SeaWorld will resume killer whale shows Saturday, three days after the show’s largest orca dragged a trainer underwater and killed her, the park’s president said today.
Tillikum, the 12,000 pound whale that grabbed trainer Dawn Brancheau by her ponytail and held her underwater, will continue to be involved in SeaWorld shows and will not be “subject to punishment in any form,” said Jim Atchinson, president of SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment.
Atchinson said SeaWorld had video of the attack, but would not describe details of the incident or wounds that Brancheau may have suffered.
He confirmed that Brancheau had been grabbed by her long ponytail, but would not say if her hair length or her interactions with the animal in the moments before her death violated park protocols.
