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03/01/10 10:21 PM
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MIAMI – A killer whale that dragged a trainer to her death eluded SeaWorld workers' frenzied efforts to corral it with plastic nets while it swam pool-to-pool, according to witness statements released Monday. After the massive whale was finally trapped last week, it refused to unclench its teeth and let go of Dawn Brancheau, according to the investigative reports released by the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Its jaws were eventually pried open. "The whale would not let us have her," another trainer, Jodie Ann Tintle, told investigators after the Wednesday attack. Investigators have said that the 40-year-old trainer died from multiple traumatic injuries and drowning. In the new investigative reports, Brancheau's co-workers describe the swiftness of the attack and the furious response that came after alarms sounded around the pool. Employees who were at other pools, behind computers or emptying coolers of fish rushed to the scene. The reports released Monday include the first extensive accounts from employees who witnessed the attacks at the park in Orlando. Jan Topoleski, whose job is to monitor trainers' safety during shows, told investigators he saw Brancheau lying on the deck face-to-face with the 22-foot-long, 12,000-pound whale and communicating with him right before the attack. He said the whale, named Tilikum, bit Brancheau's hair and pulled her into the pool in a span of about two seconds. He sounded an alarm and grabbed safety equipment. Susanne De Wit, a 33-year-old tourist from the Netherlands, told investigators her group had just walked to a window for a photo when she saw the attack. The attack occurred in front of about 20 visitors who had stuck around after a noontime show.
MIAMI – A killer whale that dragged a trainer to her death eluded SeaWorld workers' frenzied efforts to corral it with plastic nets while it swam pool-to-pool, according to witness statements released Monday.
After the massive whale was finally trapped last week, it refused to unclench its teeth and let go of Dawn Brancheau, according to the investigative reports released by the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Its jaws were eventually pried open.
"The whale would not let us have her," another trainer, Jodie Ann Tintle, told investigators after the Wednesday attack.
Investigators have said that the 40-year-old trainer died from multiple traumatic injuries and drowning.
In the new investigative reports, Brancheau's co-workers describe the swiftness of the attack and the furious response that came after alarms sounded around the pool. Employees who were at other pools, behind computers or emptying coolers of fish rushed to the scene.
The reports released Monday include the first extensive accounts from employees who witnessed the attacks at the park in Orlando.
Jan Topoleski, whose job is to monitor trainers' safety during shows, told investigators he saw Brancheau lying on the deck face-to-face with the 22-foot-long, 12,000-pound whale and communicating with him right before the attack. He said the whale, named Tilikum, bit Brancheau's hair and pulled her into the pool in a span of about two seconds. He sounded an alarm and grabbed safety equipment.
Susanne De Wit, a 33-year-old tourist from the Netherlands, told investigators her group had just walked to a window for a photo when she saw the attack. The attack occurred in front of about 20 visitors who had stuck around after a noontime show.