October 10, 2010
Killer Whale Born in Orlando
Updated: Sunday, 10 Oct 2010, 12:14 PM EDT Published : Sunday, 10 Oct 2010, 11:59 AM EDT Orlando - There's a new killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando. A 34-year-old killer whale named Katina gave birth Saturday night to her seventh calf. Park officials say the baby is 7 feet long and weighs 350 pounds. It's the 16th born at SeaWorld Orlando. Park spokesman Nick Gollattscheck says the sex of the calf won't be known for some time. Veterinarians are monitoring the whales to make sure both are healthy. The calf's birth is good news for the Orlando theme park. Necropsy results are pending for the first of Katina's calves, Kalina, which died suddenly at age 25 on Monday. The new calf's father is Tilikum, a 12,000-pound whale that drowned a SeaWorld trainer in February.
(CNN) -- "SeaWorld has been fined $75,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for three safety violations, including one classified as willful, after an animal trainer was killed in February.
In a statement Monday, Cindy Coe, OSHA's regional administrator, said that SeaWorld knew of the inherent risks of allowing trainers to interact with dangerous animals."
"In February, a 12,000-pound killer whale at the Orlando, Florida, SeaWorld pulled trainer Dawn Brancheau, 40, underwater and killed her as horrified park visitors watched. An autopsy report showed Brancheau died from drowning and traumatic injuries to her body, including her spine, ribs and head....
The OSHA statement said the whale involved was one of three also involved in the death of an animal trainer in 1991 at a Vancouver, British Columbia, water park....
The agency's 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," the OSHA statement said. "Despite this record, management failed to make meaningful changes to improve the safety of the work environment for its employees."
Safety Director Linda Simons says that this could easily happen again:
ABC News Story, August 23, 2010
From ABC News, August 23, 2010:
From February, 2010:
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