~ When Captive Orcas Attack OR Do They ??? ~

Since the early 70’s not long after Orcas were kept in captive environments, there have been allegedly 20 attacks including 3 fatalities from some Orcas upon their trainers or some other human.

There are some Pro-Marine Park supporters who say that whose to say these incidents are deliberate, pre-meditated attacks and not just an unfortunate tragic accident, that is all part of risk that goes with such a hazardous job, there are also Anti-Marine Park campaigners who claim, that these huge powerful animals are frustrated, bored, stressed and acting abnormally out of pure frustration at being confined within a small, unnatural space, etc.

Other’s say, that the animal might have been ill or hormonal and other’s say, what does one expect from a flesh eating ‘killer’ whale ??? - so who is right and who is wrong ???.

Firstly, the name has absolutely nothing to do with when an Orca’s perception of a human being - to date no record has ever been collected of any human being harmed or fatally killed by a wild Orca.
They have their own varied diets (as has already been discussed in the feature on Diets) and have never shown aggression when either corralled for capture, when filmed under water and when stranded.

Secondly, there is some likely possibility that a few of the so called recorded attacks from an Orca upon it’s trainer, were pure accidents and the trainer happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in his/her line of duty….as we all know, most professions come with hazards of the job and working with an animal weighing in between 3,000 - 6,000 tonnes in some depth of water, is going to be sometime’s rather tricky and problematic, especially when doing particular acrobatics or manoeuvres.

Thirdly, after much research, we can pretty much conclude that these animals do undergo various forms of stress and can act erratically from time to time - we all know to be wary of a frightened or angry dog, but reading an Orca’s body language is not as simple as reading a dog’s and they do not growl or pre-warn - therefore, if an attack is imminent, how is one going to know ???.

Many Marine Parks have come to realise over the years (through one way or another) that there is a potential risk for those that work with such animals and a few have made it there policy that no trainer actually get’s in the water with the them even for performances.

Seaworld has only recently taken up this policy themselves following a fatal attack on one of their trainers in early 2010* - it make’s one wonder therefore, why bother keeping these animals in the first place ??.

*Details of such event will follow further on in this feature.

Below, is a few examples of what has happened to people, when for whatever reason, thing’s go horribly wrong between Man and Beast when in captivity.

2nd May 1978 - at Marineland Pacific, CA, Orca trainer ‘Jill Stratton’ was suddenly grabbed by ‘Orky’, who was known as a routinely aggressive bull Orca.
He took her down to the bottom of the pool and held her there for around 4 minutes before releasing her, where moments later she was retrieved from the water by helpers, she was lucky but had very nearly drowned during the event.

4th March 1987 - at SeaWorld San Diego, Orca trainer ‘Jonathan Smith’ was suddenly grabbed by a 6 tonne Orca (name unknown) and dragged to the bottom of the pool.
He was released pretty much immediately but was severely slammed into by a second Orca (again name unknown) and was lucky to have survived his ordeal.
As it was, he suffered from a lacerated liver, ruptured kidneys and multiple cuts to his body.

15th June 1987 - at SeaWorld San Diego, Orca trainer ‘Joanne Webber’ was landed upon when ‘Kandu’ a 3 tonne Orca, breached during a rehearsal.
She had her neck broke and was very lucky to have survived but has permanent loss of head movement.

21st November 1987 - at SeaWorld San Diego, Orca trainer ‘John Sillick’ suffered serious injuries whilst riding ‘Corky’ around a pool.
Another trainer instructed a second Orca ‘Orky’ to perform a breach, which it did but as it came down it landed upon the other pair by pure accident, ‘John’s’ injuries were a fractured femur, pelvis and other vertebrae, he was very lucky to have survived - ‘Corky’ was unharmed.

21st February 1991 - at Sealand of the Pacific, CA, Orca trainer ‘Keltie Byrne’ supposedly slipped and fell into the Orca pool in which was Nootka 4, Haida 2 and Tillikum (latter now based at SW Orlando).
She was dragged and repeatedly submerged, despite persistent rescue attempts and eventually drowned.
She was to be the first fatality from an assault by captive Orcas.

5th July 1999 - at SeaWorld Orlando, a member of the public ‘Daniel Dukes’ remained hidden within the Park after closing and was found dead, draped over the back of 5 tonne‘Tillikum’ early the next morning in the Orca pool by Staff.
He was found to be naked and it is not known (obviously) whether he jumped, fell or was quite literally dragged into the pool - his autopsy report showed his death was from drowning but there was a bite mark in his groin area, said to have been done following his demise.

24th February 2010 - at SeaWorld Orlando, Orca trainer ‘Dawn Brancheau’ was dragged by her pony tail into the pool by ‘Tillikum’, seconds after feeding him during a public performance.
Witnesses have been stated as saying that she was quite literally dragged underneath the water and shaken violently, rescue attempts were made but to no avail and the trainer drowned.

Her death brought the fatality tally to 3 over the years and also made SeaWorld change their policy regarding trainers being in the water with the Orcas.

As her assault had been the third undertaken by ‘Tillikum’, it was questioned as to what the future would hold for the whale, but SeaWorld made it clear that despite everything, he was not to be euthanized and was a very important part of SeaWorld’s captive breeding programme, having sired at least 13 calves so far.

Protesters wanted the animal released, declaring that he was once again demonstrating extreme stress and frustration at being kept in captivity, but SeaWorld thwarted this proposal, claiming that the animal had been in captivity too long to be viable for re-release!!!!!.

So there you have it, a little history of those that have either gotten in the way of an Orca accidentally or quite simply were a sitting target waiting to happen, were these events a deliberate attack or were they just all part of the job ????.