<p>Distraught audience members were led out of the stadium immediately, and the park was closed. The trainer, Dawn Brancheau, 40, was one of the park’s most experienced. <br />Her older sister Diane Gross said Brancheau “would not want anything done to that whale” because she loved the animals like children. Brancheau was rubbing the 12,000-pound whale, Tilikum, after a noontime show when he 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 trauma.<br /><br />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. Brancheau had more experience with the 30-year-old whale than most.<br /><br />An 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.”</p>.<p>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.<br /><br />SeaWorld in San Diego suspended its killer whale show.In a profile in The Orlando Sentinel in 2006, Brancheau addressed the dangers of the job. “You can’t put yourself in the water unless you trust them and they trust you,” she said. <br /></p>
<p>Distraught audience members were led out of the stadium immediately, and the park was closed. The trainer, Dawn Brancheau, 40, was one of the park’s most experienced. <br />Her older sister Diane Gross said Brancheau “would not want anything done to that whale” because she loved the animals like children. Brancheau was rubbing the 12,000-pound whale, Tilikum, after a noontime show when he 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 trauma.<br /><br />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. Brancheau had more experience with the 30-year-old whale than most.<br /><br />An 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.”</p>.<p>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.<br /><br />SeaWorld in San Diego suspended its killer whale show.In a profile in The Orlando Sentinel in 2006, Brancheau addressed the dangers of the job. “You can’t put yourself in the water unless you trust them and they trust you,” she said. <br /></p>
