The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is fining SeaWorld $75,000 for the deadly February attack by the orca Tilikum that left one of their trainers dead.
OSHA said today that Dawn Brancheau's death by the whale known as Tilikum could have been prevented if SeaWorld had not exposed its employees to potentially dangerous marine mammals, and Tilikun in particular.
OSHA's investigation revealed that this animal was one of three killer whales involved in the death of an animal trainer in 1991 at Sea Land of the Pacific in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. SeaWorld had forbidden trainers from swimming with this whale because of his dangerous past behavior, but allowed trainers to interact with the whale, including touching him, while the trainers were lying on the pool edge in shallow water.
In addition to the history with this whale, the OSHA investigation revealed that SeaWorld trainers had an extensive history of unexpected and potentially dangerous incidents involving killer whales at its various facilities, including its location in Orlando. Despite this record, management failed to make meaningful changes to improve the safety of the work environment for its employees.
This article appears in Aug 19-25, 2010.