(This is so upsetting. I've seen Believe more than once and have been awed by the splendor of these huge animals of the ocean. I've probably seen the trainer who died. A sad day for Sea World and for her family. My heart goes out to them.)

By Susan Jacobson, Jason Garcia, Amy L. Edwards and Bianca Prieto

Orlando Sentinel

12:13 a.m. EST, February 25, 2010
E-mail Print Share Text Size

A veteran animal trainer whose dream was to work at SeaWorld's Shamu Stadium was killed Wednesday when one of the show's killer whales dragged her underwater and she drowned.

SeaWorld said that 12,000-pound Tilikum pulled Dawn Brancheau, 40, into the orca's tank about 2p.m.

Witnesses told the Orlando Sentinel that the animal suddenly grabbed Brancheau by the upper arm, tossed her around in his mouth and pulled her beneath the water as dozens of tourists looked on in horror.

Brazilian tourist João Lúcio da Costa Sobrinho, 28, and his girlfriend, Talita Oliveira, 20, watched the attack from an underwater-viewing area where they had gone to take photos.

Suddenly, they saw a woman in the killer whale's jaws, her face bloody. The more than 20-foot-long orca circled round and round, turning her over and over, they said.

"It was terrible," Sobrinho said. "It's very difficult to see the image."

Witnesses who watched the attack while eating at the "Dine with Shamu" show — a poolside buffet where trainers demonstrate their connection with the animals — told the Sentinel a female trainer was petting a killer whale when it grabbed her and plunged into the water.

It reappeared on the other side of the tank and leapt up holding the woman, they said.

Within minutes, an alarm sounded, and security workers escorted the spectators out. Some people were screaming, and children were crying, Sobrinho and Oliveira said. The scene was more orderly at "Dine with Shamu."

Several spectators said the animals had been agitated during a 12:30p.m. show, playing or fighting with one another and refusing to obey commands to splash the crowd, a staple of the program.

"It is with great sadness that I report that one of our most experienced animal trainers drowned in an incident with one of our killer whales this afternoon," SeaWorld President Dan Brown said in a statement to the media. "We've initiated an investigation to determine, to the extent possible, what occurred."

Brancheau had worked at the park since February 1994. Ever since she visited SeaWorld with her family about 30years ago, Brancheau's goal had been to train killer whales, said her mother, Marion Loverde of Indiana.

"Everyone knew that was her dream," Loverde said.

Brancheau's supervisor, Chuck Tompkins, said Brancheau knew the risks of the job.

‘"She loved what she did, and she loved being with the animal. And she understood the risk," said Tompkins, corporate curator in charge of animal behavior for SeaWorld Parks & Resorts. "Dawn knew how to be able to connect with animals and with people."

Tilikum, the largest killer whale at any SeaWorld park, has been involved in two previous deaths.

He was one of three killer whales blamed for the 1991 drowning of a trainer while he performed at the now-defunct Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia. In 1999, the dead body of a naked man was found lying across Tilikum's back at SeaWorld Orlando.

Tompkins said Tilikum would not be put down because of the attacks. His name, according to various sources, means "welcome," "greetings" or "friend" in Chinook jargon.

SeaWorld Orlando and San Diego will be open today, but there will be no "Believe" or "Dine with Shamu" shows, both of which feature killer whales.