of killer whale kills seaworld trainer dawn brancheau

Whale Kills Female Trainer At SeaWorld's Shamu Stadium: Dawn Brancheau, a senior trainer at Shamu Stadium SeaWorld Orlando, was attacked by Tillikum, a male killer whale, in front of a group of spectators.


Animal trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed Wednesday at SeaWorld Orlando. [photo via]

A killer whale attacked and killed a 40-year-old trainer in front of a horrified audience at a SeaWorld show Wednesday, with witnesses saying the animal involved in two previous deaths dragged the trainer under and thrashed her around violently.

“It is with great sadness that I report that one of our most experienced animal trainers drowned in an incident with one of our killer whales this afternoon. We’ve initiated an investigation to determine, to the extent possible, what occurred. There are no other details to report at this time,” SeaWorld GM Dan Brown said Wednesday afternoon.

Veteran trainer Dawn Brancheau, 40, was one of the park's most experienced. It wasn't clear if she drowned or died from the thrashing.

A New Hampshire family has shot a video footage before the killer whale attacked. You can watch the interview with the family here. Here's the video taken 'seconds before the killer whale attack'.

You can watch this 2000 interview with Dawn Brancheau by WESH 2's Amanda Ober.

SeaWorld says that the Whale show will resume.

Other links:
- NH Family Shares Video Of Deadly Sea World Show (VIDEO)
- Killer Whale Grabs, Drowns Trainer (VIDEO)
- Shamu Kills Trainer 2010 Video: Tilikum Killer Whale Attack
- Killer Whale Kills Trainer Video 2010