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Tilikum (c. December 1981 [1] – 6 January 2017), nicknamed Tilly, [2] was a captive male orca who spent most of his life at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida. He was captured in Iceland in 1983; about a year later, he was transferred to Sealand of the Pacific near Victoria, British Columbia , Canada. [ 3 ]
SeaWorld officials report that the infamous whale Tilikum, that dragged a trained underwater to her death in 2010, is in deteriorating health.
Dawn Therese Brancheau (née LoVerde, April 16, 1969 – February 24, 2010) was an American animal trainer at SeaWorld. [3] [4] She worked with orcas at SeaWorld Orlando for fifteen years, including a leading role in revamping the Shamu show, [3] [5] and was SeaWorld's poster girl.
Tilikum, Nootka IV, and Haida II dragged and repeatedly submerged her until she drowned, despite other trainers' efforts to rescue her. The poor relations between the whales, unfamiliarity with trainers in the water, and the pregnancy of at least one of the females (Haida II) were cited as possible causes. [6] [7] [8] [9]
"I came in really trying to understand what happened in that situation and if it felt like a one-off." Tilikum was a 22-foot-long, 12,000-pound orca who was in captivity for 33 years.
On February 24, 2010, toward the end of a "Dine with Shamu" show at SeaWorld Orlando, the orca "Tilikum" pulled down an experienced trainer. [14] [15] Dawn Brancheau, a 40-year-old with extensive training experience, drowned as at least two dozen tourists looked on from above a whale tank and from an underwater viewing area.
Tilikum (sometimes misspelled Tillikum) (born circa 1981, died 2017) was a bull orca involved in three human deaths while he was in captivity, one at Sealand of the Pacific and two at Seaworld Orlando.
On June 13, 1989, five park guests were injured on the Loch Ness Monster roller coaster when a train collided with a tree at an estimated 15 mph (24 km/h). The tree had been blown onto the coaster's tracks by a sudden storm. The collision happened on a slightly banked right turn that follows a minor descent from the coaster's second lift hill.