SeaWorld Fined For Death

Tuesday, August 24, 2010
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - Federal regulators blasted SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment on Monday for allowing animal trainers to work with killer whales without adequate protection, concluding a six-month investigation into the violent drowning of a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando.

Investigators with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommended that SeaWorld trainers never again have direct contact with Tilikum, the six-ton killer whale who drowned trainer Dawn Brancheau on Feb. 24. They also recommended that trainers not be permitted to continue swimming or working in close contact with the company's smaller killer whales — unless SeaWorld implements new safeguards.

The agency proposed fines totaling $75,000 for Orlando-based SeaWorld Parks, which generated approximately $1.4 billion in revenue last year.

In its written statement, the agency added that its probe "revealed that SeaWorld trainers had an extensive history of unexpected and potentially dangerous incidents involving killer whales at its various facilities. … Despite this record, management failed to make meaningful changes to improve the safety of the work environment for its employees."

SeaWorld immediately said it would challenge the findings.

"SeaWorld disagrees with the unfounded allegations made by OSHA today and have already informed the agency that we will contest this citation," the company said in a written statement. "OSHA's allegations in this citation are unsupported by any evidence or precedent and reflect a fundamental lack of understanding of the safety requirements associated with marine mammal care."

The federal investigation, sparked by the worst tragedy in SeaWorld's 46-year history, culminated with SeaWorld being cited for one "willful" safety violation — a particularly harsh category that the agency defines as a violation committed "with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health." It urged the maximum penalty of $70,000 for such a violation. The agency also proposed a $5,000 penalty for a pair of lesser violations that were unrelated to Brancheau's death.

As part of the main citation, the agency singled out interactions with Tilikum, an animal investigators said had "known aggressive tendencies" because he was one of three killer whales that drowned another trainer at a Canadian marine park nearly 20 years ago.

Dawn Brancheau was lying face-to-face with Tilikum on an underwater ledge when the killer whale grabbed her by her long ponytail and pulled her underwater.

SeaWorld has prohibited trainers from coming into close contact with Tilikum since Brancheau's death. A spokesman for the company said Monday that change in policy is permanent.

The recommendation leaves an opening for SeaWorld to allow its trainers to re-enter the water with killer whales once the company completes its own safety review and implements procedural or equipment changes.

While the company has not permitted trainers to get into the orca tanks since Brancheau's death, it indicated Monday that it eventually expects to do so.

SeaWorld declined Monday to discuss specific changes it expects to make because, it said, its own review process is not completed.

The agency also slapped SeaWorld with two lesser citations: one for not installing stairway railings on two bridges on the stage used for "Believe" killer-whale shows, and the other for not equipping outdoor electrical receptacles around SeaWorld's orca complex with weatherproof enclosures.

SeaWorld will appeal the findings to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent administrative court overseen by a three-person commission appointed by the U.S. president.

Source: The Orlando Sentinel