VIDEO: Footage of SeaWorld Killer Whale Attack

Numerous attacks have taken place over the years at SeaWorld.

Trainers were killed by angry or confused orcas and no action was taken.

People need to understand that these majestic, huge killer whales belong in the ocean and not in some tiny pools, way too small for their size.

They become frustrated and angry when kept in captivity.

According to Wikipedia, Killer whales (or orcas) are powerful predators capable of killing prey much larger than humans, such as leopard seals and great white sharks. They have also been recorded preying on usually terrestrial species such as moose swimming between islands.

However, wild orcas are not considered a real threat to humans, as there are few documented cases of wild orcas attacking people and no fatal encounters. In captivity, however, there have been several non-fatal and fatal attacks on humans since the 1970s. Experts are divided as to whether the injuries and deaths were accidental or deliberate attempts to cause harm.

There are few recorded cases of wild orcas threatening humans.

In 1968, the young female orca, Lupa, of the New York Aquarium, chased her trainers out of the tank, snapping her jaws threateningly. Trainers were cleaning the tank at the time of the incident.

In 1970, Cuddles, a male orca who resided in both the Dudley Zoo and Flamingo Park (now Flamingo Land) in England, became so aggressive towards his trainers, having attacked them twice, that his keepers were forced to clean his pool from the safety of a shark cage.

On April 20, 1971, SeaWorld secretary Annette Eckis was talked into riding the park’s main attraction, a 10-year-old female orca named Shamu, at the park in San Diego, California, as a publicity stunt. As the ride was coming to an end, Eckis was suddenly thrown off the whale’s back. The orca seized the woman by her leg and began pushing her through the water.

Trainers on the side of the tank grabbed the young woman and attempted to pull her out of the water, but the whale again grabbed the woman’s leg and refused to let go. Shamu’s jaws had to be pried apart with a pole in order to free her.

Eckis was carried away on a stretcher and required 200 stitches to close the wounds she suffered. Eckis later sued SeaWorld, but a monetary award was overturned on appeal. This event was also documented in the show When Good Pets Go Bad.

In the early 1970s, a Marine World/Africa USA trainer, Jeff Pulaski, while riding a young female orca named Kianu during performances, was thrown off and chased out of the tank.

At the same park, also in the early 1970s, an unidentified Marine World trainer was seized by the young male Orky II and held at the bottom of the tank until the man nearly lost consciousness.

In the early 1970s, trainer Manny Velasco recalls both Hugo and Lolita of the Miami Seaquarium becoming aggressive, lunging and snapping at the trainers standing on the central work-island, ending the training session for the day.