Wednesday November 29, 2006

A killer whale attacked a trainer during a show Wednesday at SeaWorld Adventure Park, sending the man to the hospital but sparing him serious injury, authorities said.

Firefighters were prepared to rescue the 33-year-old trainer from the pool after receiving a call at 5 p.m. that Shamu, the killer whale, may have injured a trainer, said Maurice Luque, a department spokesman. The man escaped before the crew arrived.

"He was pulled down at least twice by the whale and then let go,'' Luque said. "He did not have life-threatening injuries. He was conscious the whole time.'' Luque referred additional questions to SeaWorld. Officials at the park did not immediately respond to phone messages. The unidentified trainer was taken to UCSD Medical Center, Luque said.

According to the SeaWorld's Web site, a show at 4:30pm "blends new killer whale behaviors with elaborate set pieces, music, choreography and state-of-the-art multimedia.'' The show is set to music recorded by the Czech Philharmonic Opera.

The Fire Department was called to Sea World recently on a similar report that a killer whale had pinned a trainer in the tank. Luque did not have details about the incident.

In 1987, a trainer was critically injured when one of two killer whales performing at the same time leapt out of the water and landed on a trainer who was riding the other orca. The trainer survived a crushed pelvis, hip, and leg and broken ribs.

Andrina Murrell, Captivity Officer for the Marine Connection states; "Orcas are one of the top predators in the oceans and those who work with them can have little doubt that if this whale had meant to harm the trainer it could have done so. Trainers who have worked with marine mammals for years will openly admit that incidents like this appear to happen when the animal is upset or stressed - it could be that this is the only method they have of expressing these feelings. Incidents like this are being reported more frequently, which again brings into question the ethics of holding these magnificent marine mammals in a captive environment."

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Source: Associated Press / Marine Connection