The orca had decided to deny access to the narrow ledge to safety. She cried out, more in surprise than pain. Just as the trainer hauled herself up and pulled her foot from the brink, he grabbed it. This was an exciting development, and eight thousand pounds of curiosity got the best of him. He was not accustomed to seeing trainers in the water. The instant he saw a foot break the surface, the male was riveted. But one of the whales, the male, had another idea. One foot dipped into the brine as the opposite leg kept her body perched on the ledge. Suddenly, the trainer lost her balance and stumbled. The ledge, slippery from the show, was two feet above the surface. The pretty trainer began walking along a narrow ledge between the pool and a safety railing that kept the public from stumbling into the chilly salt water.

Finally he covers the media backlash, the eyewitnesses who come forward to challenge SeaWorld’s glossy image, and the groundbreaking OSHA case that challenges the very idea of keeping killer whales in captivity and may spell the end of having trainers in the water with the ocean’s top predators. And as the story progresses and orca attacks on trainers become increasingly violent, the warnings of Naomi Rose and other scientists fall on deaf ears, only to be realized with the death of Dawn Brancheau. Brancheau’s death was the most publicized among several brutal attacks that have occurred at Sea World and other marine mammal theme parks.ĭeath at SeaWorld introduces real people taking part in this debate, from former trainers turned animal rights activists to the men and women that champion SeaWorld and the captivity of whales. Kirby puts that horrific animal-on-human attack in context. Following the story of marine biologist and animal advocate at the Humane Society of the US, Naomi Rose, Kirby tells the gripping story of the two-decade fight against PR-savvy SeaWorld, which came to a head with the tragic death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010. From the New York Times bestselling author of Evidence of Harm and Animal Factory-a groundbreaking scientific thriller that exposes the dark side of SeaWorld, America’s most beloved marine mammal park.ĭeath at SeaWorld centers on the battle with the multimillion-dollar marine park industry over the controversial and even lethal ramifications of keeping killer whales in captivity.

Death at SeaWorld by David Kirby