SeaWorld suspends whale shows after trainer’s death
SeaWorld has suspended some killer whale shows at its parks after a female trainer was killed in front of a horrified audience.
Media reports said the orca at SeaWorld in Orlando grabbed Dawn Brancheau by the waist, thrashed her about and took her underwater.
The trainer was killed just before the start of a public performance, according to the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.
SeaWorld in San Diego has also cancelled some killer whale shows.
Police say preliminary accounts indicate Brancheau slipped and fell in, but that is still under investigation.
Chuck Tompkins of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment said: “She was rubbing the killer whale’s head, and (it) grabbed her and pulled her in.”