This news was 3 years ago. In SeaWorld, Florida, the tragedy happened that a killer whale (also known as orca), Tilikum, killed his trainer, Dawn Brancheau. Read the news here.
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| Tilikum as "Shamu" at SeaWorld Orlando, Florida. Author: Milan Boers. Source. |
Even before that, Tilikum was involved in two other incidents. Also Tilikum was captured in the wild.
There are a few reasons given by related parties. Some said Tilly probably mistook the trainer's ponytail as a toy, some said he got bullied and mistreated. Try to read this and this and this.
I'm not really a marine life expert nor do I study animals behaviors but I think taming a natural killer has its own risks. It'd be different if it was born in captivity. Killer whales are at the top of the food chain. Apex predators are predators with few to no predators of their own, residing at the top of their food chain. They do look cute (?) and tamable, but they are not like dolphins.
It is kind of sad to think that the accident didn't have to happen. If it was the SeaWorld person in charge mistreated the orca, or they chose to ignore any signs of its aggressiveness before that, or any reasons that could be prevented, then they wouldn't lose a professional trainer like that.
There have been opinions that seem to blame SeaWorld for the happening of the incident. There is now a documentary about Tilikum, Blackfish. There they link this article which inspired the director. I'd encourage you to read the article because it was long and detailed.
No safety protocols can come against the natural killer instinct. Moreover, against an around 5 ton heavy killer whale.
P/s: Something interesting I found after I posted this: dorsal fin collapse. I was thinking why do some killer whales have this bent dorsal fin (like Tilikum's in the picture above).
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