‘Blackfish’ Whale Tilikum Could Barely Move In Tiny Tank; Seaworld Accused Of Treating Animal Poorly
Seaworld Entertainment dropped an appeal of citations it received after the drowning of trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010, according to CTV News.
The company reportedly stated in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week that it wasn't going to pursue the appeal of a federal appeals court's decision to uphold the citations. Last April, the federal appeals court in Washington said Sea World's challenge to the finding was unpersuasive, and that the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission was correct when it found that the SeaWorld park in Orlando had violated a federal workplace safety law, according to Times Union.
The killer whale that was responsible for grabbing Dawn Brancheau and pulling her into the pool is Tilikum, a male orca that has since become the focus of the 2013 documentary film "Blackfish."
Tilikum, a 20 feet long killer whale, was put into a 31 feet long, 23 feet wide and 12 feet deep medical pool where he may have developed serious medical problems, according to CTV News Vancouver.
"Prolonged restriction of the male in the medical pool may also lead to the development of serious medical problems. . . respiratory infection, muscle atrophy and scolioises. In addition, Tilikum could refuse food," wrote Brad Andrews, the vice-president of SeaWorld at the time.
Tilikum's confinement in this tiny room was one of the reasons both SeaWorld and Victoria-area Sealand were slammed by officials for treating the animal poorly, according to the website.
"Reasonable and prudent precautionary steps necessary for the health and welfare of Tilkikum were not taken by Sealand or SeaWorld," wrote Fancy Foster of the National Marine Fisheries Service in 1992, in documents obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request by Florida activist Russ Rector.
