animal had been involved in a human death.

Distraught audience members were hustled out of the stadium immediately, and the park was closed.

Trainer Dawn Brancheau, 40, was one of the park's most experienced. Her sister said Ms Brancheau wouldn't want anything done to the whale that killed her because she loved the animals like children.

Ms Brancheau was rubbing Tilikum after a noontime show when the 12,000-pound whale grabbed her and pulled her in, said Chuck Tompkins, head of animal training at all SeaWorld parks. It was not clear if she drowned or died from the thrashing.

Because of his size and the previous deaths, trainers were not supposed to get into the water with Tilikum, and only about a dozen of the park's 29 trainers worked with him. Ms Brancheau had more experience with the 30-year-old whale than most.

"We recognised he was different," Mr Tompkins said. He said no decision has been made yet about what will happen to Tilikum, such as transferring him to another facility.

A retired couple were among some stragglers in the audience who had stayed to watch the animals and trainers.

Eldon Skaggs, 72, said Ms Brancheau's interaction with the whale appeared leisurely and informal at first. But then the whale "pulled her under and started swimming around with her," he said.

Mr Skaggs said an alarm sounded and staff rushed the audience out of the stadium as workers scrambled around with nets.

Mr Skaggs said he heard that during an earlier show the whale was not responding to directions. Others who attended the earlier show said the whale was behaving like a spoiled child.

The couple left and didn't find out until later that the trainer had died.

"We were just a little bit stunned," said Mr Skaggs' wife, Sue Nichols, 67.

Another audience member, Victoria Biniak, told WKMG-TV the whale "took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off".

Two other witnesses told the Orlando Sentinel that the whale grabbed the woman by the upper arm and tossed her around in its mouth while swimming rapidly around the tank.

Brazilian tourist Joao Lucio DeCosta Sobrinho and his girlfriend were at an underwater viewing area when they suddenly saw a whale with a person in its mouth.

The couple said they watched the whale show at the park two days earlier and came back to take pictures. But yesterday the whales appeared agitated.

"It was terrible. It's very difficult to see the image," Mr Sobrinho said.

A SeaWorld spokesman said Tilikum was one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer in 1991 after the woman lost her balance and fell in the pool at Sealand of the Pacific near Victoria, British Columbia.

Steve Huxter, who was head of Sealand's animal care and training department then, said he's surprised it happened again. He said Tilikum was a well-behaved, balanced animal.

Tilikum was also involved in a 1999 death, when the body of a man who had sneaked by SeaWorld security was found draped over him. The man either jumped, fell or was pulled into the frigid water and died of hypothermia, though he was also bruised and scratched by Tilikum.

Yesterday, SeaWorld in San Diego also suspended its killer whale show. It was not clear if the killer whale show has been suspended at SeaWorld's San Antonio location, which is closed until the weekend.

According to a profile of Ms Brancheau in the Sentinel newspaper in 2006, she was one of SeaWorld Orlando's leading trainers. It was a trip to SeaWorld at age nine that made her want to follow that career path.

"I remember walking down the aisle (of Shamu Stadium) and telling my mom, 'This is what I want to do,"' she said in the article.

Ms Brancheau worked her way into a leadership role at Shamu Stadium during her career with SeaWorld, starting at the Sea Lion & Otter Stadium before spending 10 years working with killer whales, the newspaper said.

She also addressed the dangers of the job.

"You can't put yourself in the water unless you trust them and they trust you," Ms Brancheau said.

Ms Brancheau's older sister, Diane Gross, said the trainer "would not want anything done to that whale".

The trainer was married and didn't have children.

"She loved the whales like her children, she loved all of them," said Ms Gross, of Indiana. "They all had personalities, good days and bad days."

Ms Gross said the family viewed her sister's death as an unfortunate accident, adding: "It just hasn't sunk in yet."