Blackfish lies - Debunking Seaworld's website announcement

 Seaworlds website states

4. The film spins an entirely fictitious account of Dawn Brancheau’s death in order to advance its anti-captivity narrative. To support this bias slant, and specifically the idea that Tilikum was a psychotic and violent animal because of captivity, the film engages in a series of false and misleading statements about the circumstances of Ms. Brancheau’s death:

• In its opening sequence, the film misleadingly cobbles together separate pieces of innocuous training and performance footage, synched with the actual 911 calls, to mislead the audience into believing it is viewing the actual footage of Ms. Brancheau swimming with Tilikum prior to the fatal incident.  In fact, the opening sequence does not depict either Ms. Brancheau or Tilikum, or an attack of any kind.  From the date Tilikum arrived at SeaWorld, no one was allowed to swim in the water with Tilikum, and Ms. Brancheau never did so.

The opening sequence is above, it shows a trainer doing waterworks with a killer whale, no where does it state it is Ms Brancheau and that it certainly not Tilikum, so I guess that is Seaworld's presumption as I certainly didn't see the clip like that at all. 

• Purely for shock value, the film includes a recording of an EMT technician, subsequently proved to be mistaken, suggesting that Tilikum swallowed Ms. Brancheau’s arm during the incident. This is false.  This fact was readily available to the filmmaker in the documentation she obtained from the Secretary of Labor, yet was not included.

This is not altogether incorrect, the part about him swallowing an arm may be incorrect, but that is the EMT technicians view, maybe he didn't know where the arm was. In Dawn's autopsy report  you can see on page 6, ''the left upper extremity is completely avulsed''  The definition of avulsed is In medicine, an avulsion is an injury in which a body structure is forcibly detached from its normal point of insertion by either trauma or surgery (from the Latin avellere, meaning "to tear off"). So this part was not purely for shock value the upper arm was torn off by Tilikum, who is to say that the EMT technician at the time knew where that piece of arm was?? I would dare say that due to the injuries she did sustain he would also have been incredibly shocked too. 
Witness statement also said he would not let them have Dawn back and his mouth had to be pried open  

 

•  The film falsely suggests that SeaWorld “blamed” Ms. Brancheau for her death.  We have never done that.  She was our colleague and we mourn her loss to this day.  The film, however, does blame Ms. Brancheau, and it accomplishes this through former trainers with little or no relevant experience. These trainers were not present on the day she died, and callously presume to critique her interaction with Tilikum.  

Dawn is blamed 3 times in this video clip. 


 Chuck Tompkins, Sea World corporate curator for zoological operations, testified that there are no specific steps for trainers to follow to respond to a life-threatening situation in the water and that their lives are ultimately up to their own “best judgment call.” Tompkins admitted that the park does not even re-evaluate its protocols after an injury or death because it deems the injuries “a result of human error” and insisted that revising safety protocols is unnecessary. He also claimed that SeaWorld has “gotten a whole lot better” with the training process over time, despite, as government attorneys noted, the killing of two trainers in a two-month span.

Who gave the Orange County Sheriff this information??  SW convinced the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) to report that a trainer had “slipped or fell” into the pool and died of drowning. Although witnesses did not indicate that she slipped or fell, OCSO Spokesman Jim Solomon s emerged from a meeting with SW officials and made that proclamation before a global audience. 

With this, the fabrications and deceptions began. Not only did OCSO make a major faux pas by making this announcement (which was subsequently withdrawn as the public came forward) but SeaWorld President Dan Brown also started the web of deceit. He expressed “we have never, in the history of our parks had an incident like this”. While partially true, he failed to mention that just eight weeks earlier Keto, a SeaWorld orca on loan to Loro Parque brutally killed trainer Alexis Martinez in a similar fashion. His death in the Canary Islands was also portrayed merely as an accidental drowning.

•  The film blatantly mischaracterizes the events that led to the death of trainer Keltie Byrne at SeaLand of the Pacific, a park that was never owned or operated by SeaWorld.  Tilikum was one of three whales in the sea pen at the time Ms. Byrne drowned, and the jury in the Coroner’s Inquest (the Canadian investigation of the incident), which considered the testimony of 19 witnesses, did not identify any one of the three whales as the leader in the incident. Nevertheless, the film claims that Tilikum was the instigator, relying upon an interview given by two local residents.  Another key fact never disclosed in the film: David Duffus, who is featured in the film numerous times as an “expert”, was the foreman of this very same  Coroner’s Jury that investigated the Sea-Land incident.  Mr. Duffus testified that it was inconclusive that Tilikum was primarily responsible for the death of Ms. Byrne.

They use this  as their reference. this shows the recommendations and as far as I can see the only time Mr Duffus is mentioned in this report is that he is a juror. It does not show any testimony from him.

As in the previous article regarding the experts credentials, sea-world once again mislead the public by stating that Judge Welch had this to say about Mr Duffus. This is not true, the document is Seaworld's appeal document, what the Judge actually said about Mr Duffus in point 6  is 'he considered Mr Duffus a credible, informative witness whose opinions assisted the court.


The part regarding Tilikum is true however, none of the 3 orca were named specifically as the one that grabbed Keltie Byrne, yet the witness's on the Blackfish movie stated it was the one with the bent over fin which would have been Tilikum. Tilikums Seaworld animal Profile also states ''Please be advised this whale was involved in an accidental drowning of a trainer at Sealand of the Pacific in 1991. 


Why would the fact that Mr Duffus was  the foreman of the Coroner's Jury that investigated the Sealand incident be on any relevance what so ever?  The only way Blackfish mischaracterizes the incident with Keltie Byrne is to call those witness's liars, which they did not do. Those witness's stated they had never been called at the time of Keltie's death and they saw the whale with the bent over fin grab her. Why would they lie?  At the time the other thing noted about Tilikum was that if anything went into the pool, he would not give it back, yet Seaworld state this is irrelevant to the case of Dawn Brancheau

•  The film similarly trades in fictional theories about the circumstances surrounding the death of Daniel Dukes, an intruder who broke into the back area of Shamu Stadium after hours and jumped into Tilikum’s pool. The film claims there was a “public relations version” of the death and that Mr. Dukes’ death was somehow caused by an act of aggression by Tilikum. A review of the official Sherriff’s report reveals  that virtually nothing said in the film about our conduct that day is true.  In fact, Naomi Rose, PhD.D., an outspoken critic of SeaWorld who actually appears in the credits to Blackfish, was quoted after the incident as saying “since the body was found on Tilikum’s back, it’s unlikely the whale was behaving aggressively……The whale was probably playing with the man and continued to play with the body after the man died.”

Once again Seaworlds own profile for Tilikum states He was involved in an incident in July 1999 which resulted in the drowning of a guest in his pool, his participation was not known. 

Seaworld have repeatedly set the picture of Daniel P Dukes as some strange homeless person, probably under the influence of drugs who died from hypothermia.

Early newspaper reports showed he was neither, he was listed as living at the Hare Krishna temple in Miami, not as homeless, and once again the Orange County Sheriff's department gave a statement saying there was no foul play on his(Tilikum) part. An Autopsy was expected to show he had drowned as his body was not harmed. Bear in mind Seaworld would have removed the body to assess it was not harmed!

The medical examiners report shows quite a different story  
Before you read through it note the medical examiner reports both pre and post mortem injuries, showing Tilikum attacked the body before Daniel Dukes died and continued afterwards. Once again the word 'avulsion' came up as it did in dawn Brancheau's autopsy which means ripped off, this time it was Daniel Dukes, scrotal sac and testis that had been avulsed.
Also note there were no drugs or alcohol in his system.

As you can see the body was most definitely harmed in numerous places. The public relations version of this incident is, he was a strange drifter, who died of hypothermia and was found draped across Tilikum's back. Not anywhere have Seaworld mentioned what the results of the medical examiners report were, not even in his own Animal Profile which would have been available to trainers.

• What clearly is supported by the facts is that prior to Ms. Brancheau’s accident in 2010, Tilikum had engaged in numerous interactions with trainers and veterinarians safely and without incident over a period of 18 years. Tilikum remains at SeaWorld, where he cooperates with trainers, socializes with other killer whales and our guests.   

This statement is also not true. His animal profile states
Tilikum finds aversive -
repetition during learning with repetitive incorrect responses
prolonged social access to other whales
prolonged separation without visual access to other whales, esp Taima
birds stealing his fish
too much change

Tilikums training history has been inconsistent for the most part. During times of frustration due to social stress in the environment, Tilikum has exhibited aggressive behavior by mouthing the stage, vocalization, tightening body posture, banging gates, a deep fast swim and sometimes lunging towards control trainer. It is important to remember his previous history and potential.

Occasionally he has displayed possessive behavior with objects and other whales in his environment.

Tilikums very first incident was whilst he was still at  Hafnarfjordur Aquarium, Iceland in 1984 - 3-year-old male Tilikum attacked his trainer when he was trying to get him to move from between pools at the Sædýrasafninu sea animal park, biting a good bit out of his wetsuit and dragging him down.


Of course it would have been very irresponsible of Sea World to breed an orca with a bad reputation. As in dog breeding if you have an attack dog, the dog is usually not allowed to breed and is consequently put to sleep. So it would be in Seaworld's interests to not have any involvement or the nature of involvement in the incidents known to the public or the trainers.

• SeaWorld was aware of Keltie Byrne’s death when it acquired Tilikum.  We adopted special precautionary protocols regarding work with Tilikum, including prohibition of performance in-water work.  These protocols were impressed upon all trainers who worked with Tilikum, yet the film falsely implies that important safety information about Tilikum and his background were withheld.  This is untrue.  Nothing was ever concealed from Tilikum’s trainers.  During the OSHA trial surrounding Ms. Brancheau’s accident, SeaWorld provided more than 35 hours of testimony concerning our killer whale program and topics such as our detailed safety protocols and how they are communicated to our trainers.  All of this testimony was in the possession of the filmmakers, but ignored by the film. 

 No where in the protocols   does it state anything regarding the deaths of Keltie Byrne or Daniel P Dukes. The protocols are purely how people deal with Tilikum now. In the case of Keltie Byrne, neither the training protocols nor his animal profile state anything other than please be aware Tilikum was involved in an incident, in relation to Daniel P Dukes it also clearly states his involvement is unknown. After the autopsy was concluded the autopsy report proved Tilikum's involvement but no where is this information revealed to trainers, so the statement made that safety information about Tilikum and his background being with held is TRUE. It makes no difference that they made 35 hours of statements on their safety protocols as they do not reveal the autopsy report information on either previous killing.  Saying that the filmakers ignored it is a bit like pot calling kettle as the information regarding the injuries these people received is also available but ignored by Seaworld too.

• The film misrepresents, through the use of footage four decades old, that SeaWorld takes a cavalier approach to safety and qualifications of its trainers. This is completely untrue.  The path to becoming a killer whale trainer is rigorous and lengthy: It takes years to be qualified to work with killer whales The film ignores all the steps and protocols trainers must take in order to be promoted through the ranks.   
• In addition to our written safety protocols and extensive training processes, we have invested tens of millions of dollars in state-of-the art improvements, including lifting floors, underwater cameras, and other both passive and active devices, all of which are tied together in our Emergency Response Program. 

Making and training people how to perform an emergency response indicates that an emergency response will be needed again in the future which is the whole point OSHA have been trying to make.
The steps checklist also broken into week one and post week one which does not show it takes years to be a qualified killer whale trainer. Maybe it does but the examples given on the Seaworld website do not back that up.

With regards to 4 decades old footage - this is the footage I have found and comments seaworld made regarding each incident. I deliberately chose recent clips so it doesn't fall into the 4 decades category.
2009 - no where near 4 decades old - Keto.
To prove the cavalier attitude in this case you need look no further than the court room. 
Flaherty Clark  testified under oath that SeaWorld was not associated with Loro Parque. OSHA's report argued differently:
Sea World Parks & Entertainment sent several of its personnel, including SeaWorld of California's supervisor of animal training, Brian Rokeach, to Loro Parque to demonstrate its use of operant conditioning and to help implement its training program.

This is a blatant lie under oath by Kelly Flaherty Clark, as this is the original set up for Seaworld orca's at Loro parque along with photographs of staff there. 

Even though Brian Rokeach and experienced Seaworld trainer was present at the incident, Kelly Flaherty Clark blamed the inexperienced trainer and how Mr Rokeach dealt with the situation stating it wouldn't have happened in her park. 2 months later Tilikum killed Dawn in her park! 

The arrangement and statements from Fred Jacobs and Brad Andrews can be seen here The parks have enough that they can safely share four with the Loro Parque zoological park at Tenerife, said Fred Jacobs, spokesman for Busch Entertainment Corp., parent of the SeaWorld parks.

"We've known them for a long time, and they do an excellent job," Jacobs said of Loro Parque, a privately owned facility that features sea lions, dolphins, alligators, parrots and land animals but no killer whales.

Jacobs said Loro Parque trainers have been at SeaWorld in San Antonio for about the past year, learning to care for and train the big black-and-white sea mammals. A 7 million-gallon pool is under construction at Loro Parque to house the animals.

Two juvenile killer whales from Orlando and two from San Antonio will be shipped to the park as soon as the work is complete, possibly in early February, Jacobs said.

The killer whales are not being sold outright, but SeaWorld does have a "financial arrangement" with Loro Parque in the venture, Jacobs said. He would not provide details of the agreement.

Brad Andrews, director of zoological operations for Busch Entertainment, said Wednesday that the SeaWorld parks have been working closely with Loro Parque to make sure it has adequate room and proper training to handle the big animals, which have on rare occasions injured or killed humans.

Andrews said he just returned from a trip to Loro Parque and saw that the massive pool is coming along nicely.

"It's going to be outstanding," Andrews said. "We've been providing technical expertise, not only on the habitat requirements but also on the care and training of killer whales."

He said that once the four juveniles leave the U.S. parks, Orlando still will have eight (five adults and three juveniles); San Antonio will have five (two adults and three juveniles); and San Diego will have seven (four adults and three juveniles.)

Jacobs said the four that will be sent to the Canary Islands are fully weaned and mature enough to be transported.

If this isn't a 'cavalier' attitude then what is? 

Wolfgang Keissling and Brad Andrews at Loro Parque taken by Ingrid Visser

Dawn Brancheau training Alexis Martinez at Loro Parque

Kasatka and Ken Peters

Kasatka's animal profile shows numerous incidents in the 2006 incident above Kasatka's profile states - dunked trainer, grabbed knee. There had been 9 recorded incidents with Kasatka before this 2 with Ken Peters again. Ken Peters is an experienced trainer, so if this doesn't show a cavalier attitude as their were 9 prior incidents, then what is it?

Kyuquot

Although this video says it is Tilikum it is actually Kyuquot refusing to let Steve Aibel exit the pool.

Kyuquot's animal profile says after this incident only the most experienced trainers were allowed to work with him. Yet the same thing happened again the following year. It states that in the years since the incident only limited waterworks have been done with Ky and before any were performed all social interactions were favorable. As he is a large bull orca who has done this twice, if this isn't a cavalier attitude then what is it?

Orkid 

Orkid's animal profile states they have been out of the water with her since this dunking incident in 2006. Seaworld have listed 12 incidents with Orkid before this one happened yet they were still in the water with her, she also has an incident after this one.
Despite all these incidents her profile states 'we have recently started getting into the med pool whilst Orkid is in B/C pools and asking for behaviors through the gates. she is doing well with this approximation back to waterworks.
Recently she has been sliding out at various slide out areas which has resulted in possible dangerous scenario's for guests. Despite all these incidents with Orkid, they are trying to get her ready for waterworks once again. Yet they have the nerve to say Blackfish makes out they make a cavalier approach to safety issues. What would you call the above then?


One thing that all of the trainers appeared to agree on was that an apex predator who is also highly intelligent, can form a deadly combination. John Jett told DJ:
One thing we know is that wild orcas will block exits from their prey items. Keto and Tilikum and many others seem to demonstrate this when attacking trainers. They seem to eliminate or reduce escape routes. These animals have an amazing evolutionary history that isn't removed from life in captivity. They're wired for this kind of behavior. They don't make mistakes.

Marine mammal veterinarian Jay Sweeney:
"Aggression expressed by killer whales toward their trainers is a matter of grave concern. Show situations involving water behaviors with trainers and orcas have become popular in recent years. Aggressive manifestations toward trainers have included bumping, biting, grabbing, dunking, and holding trainers on the bottom of pools preventing their escape. Several situations have resulted in potentially life-threatening incidents. In a few such cases, we can attribute this behavior to disease or to the presence of frustrating or confusing situations, but in other cases, there have been no clear casual factors."
(in Marine Mammal Behavioral Diagnostics, L. Dierauf (Ed.). 1990. Handbook of Marine Mammal Medicine, pp. 53-72.)


OSHA report on the Kasatka incident in November 2006:
"The contributing factors to the accident, in the simplest of terms, is that swimming with captive orcas is inherently dangerous and if someone hasn't been killed already it is only a matter of time before it does happen. The trainers recognize this risk and train not for if an attack will happen but when."
(in Occupational Health and Safety report, March 2, 2007)

• In addition to our written safety protocols and extensive training processes, we have invested tens of millions of dollars in state-of-the art improvements, including lifting floors, underwater cameras, and other both passive and active devices, all of which are tied together in our Emergency Response Program. 

It doesn't matter how much you spend, Tilikum was brought up on a raising floor but he still wouldn't let Dawn go. These creatures could kill a trainer in seconds no matter how much money or improvements Seaworld make. The attack rates and source of evidence can be seen here.

• Conclusion

• All of the falsehoods and misleading techniques in Blackfish are employed in the service of the film’s obvious bias, one that is best revealed near the end of Blackfish by a neuroscientist with no known expertise in killer whales. She claims that all killer whales in captivity are “emotionally destroyed,” and “ticking time bombs.” These are not the words of science, and indeed, there is not a shred of scientific support for them.  Rather, they are the words of animal rights activists whose agenda the film’s many falsehoods were designed to advance. They reveal “Blackfish” not as an objective documentary, but as propaganda. 

Scientific evidence that Seaworld say does not exist.

In 1995,Small and De Master published a peer-reviewed paper on the survivor-ship rates of

several captive marine mammal species . This paper showed that, through the end of

1992 (the last year for which a complete set of annual data was available) orcas had significantly lower annual survival rates in captivity than in the wild. T heir annual mortality rate

(the inverse of survivor-ship) was more than two and a half times higher in captivity than in the wild. The data source for captive animals was the U.S. Marine Mammal Inventory Report, maintained by the National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. The data are provided to the agency by marine mammal public display facilities (henceforth called oceanaria) ; therefore, the database was if anything biased in favor of display

Of more than 130 wild-caught orcas held for public display, only 13 survive in oceanaria around

the world. Nine of these are older than the vast majority of captive orcas who have died.

.The remaining 29 living captive orcas are captive-born and therefore younger than 25

(with the death of Kalina, the oldest living captive- born orca is now Orkid, aged 23 years). Indeed,17 of the surviving captive-born orcas are younger than 11 years of age.

.See the orca white paper HERE

Lastly going back to Tilikums profile, Seaworld have always maintained there was nothing going on to make them believe that Tilikum would do what he did that day. His profile however states - during times of frustration during social stress in the environment, Tilikum has exhibited aggressive behavior including a deep fast swim and lunging at trainers.

This is the Believe show minutes before Tilikum grabbed Dawn, note the trainers leave the stage as aggression erupts in the tank.

Did Seaworld lie about there being no signs leading up to this tragic event or did they not see this in their own tanks? 

Although Blackfish used some clips that were not with the script, the storyline remains correct. Tilikum was harassed and mistreated at Sealand of the Pacific. He was often isolated at Seaworld as his profile states. He is bullied by the females and too big to get out of their way, he attacked from the first few days he was caught whilst still in Iceland and has continued to do so throughout his life, as an orca he has no other way to protest, yet despite all these things he is a successful breeder, in fact Tilikum is the most successful sire in captivity, with 21 offspring, 11 of which are still alive. While living in Sealand, Tilikum sired his first calf Kyuquot, which was born to Haida II on December 24, 1991. Since his arrival at SeaWorld, Tilikum has sired many calves with different female orcas:

1. Kyuquot (1991)
2. SOP-9201 (1992. Died after 36 days, cause unknown)
3. Nyar (1993–1996)
4. Taku (1993-2007)
5. SWF-9401 (1994 Stillbirth)
6. SWF-9601 (1996 Stillbirth)
7. Unna (1996)
8. SWF-9701 (1997 Stillbirth)
9. Sumar (1998–2010)
10. Tuar (1999)
11. Tekoa (2000)
12. Nakai (2001) †
13. SWT-0101 (2001 Stillbirth)
14. Kohana (2002) †
15. Ikaika (2002)
16. Skyla (2004)
17. SWF-0501 (2005 Miscarriage unconfirmed)
18. Malia (2007)
19. Sakari (2010)
20. SWF-1001 (2010 Stillbirth)
21. Makaio (2010)

 In 1999, Tilikum began training for artificial insemination. In early 2000, Kasatka who resides at SeaWorld San Diego was artificially inseminated using his sperm. She gave birth to a male calf, Nakai, on September 1, 2001. On May 3, 2002, another female in San Diego, named Takara, bore Tilikum's calf through artificial insemination. The calf was a female, named Kohana.

Is this why Seaworld protest so much about Blackfish, who knows, but trying to deflect attention from what has happened in the park onto Blackfish being activist propaganda is not a good idea especially when evidence is out there for everyone to find.

 As Seaworld's research progressed so did wild research, as it progressed and more was learnt about their family structures and habits, the more apparent it became that these huge beautiful creatures should not be in captivity at all. 50 years is not a long time in the scheme of things, but it has been long enough for people to learn where the mistakes are, the hard part is getting Seaworld to admit that and try to put it right, rather than keep ducking and diving over bits of film,  which will then ultimately increase their image and profits.

The bottom line is Tilikum should be like this swimming with his family catching herring under the northern lights and would have been had it not been for the Marine Park Industry.

SeaWorld - You have Excuses for Tilikum, what is your Excuse for Keto?

Whilst all attention is focused on Tilikum and Blackfish, with Seaworld and their supporters picking spots off the film, the death of one of their other trainers by an orca born and bred at Seaworld seems to be going un noticed.

When defending the actions of Tilikum on the sad day that Dawn Brancheau died, Seaworld had indicated as proven in the Blackfish film that some of the psychological damage caused to Tilikum was actually whilst he was at Sealand and not of their doing. This is true but what is the excuse for Keto?

Had Seaworld reacted in the same way they did after Dawn's tragedy then she would still be here, the trainers would have been out of the water,  instead they took the trainers out of the water for one day, then put them back in.

To understand why Keto would kill his trainer, you need to understand the situation Seaworld brought about in Loro Parque, why they created such a tragic and sad mess is known only to them.

Keto aged 11 when sent to Loro Parque

Keto was one of 5 orca born to Kalina, Keet was first born in 1993, Keto in 1995, a stillborn in 1997, Tuar in 1999 and Skyla in 2004. He was full brother to Keet who's father was Kotar, and half brother to the others. He was also half brother to Takara, who's mother Kasatka also mated with Kotar.
As the gene pool  is so small at Seaworld he was also uncle to Trua, Kohana, Halyn, Kalia and Sakari.

When he was very young, he was nicknamed punk, probably because his mother was permanently pregnant or dealing with other calves. His older brother had been moved away at 18 months old to allow his mother to have Keto, Keet was very depressed but was taken in by Haida 2.

It was decided that at age 3 and a half Keto would be moved from Orlando to San Diego to help 'correct' his behaviour, so he too was taken from his mother and moved to another park.

When at aged 5 Keet was also moved to San Diego he was reunited with the brother he had never met, they both got on really well,  although Keto was a little rough with him. Sadly his stay and San Diego was short and he was moved to Ohio for a short time and then San Antonio.

Tekoa aged 6 when sent to Loro Parque

Meanwhile in 2000 in Orlando another young male was born at the park to Taima who had to almost immediately be taken from his mother who kept attacking him. Tekoa was close to Kalina and in 2004 they were both moved to San Antonio, where their friendship disintegrated as other orca claimed Kalina as their friend.

Kohana aged 4 when sent to Loro Parque

In San Diego Keto's niece Kohana was born to Takara at first she seemed very shy and the two became inseparable and at the age of 2 the two of them were moved to Orlando. This was probably as Takara's being the daughter of the dominant orca was the princess of San Diego and could do whatever she liked with her mothers protection. She was very spoiled and liked to annoy the other orca. After the move she had to adjust to a new social structure but she fitted in well.

Skyla aged 2 when sent to Loro Parque

Skyla, Keto's half sister was also separated from their mother Kalina at the early age of 2 as she was deemed independent enough.

Loro Parque

In 2006 these 4 orca were deemed excess and were sent to Loro Parque on a 25 year breeding loan on condition any calves belonged to Seaworld. Seaworld trainers were sent with them to help the trainers at Loro Parque.

Dawn Brancheau and Alix Martinez at Loro Parque

 Why Seaworld sent these particular orca is entirely known to them. Everyone including Seaworld knows that orca live in matriarchal pods, even in the false pods they create in their tanks, they know there is always an older, dominant orca who keeps order in the pool. They sent these 4 young orca, on a breeding loan knowing there was no one to breed with other than each other and knowing there was no matriarch to help keep order. They created a pod of dysfunctional youngsters taken from their mothers and families with no one to help them develop or socialize properly.

At the time the loan was announced in December 2005, Jacobs publicly said there was a “financial arrangement,” but he declined to give details. What was clear was SeaWorld would be deeply involved in managing its orca from the moment they arrived in February 2006. SeaWorld personnel oversaw their care and training at Loro Parque, and Brian Rokeach , a senior trainer from SeaWorld San Diego, supervised the training session in which Martínez died. His court statement can be seen here .

When Fred Jabobs was asked if Martínez’s death should be considered relevant to OSHA’s conclusions regarding SeaWorld and trainer safety he replied “Loro Parque is an independent and highly respected zoological institution with its own protocols. ”  “Because it is in the Canary Islands, however, it is not subject to OSHA. Because we are contesting OSHA’s citations, we are unable to discuss it further, except to reiterate that their allegations reflect a fundamental lack of understanding of the safety requirements of caring for these animals.” To make this statement knowing these were Seaworld orca's under Seaworld care is just outstanding, as soon as an incident occurs they are no longer under Seaworld's care, yet everyone knew that they were.

To help make sure Orca Ocean was successful, Seaworld had trained a group of Loro Parque trainers in their Orlando and San Antonio parks, Seaworld vet James McBain also visited regularly and had 2 weekly conference calls and Seaworld could also monitor the orca through the Loro Parque surveillance equipment. Brad Andrews also flew in at least twice yearly.  When the assigned SeaWorld supervisor was away for any reason, SeaWorld would rotate in a temporary replacement. In September 2006, Dawn Brancheau pulled a temporary rotation at Loro Parque, arriving to fill in for Mark Galan.

Orca Ocean officially opened on February 17, 2006, with a gala celebration attended by Loro Parque president Wolfgang Kiessling; August Busch III, then chairman of Anheuser-Busch InBev (which at the time owned SeaWorld); and Adán Martin, then president of the Canary Islands.

 The first show open to the general public took place on March 17, 2006, but there were problems with the new pools. They had been coated with a product called Metflex, which hadn’t adhered properly. (Metflex and Loro Parque both lay the blame on the other.) And that, in turn, led to orca problems, one week after the opening, Allee says, while a packed stadium awaited, all four whales appeared in the backstage area with strips of Metflex hanging from their mouths and pool paint smeared across their rostrums, or snouts.The park shut down and the orca's had to endure endoscopy procedures to check the metflex was not in their stomachs. As you can see from the video Keto is not too impressed.

The four young orca struggled to get along, struggled to find their place in the new falsely created pods and tensions were extremely high.

In an effort to understand and get to know the orca, Martinez kept a notepad on their behaviours which gives an indication into what life in the tank was like.
 In reference to Kohana, he noted  “Back to feeling insecure when separated, alone, both in shows & in sessions.” In late September, he noted that Kohana’s vocalizations and attitude had improved but that she “always has rises & falls in temperament.
He also noted some of the sexual tensions in the pool  “Keto is obsessed with controlling Kohana, he won’t separate from her, including shows,” he wrote. “Tekoa is very sexual when he is alone with Kohana (penis out). Keto is sexual with Tekoa.”
On September 2, 2009, he noted that “Brian [Rokeach, SeaWorld’s supervising trainer at Loro Parque at the time] had a small incident with Keto the first hour of the morning,” and that it was “a very bad day for Keto.” On September 12, he wrote, “All the animals are bad. Dry day for Kohana.”

Sometimes the tension between the whales would get a very public airing. During one show  in the summer of 2007, Tekoa was performing when Keto raced into the show pool, rammed him, and then proceeded to chase him. After the trainers regained control, they completed the performance with Tekoa, even though blood was visibly seeping from his wounds. His final display of behavior was a full-body pose on the main stage. “The last image the audience saw was the stage covered in Tekoa’s blood,”

There were many injuries in the pool as the orca tried to create a pod, without the guidance or security of their mothers.

Tekoa covered in rake marks

Skyla after attack by Kohana

Keto's attack wasn't the first in the park.  In October 2007, Loro Parque almost lost a female trainer, 29 year old Claudia Vollhardt was working a training session with Tekoa, who weighed about 3,000 pounds at the time, under the supervision of SeaWorld senior trainer Steve Aibel.  Vollhardt, who had transferred to Orca Ocean from the Loro Parque dolphinarium, was having trouble practicing a foot push, a behavior in which the killer whale presses its rostrum against the trainer’s foot and propels the trainer across the pool, either underwater or above the surface. After a few failed attempts, Tekoa grabbed Vollhardt’s arm and took her to the bottom of the pool. He then dragged her toward the steel gate between the show pool and the back pools and began banging her against it. The emergency alarm went off and Aibel shouted for the staff to get the net as the orca's had been trained to swim away from the net. This distracted Tekoa for an instant and Aibel managed to pull Claudia out of the water and begin CPR. Even as CPR was being performed Tekoa was still trying to reach her as she lay on the pool deck. Vollhardt was carried into a nearby office, where her wetsuit, covered in bite marks and blood, was cut away, and then rushed by ambulance to the intensive-care unit of the hospital in La Laguna. She eventually recovered, from a punctured lung and a forearm fractured in three places and lacerations.

Waterworks were stopped for 6 months and no one was allowed into the water with Tekoa again.

Despite this after her recovery she continued to work at Orca Ocean.

Claudia Vollhardt at Orca Ocean

Skyla also started to act out her frustrations on the trainers. In the spring of 2009, during a public show, 5-year-old female Skyla started pushing her trainer around the pool and up against the pool wall. Shortly thereafter, special protocols (limits on water work and a mandate that only senior trainers work with her) that had been standard practice for Tekoa after the incident in 2007 were enacted for Skyla as well. Now only Kohana and Keto could be used for waterworks.

In 2009, with Christmas approaching, Martínez was selected to perform in the holiday show, alongside SeaWorld San Diego’s Brian Rokeach. On the fatal day, December 24, Martínez and Rokeach, along with five other Orca Ocean trainers, ran through a morning practice session with Keto, who worked alone in the show pool while the other three killer whales were secured in the two back pools.

It was known that Keto preferred to know what was going on with the other whales rather than perform alone, in Martinez's diary it quoted an incident in the September when Keto was again working alone and after a perimeter ride, was seen vocalizing and circling the pool at high speed once the trainer had got off.

During that fatal day, Rokeach was working from the stage of the showpool and Martinez entered the water. Keto started off well, but then Martínez tried a behavior called a stand-on spy hop, in which he stood on Keto’s rostrum as Keto drove his body vertically up and out of the water. Keto was leaning slightly as he rose from the surface, and Martínez fell off. Because the stunt had not been executed cleanly, Keto was not bridged (rewarded).
A short time later, Martínez initiated another spy hop. Again, Keto came up twisting, and this time Martínez responded with an LRS. To help get Keto back on track, he was called to a shallow ledge across the pool from the main stage, and when he obeyed another trainer rewarded him with two handfuls of fish. Keto, according to the report, seemed calm. Martínez then told Rokeach and the others that he was going to ride Keto down into the pool and up onto the stage, a sequence called a haul-down into stage haul-out.
On the way down Keto went too deep, and as he approached the bottom of the 12-meter pool Martínez abandoned the haul-out and asked Keto to follow his hand with his rostrum. Together they drifted up to the surface, and again Martínez responded to Keto’s failure with an LRS. (When they don’t perform correctly, the trainer reacts with a three-second neutral response and withholds the reward. This is known as a least-reinforcing scenario, or LRS.)
This time, though, Keto responded oddly. According to the incident report, “Keto surfaced with Alexis and seemed calm, but appeared to position himself between Alexis and the stage. Alexis waited for calm from Keto and requested a stage call via underwater tone.” Keto responded and swam over to Rokeach, who was standing on the stage. But Rokeach observed that Keto appeared “not committed to remaining under control” and a little “big-eyed.” Instead of walking back to get a fish bucket, Rokeach asked another trainer to bring it to him. Like Martínez, Rokeach gave Keto a hand target to focus him, one of the simplest and first behaviors most marine-park killer whales learn. When Rokeach felt Keto was under better control, he asked Martínez, who had been waiting patiently near the center of the pool, to swim slowly toward the slide-over (a ramp connecting the show pool to the back pools) at the edge of the main stage so he could get out of the water. Notably, the incident report makes no mention of Rokeach feeding Keto any fish.
As Martínez started to paddle gently through the water, the report indicates, Keto took note and started to lean in his direction. Sensing he was about to lose control, Rokeach gave Keto another hand target. This time Keto ignored it. He went after Martínez, driving him to the bottom of the pool with his nose. (In his testimony to Canary Islands’ investigators, Orca Ocean assistant supervisor Rafael Sanchez said, “The animal in question moved towards him and hit him and violently played with his body.”)

Rokeach and the other trainers did what they could, but a powerful 6,600-pound killer whale is the master of his domain. Rokeach slapped the water and banged the bucket on the stage, both signals for Keto to return. He slapped the water again, and this time Keto responded, leaving Martínez at the bottom of the pool—Martínez had been under an estimated 30 seconds by then—and surfacing without him. Rokeach sounded the emergency alarm. Keto took a quick breath, returned to Martínez, and then came back to the surface carrying Martínez’ limp body across his rostrum. Rokeach called for the team to get a net in the water while others raced to corral the other three killer whales into one of the back pools. It took almost two minutes to get Keto out of the show pool and secure the gate between the pools (Keto slowed the process by about a minute by interfering with the gate as trainers tried to close it).
By this point, Martínez—apart from the brief moment Keto brought him to the surface—had been on the bottom of the pool for almost 3 minutes. Rokeach and another trainer dove in and resurfaced with Martínez, who was unconscious and had blood coming from his nose and mouth. A distraught Rokeach immediately initiated CPR. A defibrillator was brought out, and Loro Parque called for an ambulance. But Martínez was never revived.

 Loro Parque issued a statement saying Martínez’s death was an “unfortunate accident” and that he had likely died due to asphyxiation resulting from compression of his chest. “After completing the [exercise],” the statement said, “Alexis was knocked by the orca in an unexpected reaction of the animal,” adding that “the study of the facts shows that the animal’s behavior did not correspond to the way in which these marine mammals attack their prey in the wild, but was rather a shifting of position.”

But as with Dawn Brancheau, the autopsy report on Martínez showed a different scenario.

According to the analysis, the immediate cause of death was a “pulmonary edema”, while the fundamental cause of death was “mechanical asphyxiation due to compression and crushing of the thoracic abdomen with injuries to the vital organs”.
 The examination not only reveals multiple fractures – “the entire anterior rib cage”, sternum, ribs – and injuries – “bruised lungs with rips in the pleura”, “liver with a wide tear” — but also the bite marks of the animal: “The rounded marks of the external exam are compatible with the teeth marks of an orca. The morphology may be partially reduced due to the wetsuit worn by personnel during the work day”,cautions the report. 


On December 26, two days after the incident, the zoo distributed a written statement in which they invoked the“preliminary data”, and stated that the body “did not present signs of violence, nor hitting or biting, being the lack of oxygen which appears to be the cause of death, ruling out an attack.”

Three days later Loro Parque released another statement  which then speaks of the injuries and the violence of the event,explains that “at the conclusion of  the exercise, Alexis was pushed violently by the orca due to an unexpected reaction from the animal.” In addition, it also states that the trainer of marine mammals “suffered injuries due to compression of the thoracic area, and thus lack of oxygen is the most probable cause of death.”In this same report, Loro Parque states that “in reviewing the details it shows that the behavior of the animal did not correspond with how these marine mammals attack their prey in the wild, but rather with how they displace.”

Contradicting this, the report of the ambulance personnel of the Servicio de Urgencias Canario which transported Alexis to the hospital – part of which was included in the forensic medical report – describes a “man of 29 years old, who is in cardio respiratory arrest after suffering an attack from an orca.” Later in the report they surmise that the zoo trainer “suffered injuries from one of the orcas that affected the vital organs, grave injuries that resulted in death.”

In other words, Keto slammed so hard into Alix Martinez he caved in his chest. 

The trainers were kept out of the water for a day as they were in the Seaworld parks, then everything resumed as normal, well as normal as possible saying that now 3 out of the 4 orca at Loro Parque are  banned from waterworks with trainers.

 SeaWorld, to date, has never made a public statement regarding the death of Alexis Martinez, even though SeaWorld still owns the whale that killed him.

The pool still was dysfunctional as seems to be the planning. On October 12th 2010 a very young 8 year old Kohana gave birth to Keto's calf Adan. As you can see from the video clip she didn't rush over to help him take his first breath, and she wanted nothing to do with him from the moment he came out.

He was immediately taken into the medical pool where the trainers hand reared him, he is doing well although he is separated often from the other orca.

  SeaWorld  also never made a public statement when Kohana gave birth to her first-born at Loro Parque. SeaWorld is known to release publicly the births of their new-born Orcas in the USA parks where their Orcas reside.

On November 29th 2011 a young 'rescued' orca arrived at Loro Parque, Morgan.
Morgan's arrival at the park further upset the balance in the tank and she is mercilessly bullied. Her tank mate Tekoa is recorded as being the most bitten orca in captivity today and Morgan is not far behind him.

Her brief story is in the video below, as we will have a separate page for her very soon.

 

Rake marks on Morgan

 

Morgan being rammed by Kohana and Skyla

In the meantime despite her previous rejection of Adan, Kohana became pregnant again and she gave birth to a daughter on August 3rd 2012. As you can see from the video below, once again Kohana being only 10 years old, showed no interest in the thing that had caused her so much pain and the baby swam off on her own, to be taken to the medical pool to be hand raised.
Sadly on June 16th 2013 Vicky died, cause of death is intestinal complication.

Once again Seaworld made no announcement of the birth or death of this baby.

Morgan's supporters are currently fighting to get Morgan out of there as she should have been released, at the time of her transfer no one was aware of why she went to Loro Parque until earlier this year when she was listed on Seaworld's inventory of orca's.

There are lots of questions raised about these orcas that Seaworld need to answer.

1. What reason do you have for Keto doing what he did?  Your experienced trainer was there,  he wasn't affected by any other park as you say is the case with Tilikum, he has always been your orca, born into your tanks. What would turn him into a killer much the same as Tilikum?

2. Why did you not react to Keto killing his trainer, if you had Tilikum would not have been able to kill Dawn?

3. In the USA it is illegal to house incompatible orca's together, as these are YOUR orca why do you allow them to still live together like this when you know the damage they are doing to each other? They should still be covered under US law.

4. Why did you send 4 orca on a breeding loan, knowing the only things they could breed with is each other? Why would you deliberately create inbred calves?

5. Why would you breed Kohana so young? You cannot say Loro Parque act under their own volition as we know they don't, your trainers are there, your vets are there and you can supervise from the webcams. Why would you do that knowing she has no mother to help or learn from?

6. Where are these orca's mothers and where were they when they went to Loro Parque?

7. What do you intend to do with the state of Tekoa, who respected whale experts say is the most bitten and raked orca in captivity?

8. When you though Ike was being mishandled at Marineland you fought to get him back. Why have you not done the same with these orcas?

9. Does Morgan belong to you? You said absolutely nothing about her being part of your collection, yet list her on your financial files as part of your collection. Loro Parque think she belongs to Holland. Are you lying to them or are you lying to the financial institutions? 

10. Why are you leaving Morgan with Keto, is it an attempt to get her pregnant too? If so do you not think that is out of order seeing as a court decision is still in the balance? 

Is keeping the focus of the Seaworld fans on Blackfish a deliberate move by Seaworld's PR team in an attempt to stop them from looking into incidents like this? I personally think it is!