ORLANDO, Fla. — The former head trainer at SeaWorld spoke out Friday and said mistakes by trainer Dawn Brancheau led to her death.
"It looks like to me she made a mistake," Thad Lacinik told WFTV.
RAW INTERVIEW: Former Trainer Talks To WFTV VIDEO REPORT: Mistake May Have Prompted Attack
Killer whale Tilikum grabbed Dawn and pulled her underwater. Multiple injuries and drowning were the cause of her death, an autopsy found.
"She was an excellent trainer, one of the best I've seen in my life ... But allowing her ponytail to drift into the water like that in front of the animal turned out to be a fatal mistake," Lacinik said.
Lacinik is a former trainer who worked with Dawn and the killer whale. He says Dawn was partly at fault. With 35 years experience under his belt, he knows what's going on now with the park and what went wrong.
Lacinik has taught 200 whale trainers and 40 different whales. He says the attack was Dawn's fault.
"It's unfortunate, but I do think, even if Dawn were standing with me today, she would say that that was a mistake on her part," Lacinik told WFTV Friday.
He said she became too comfortable with the animal she loved so much. She had been lying on a 4-foot deep shelf of the pool when her ponytail floated over the whale's face. Tilikum grabbed it, dragged her inside the tank and took off with her in his jaws. Lacinak said, two years ago, what she did was off limits.
"When I was there, the protocol was not to be around Tiluikum's mouth while you're laying down in the slide-out area," he said, though it's unclear if that protocol is still in use.
There were special protocols for handling Tilikum because of the animal's size and involvement in two earlier deaths. Tilikum was one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer in 1991 at a theme park near Victoria, British Columbia. In 1999, the body of a naked man was found draped over Tilikum at SeaWorld. Officials said the man had stayed in the park after closing, apparently fell into the whale tank and died of hypothermia, but was also bitten by Tilikum.
"She laid completely down, which is a very vulnerable position to be in with an animal like Tilikum. And apparently her ponytail drifted into the water, he just opened his mouth, sucked it in and pulled her in the water," he said.
It was playful curiosity, Lacinak said, and not a bloodthirsty attack. Brancheau's ponytail was merely a "novelty item" to the whale, who was not trained to be in the water with people.
"It was a novel item in the water, and he grabbed hold of it, not necessarily in an aggressive way," he said.
Lacinak said the whale likely first grabbed the ponytail as a toy, then dragged the trainer into the water in more of a playful, investigative manner. Once the whale had her in the water, it likely became a game.
"It was more novelty, he's like, 'Hey look, you're in the water, I'm going to play with you,"' Lacinak said.
However, he added, once other trainers dropped nets in the water, trying to separate the whale from the woman, it may have become more aggressive trying to "keep his toy."
Lacinik did say the other trainers did the right thing by staying out of the tank; jumping in would only have put more lives at risk.
As for the whale himself, Lacinik says Tilikum will remain at the park, as far away from humans as his care will allow.
"Releasing any of these killer whales to the wild would be the wrong decision. We've already tried it once, Free Willy and he died a terrible death," Lacinik said.
Lacinik says Tilikum is not likely to return to the whale shows and SeaWorld will have to take him out of isolation soon. He also says the rumors about Tilikum being a bad whale are simply not true.
Previous Stories: February 26, 2010: SeaWorld To Address Safety, Future Of Shamu Show February 26, 2010: SeaWorld Faces Major Public Relations Challenge February 25, 2010: Autopsy: SeaWorld Trainer Died From "Traumatic Injuries" February 25, 2010: PETA Speaks Out On SeaWorld Trainer Death February 25, 2010: Personal Story: SeaWorld Trainer Dawn Brancheau February 25, 2010: Should Tilikum Be Returned To The Wild? February 25, 2010: Slain Whale Trainer Had True Passion For Job February 25, 2010: Trainer Killed At SeaWorld Loved Killer Whales February 25, 2010: SeaWorld Guests React Day After Whale Attack February 25, 2010: Whale Pulls Trainer Off Platform By Hair In Fatal Attack February 24, 2010: Whale Kills Female Trainer At SeaWorld's Shamu Stadium
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