"Shamu" Kills Trainer--Killer Whale's Act Not Normal
Drowning of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau at odds with wild killer whale behavior, biologist says.
(See a picture of another Shamu at the California SeaWorld.)
"I don't think there's ever been a report of a killer whale attacking a human," said Wayne Perryman, a marine biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who has studied killer whales in the wild.
Perryman knows of a report of a killer whale coming up from the ice in Antarctica and bumping photographers, but in that case, the animal "slid back in the water and swam away," he said.
(Related: "Killer Whales Are Most Toxic Arctic Animals, Study Reports.")
Dawn Brancheau, an experienced 40-year-old animal trainer at SeaWorld Orlando, was killed yesterday afternoon. Billed as Shamu, Tilikum, a 12,000-pound (5,440-kilogram) male killer whale, reportedly grabbed Brancheau by
