The autopsy of 40-year trainer Dawn Brancheau was released by Orange County Police, where it is located SeaWorld Aquatic Park, and the cause of the death was drowning. The body of the trainer presents evidence that she had been hurt by male whale Tilikum. After a policy investigation the possibility of an accidental death was discarded. It was sustained that the trainer had been pulled by her hair until the bottom of the swimming pool, which made her to drown. The other members of the training team could not do anything, as long they would be under the same risk. They were just able to recover the body when Tilikum was transferred to other pool that had a platform from which she was taken out of the pool.

This accident, added to others occurred in several Aquatic Parks in United States and Canada, indicates that these aquatic mammals, who are very smart, suffer a big stress when they are kept under bad conditions. In the wild these beings live in big deep oceans and need a big space to live and socialize among them, which artificial aquatic parks – kinds of circuses and zoos – can not offer them.

Dr. Pedro A Ynterian
President, GAP Project International