The Killer-Whale Attack at SeaWorld:
 
                                                 How It Happened
 
 
     What led the killer whale Tillikum to attack and kill one of his
     SeaWorld trainers in Orlando, Fla., will not be known until
     behavioral records from the days and weeks preceding the incident
     are examined. But one thing is becoming clear: the attack was
     violent and bloody, perpetrated with viciousness by a member of
     one of the smartest of ocean species.
 
     Tillikum did not just knock Dawn Brancheau over and drag her down
     to drown at the bottom of the pool. According to a source, he rose
     out of the water to snag Brancheau by her ponytail, yanking her
     into the water for two brief but shocking episodes in the pool.
 
     After grabbing her by her hair, he toyed with her underwater for
     two minutes as she struggled to use trainer signals to calm him
     down and get him to release her. He knocked her about and,
     according to some reports, had her by the waist, her blood
     spreading through the clear water, in full sight of members of the
     public that had been watching Tillikum with another trainer
     through a glass underwater window.
 
     She was still alive at the end of the first takedown after
     Tillikum let her go. But he watched as she tried to get to safety
     and then grabbed her again and held her for another minute
     underwater, this time apparently killing her. He then settled at
     the bottom of the pool, keeping her in his mouth. She apparently
     remained there until the staff at SeaWorld managed to beach him as
     they moved him to a separate pen. No one at SeaWorld was available
     to confirm reports that Brancheau's body was badly mangled.
     (See a 2006 story about a killer-whale attack in San Diego.)
 
     Killer-whale trainer fatalities tend to be drownings: the human is
     pushed down and kept underwater. In such situations, experienced
     trainers know to try calming the whale with signals even as they
     try to control their own panic. But the violence and abrupt nature
     of the attack on Brancheau has stunned many in the profession.
 
     She was one of the best and most experienced in the field, featured in
     many of SeaWorld's promotions and advertisements.
 
     (See a TIME photo-essay on sharks.)
 
     Whales like Tillikum that have gotten violent are likely to be
     separated from the rest of the performing troupe, kept in
     isolation and trained only by the most senior of staff. But the
     policy is generally not to destroy such animals — a policy that
     most trainers agree with. "I would not put any animal down," says
     Shawna Karrasch, who now trains horses but once worked with killer
     whales at SeaWorld San Diego. "People are killed riding horses but
     that doesn't stop us from getting back on them." She says that the
     trainers know the dangers they face when they enter the water,
     fully aware that killer whales are dangerous animals.
 
     Trainers point out that entertainments like those at SeaWorld are
     minutely choreographed, primed with long-practiced signals and rehearsed
     with great care, with constant attention to the whale's psychology
     before and after the performances. The interaction between trainer
     and whale is key — with the onus on the human to notice how
     cooperative the animal is being. The word constantly heard is
     "love" — that the trainers love the whales. And they will bet
     their lives on them.
 
 
     Read more:
     http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1968071,00.html?iid
     =tsmodule#ixzz0garJjfo6
 
 
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1968071,00.html?iid=tsmodule

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※ 來源: Disp BBS 看板: English 文章位址: http://disp.cc/b/58-vqm
※ 編輯: ott  來自: 118.166.2.95  時間: 2010-09-02 09:25:16
※ 編輯: ott  來自: 118.166.2.95  時間: 2010-09-02 09:26:20
※ 編輯: ott  來自: 118.166.1.206  時間: 2010-09-25 15:34:07