Dan Brown, general manager of SeaWorld Adventure Park, centre, walks with Kelly Flaherty Clark, left, curator of animal training at SeaWorld, before holding a news conference after the death of Dawn Brancheau
SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau was dragged to her death by a killer whale at the adventure park
Dawn Brancheau was filmed feeding the killer whales just moments before she was attacked and killed
A killer whale approaches Dawn Brancheau, seconds later she was dragged underneath the water
The SeaWorld park in Orlando, Florida, and the pool, right, where Dawn Brancheau died
Hug of love: The orca seems in playful mood
All smiles: As a child, Mrs Brancheau dreamed of training whales
Joyful harmony: Mrs Brancheau performing with Nalani
Close bond: Dawn Brancheau with a killer whale called Nalani
Sheer power: Tillikum, the killer whale which killed Mrs Brancheau
All smiles: As a child, Mrs Brancheau dreamed of training whales
They are joyful images that reveal a remarkable bond between woman and beast.
But that bond was tragically shattered this week when the trainer in these pictures was killed by one of the whales she loved.
Yesterday, it was still unclear what drove a five-ton orca to drown Dawn Brancheau at the SeaWorld park in Florida.
But there was speculation that a simple swish of her ponytail could have been the trigger for the fatal attack.
Officials claimed Mrs Brancheau's hair brushed the nose of the killer whale, called Tillikum, as she petted him in a pool on Wednesday.
The whale grabbed the 40-year-old married trainer in its awesome jaws and held her until she drowned. The death was witnessed by up to 50 tourists.
An autopsy report showed that Mrs Brancheau died from 'multiple traumatic injuries and drowning'.
A preliminary report into her death by police revealed that other SeaWorld staff were unable to help her due to the 'aggressive nature' of Tilly.
'Rescuers were not able to immediately jump in and render assistance,' said the report.
It is not known why the whale, known to staff as Tilly, reacted to being touched.
One theory is that he mistook the movement of her hair as a command to grab something between his teeth.
Last night, bosses at the park said the whale would not be destroyed and could even perform again - despite it now having been involved in three deaths.
Tilly had been captured in the wild. He was caught near Iceland aged about two years old in 1983 and has lived in captivity ever since.
The whale was blamed for the drowning of a trainer when he was at a park in British Columbia in 1991. Soon afterwards he was sold to SeaWorld where he sired 12 calves.
In 1999, a homeless man was found across the whale's back, having climbed into his pool and drowned.
Nevertheless, Chuck Tompkins, curator of zoological operations at SeaWorld in Orlando, said: 'He's a good animal.
'We need to re-evaluate the training procedures and protocols and obviously we're going to make any changes we need to make sure that this never happens again.'
He said Mrs Brancheau, an experienced trainer, was lying down in a few inches of water with her head close to the whale when it reached across to grab her hair.
'This was an interaction Dawn had done many thousands of times with Tilly,' he said. 'She had been petting Tilly for a job well done in the show.
'There was another trainer standing behind her which is standard practice. She did not slip or fall in the water, but was lying down with her head close to the whales. The whale did not leap out of the water to grab her.
'The ponytail from her hair did brush across Tilly's nose. We just don't know why he reacted in the way that he did.'
The killer whales at SeaWorld are rewarded with fish when they successfully carry out at command in the pool.
Mr Tompkins said: 'Dawn was one of our most experienced trainers and was very comfortable working with Tilly.
'She would never get in the water with him but there was an element of trust between them that allowed her to get close.
Something happened to Tilly on that day. We will be looking back to see if there was something that occurred, but we might never know.'
Mrs Brancheau's sister said she would not want to see the whale destroyed and considered her death an accident.
Diane Gross added: 'She loved the whales like her children, she loved all of them. They all had personalities, good days and bad days.'
Mrs Brancheau's mother, Marion Loverde, said her daughter, who had no children, had wanted to be a trainer from the age of nine when she first visited SeaWorld.
Because of his size and the previous deaths, trainers were not supposed to get into the water with Tilikum, and only 12 of the park's 29 trainers worked with him.
'We do have a limited amount of trainers who work with him because of his size and previous incidents,' Mr Tompkins said.
'We did not treat him as though he was one of our animals that we could get in the water and swim with, we were much more careful with him and tried to provide, as much as we could, a safe environment for the trainers.'
Officials at PETA called on the park 'to stop confining ocean-going mammals to an area that to them is like the size of a bathtub'.
A spokesman said: 'It's not surprising when these huge, smart animals lash out.'
Mr Tompkins hit back yesterday, saying: 'Obviously, you’re going to have all of these activists coming out of the woodwork to try to take advantage of a very sad situation.
'I have taken care of these animals my entire life and they are well kept. I wouldn’t be doing this job if I thought I was mistreating animals.'
Mrs Brancheau had more experience with the 30-year-old whale than most, and was one of the park's most experienced trainers overall.
The attack happened at lunchtime on Wednesday when about 50 tourists stayed behind after the 'Believe' show to watch trainers feed the orcas.
Mr Tompkins told MailOnline that Mrs Brancheau was more a sister than a colleague.
He said: 'I’d worked with Dawn since the first day she started here 17 years ago. I knew her very, very well. We’re a small team of people here in this park and we’re more than just co-workers, we’re like family members and it’s like losing a sister.
'Dawn spent her entire career taking care of these animals. She loved doing it, she loved working with these killer whales. To say these animals have the wrong environment is so incorrect.
'She was very comfortable in their presence. We spend years training people getting ready to get in the water with these killer whales. By the time you are interacting with these animals you have confidence and you know how to handle yourself.'
Park guest Victoria Biniak said she was watching as the trainers talked about the show to a crowd of people when one of them was suddenly swept away in the whale's mouth.
The whale 'took off really fast in the tank and then he came back around to the glass, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started shaking her violently, and one of her shoes flew off,' she said.
'We walked down and there was a lot of people there. There was a trainer standing by the window talking about the whale. People were asking questions like how much does he weigh and things like that,' she said.
'Then the whale floated upside down and the trainer said he wanted a belly rub. He really likes that. Then Tilikum just took off like a bat out of you know where.'
Gary Biniak said Tilikum, a male orca weighing over 12,000lbs, 'literally charged one of the trainers who was on the side of the pool training and feeding the whales'.
He said: 'The whale pulled the trainer into the water and was thrashing around. He dragged her underneath the water and wouldn't let her come up. It was terrible.
'Generally, they don't allow any of the trainers to swim with this particular whale because he is so large and has a different temperament.'
'This particular trainer didn't jump into the water, she was taken forcibly,' he added.
Dan Brown, the park's manager, fought back tears as he said the trainer 'drowned in an incident with one of our killer whales'.
He wouldn't comment on what is likely to happen to the killer whale. The Believe show has been suspended as an investigation is carried out but the park remains open.
In an interview, Mrs Brancheau acknowledged the risks of the job, saying: 'You can't put yourself in the water unless you trust them and they trust you.'
'I remember walking down the aisle [of Shamu Stadium] and telling my mom, "this is what I want to do",' she told the Orlando Sentinel in 2006.
Steve McCulloch, founder and program manager at the Marine Mammal Research and Conservation Program at Harbor Branch/Florida Atlantic University, said the whale may have been playing, but it is too early to tell.
'I wouldn't jump to conclusions,' he said.
'These are very large powerful marine mammals. They exhibit this type of behaviour in the wild.'
Wild killer whales are not generally seen as a threat to humans, however captive killer whales have been known to attack their handlers at theme parks.
Since the 1970s, killer whales have attacked just two dozen people worldwide.
But critics claim the animals can become aggressive when kept captive due to higher levels of stress and unnatural living conditions.
In November 2006, a 7,000lb killer whale dragged its handler Ken Peters underwater twice at the SeaWorld theme park in Florida during a routine trick.
After the attack, the whale, Katsatka, circled her tank as Ken Peters was treated by paramedics and whisked away on a stretcher. He was not seriously injured in the attack.
One onlooker said at the time: 'We realised she had the trainer by the foot and she took him under and submerged for a minute.'
The same killer whale also tried to drown Mr Peters during a 1999 show, again grabbing him by the foot and dragging him in circles.
12M VISITORS A YEAR
Twelve million people visit the three SeaWorld parks across America every year with tens of thousands of Britons heading to the flagship park in Orlando annually.
Performances by killer whales are among the park's most popular attractions and a host of celebrities including Uma Thurman, Tiger Woods and British Olympic diver Tom Daley have been among previous audience members.
The 30-minute Believe show is usually performed three times a day in a stadium that seats more than 5,000 people.
British Olympic diver Tom Daley spent time with the whales at SeaWorld during a visit to Orlando in February last year.
The 15-year-old current World Diving champion opened SeaWorld's Blue Horizons show, appearing alongside dolphins, whales and SeaWorld trainers and was given a VIP tour of the killer whale enclosure.
After diving in the show Daley said: 'Performing alongside the dolphins was an amazing experience. It is a fantastic show, combining athletic skills and animal power and the audience were brilliant.'
KILLER WHALES
Since the 1970s, killer whales have attacked 24 people worldwide.
Critics claim the animals can become aggressive in captivity due to higher levels of stress.
In November 2006, killer whale Katsatka dragged its handler Ken Peters underwater twice at SeaWorld Florida during a routine trick. The same killer whale had also grabbed Mr Peters by the foot during a 1999 show and dragged him in circles.
In 2004 at San Antonio's SeaWorld, another killer whale attacked its trainer repeatedly, leaving him in a serious condition.
Killer whales, the largest species of the dolphin family, eat fish, marine mammals including sea lions, seals and walruses and are regarded as top of the food chain as they have no natural predators.
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