On 24 February a long-term trainer was killed by one of the orcas at SeaWorld, Orlando.Some reports say the female employee fell into the pool, whilst others seem to indicate that the orca Tilikum actually came out of the water and pulled her into the pool.

This is not the first time that Tilikum has been involved in a trainer incident. In 1991 Tili, along with two female whales Nootka and Haida, killed a trainer at Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, Canada. There was also a previous incident at SeaWorld, Orlando in 1999 when a man was found dead in the pool, draped across the whale’s back.

Marine Connection captivity director, Margaux Dodds comments; "The escalation of this type of incident involving trainers and whales must call into question yet again the keeping of these large, sentient creatures in a captive environment. It has been recognised that captivity has adverse effects on whales and dolphins and the industry must surely now take this into account when investigating the cause of incidents such as this. This whale, captured from the wild vastness of the ocean many years ago, has had to tolerate not only being held in a facility, but has even been subjected to smaller than usual pools and at times isolation just because of his past history."

For the pst four years, Seaworld has banned trainers from swimming with him and say they have no plans to euthanise Tilikum but will review their safety policies and determine whether the whale will be used in further shows and publicly displayed. SeaWorld owns all the animals in its theme parks, and the Orlando location has eight killer whales in the facility. Surely the question now is not whether trainers should interact with the animal or whether the whale should be euthanised - the question should unquestionably now be why is keeping these animals in captivity still being justified?.”

SeaWorld is owned by The Blackstone Group who also part-own SeaLife centres in the UK/Europe.