Seaworld Trainer Attacked by His Orca Whale, Killed During Christmas Eve Performance
- An orca whale trainer was attacked to death by his animal.
She is Alexis Martinez (29) who has worked with orca whales for several years and is used to handling whales.
Keto, the orca whale who killed his trainer. (Doc. SeaWorld Tenerife)
But on Christmas Eve 2009, an orca whale named Keto acted in a way his trainer had never seen before. According to Mirror.co.uk, Keto suddenly attacked Alexis with an attack that no one had thought of.
The orca's mother, Kalina, was the first orca born at the Seaworld theme park before Keto arrived in 1995.
He has never known life other than the artificial pond he now calls home.
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This 6,600-pound ocra has spent its entire life in captivity, has never swum in the ocean, and spends its days entertaining thousands at a water park in Tenerife.
Keto fathered several whale calves during his time as one of the main attractions at the Spanish resort's Loro Parque, some of which ended tragically.
Alexis and Keto are working on a Christmas show in the practice pool and at first, everything seems normal - but then the giant orca starts acting strange.
He failed to do some of his movements correctly but looked calm as he floated on the surface of the pool with Alexis.
But one of the staff there that day said he noticed Keto seemed to deliberately put himself between his trainer and the stage.
Then when the underwater stage call came and Alexis started swimming, Keto started leaning on her.
Another trainer used control that always works with orca whales, but Keto refused to respond and pushed Alexis to the bottom of the pool using the snout tip of his beak.
The trainer on the side of the pool realized the situation had now become critical and used several more signals to control Keto.
It seemed to work and the orca whale returned to the surface of the pool and took a breath - but within seconds he dived back to the bottom of the pool and towards Alexis.
The next moment those watching saw was Keto reappearing with Alexis in his mouth.
Alexis then sank to the bottom of the pool after being released from the orca's mouth.
The trainers tried desperately to lure Keto to another pool, although he seemed to resist by playing around.
Only when they released the net into the pool did she swim into nearby water and Alexis' body could be lifted from the bottom.
Alexis suffered serious injuries, including severe internal bleeding, and nothing could be done to save the 29-year-old.
Alexis' post-mortem stated that he died from severe injuries sustained in the orca attack, including multiple compression fractures, lacerations to vital organs, and animal bite marks on his body.
Illustration of a killer whale or orca. (Flickr/marinescotland)
Heartbreakingly, her death came exactly two months before Seaworld trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed in front of thousands of attraction spectators in Orlando, Florida. Dawn, who had achieved her goal of becoming a senior trainer at Seaworld at the time of her tragic death, had studied animal psychology and behavior at university. When he graduated, he spent two years working with dolphins at an attraction in New Jersey before getting his job at Seaworld.
Two years after Dawn started working at Seaworld, she became an orca trainer. He made sure he was fit and healthy so he could face the rigors of swimming with the big animals of the deep.
Dawn is one of the star trainers at Seaworld - she is key in the killer whale show and her face can be seen on billboards advertising the park.
Four years before her tragic death, Dawn had spoken out about the dangers of working with orcas. He has a special relationship with the giant killer whale, Tilikum, also known as the Blackfish. He is one of the largest orcas at Seaworld and has been in captivity for over 30 years.
Those who worked with him said their bond was strong and based on love and trust. John Hargrove, who was a senior trainer at Seaworld at the time of Dawn's death, said: "We will never know why Tilikum made the choice to grab Dawn and pull her into the pool." "He has a good relationship with her, and she has a good relationship with him. I'm sure he loves her, and I know that he loves her," he added.
Orca whale illustration. (Unsplash/Tamara Bitter)
Not only did Tilikum kill his trainer, his attack was prolonged and extremely violent. For 45 minutes, the orca kept Dawn's broken body in the pool with him, despite attempts by other trainers to distract her with nets and food.
Eventually, they managed to get him to a smaller medical pool, where it was easier for him to calm down and he finally let go of the body of the trainer he had spent so much time with.
After Dawn's death, Tilikum was sent to spend most of his time in a pool rarely seen by the public.
There were reports that he spent hours just lying on the surface of the water. Tilikum reportedly died at the Florida attraction in January 2017.
Six years after Dawn's death, Seaworld announced that it would end its orca breeding program in captivity. Instead, the attraction is now working with the Humane Society of the United States to oppose commercial whaling and seal hunting. Seaworld also campaigns against shark finning and marine pollution and has shifted its focus to rescue operations.
Source:
(TribunTravel.com/SA)