Dawn Brancheau

Since orcas were first placed in captivity in the 1960s, there have been more than 40 documented safety incidents, with dozens of trainers being seriously injured by various orcas.

Dawn Therese Brancheau ( LoVerde, April 16, 1969 – February 24, 2010) was an American animal trainer at SeaWorld.

She worked with orcas at SeaWorld Orlando for fifteen years, including a leading role in revamping the Shamu show, and was SeaWorld's poster girl.

She was killed by an orca, Tilikum, who was also involved in the deaths of Keltie Byrne and Daniel P. Dukes.

Brancheau was born Dawn Therese LoVerde in Cedar Lake, Indiana, and was the youngest of six children.

She set her heart on becoming a Shamu trainer during a family vacation to Orlando.

She graduated from the University of South Carolina with degrees in psychology and animal behavior.

Away from work, she volunteered at a local animal shelter, looked after two chocolate Labradors, and kept various stray ducks, chickens, rabbits, and small birds at her home.

Brancheau spent two years working with dolphins at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey before beginning her career at SeaWorld Orlando in 1994, initially working with otters and sea lions.

In 1996, the same year she married Scott Brancheau, a SeaWorld stunt water skier, she started working with orcas.

In 2000, she appeared on NBC affiliate WESH and discussed staying physically fit to deal with the intense rigor of working with orcas.

To accomplish this, she ran marathons, cycled, and lifted weights.

In 2006, her decade of work with orcas was profiled, including her leadership role in a two- to three-year revamp of the Shamu show.

Brancheau acknowledged the dangers of working in close proximity to orcas.

As a senior trainer, she appeared in various SeaWorld public performances for many years.

The Shamu show's interaction of animal trainers with orcas was regarded as SeaWorld's star attraction.

She was featured on SeaWorld billboards throughout Orlando.

Judge and later Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a dissenting judge in a legal case involving her death (see below), stated that "To be fearless, courageous, tough – to perform a sport or activity at the highest levels of human capacity, even in the face of known physical risk – is among the greatest forms of personal achievement for many who take part in these activities."

Brancheau also appeared in season 4, episode 4, of Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman, "Ruff Pigs Out and Has a Whale of a Time".

On February 24, 2010, Brancheau performed a 'Dine with Shamu' show with Tilikum, the largest orca at SeaWorld Orlando.

In this setting, guests ate at an open-air restaurant while watching the performance poolside as the orca performed and was fed.

As part of the end-of-show routine, she was at the edge of the pool rubbing Tilikum's head, and was lying next to him on a slide-out when she was pulled into the water by her left arm or as some say, hair.

The incident was caught on film; some witnesses reported seeing Tilikum grab Brancheau by the ponytail or shoulder.

Additionally, at least a dozen patrons witnessed Brancheau in the water with Tilikum.

The orca's moves seem to have been very quick as he pulled her underwater and drowned her.

Employees used nets and threw food in the water in an attempt to distract him.

While moving from pool to pool in the complex, they eventually directed Tilikum to a smaller, medical pool, where it would be easier to calm him down.

After approximately 45 minutes, Tilikum released Brancheau's body.

The autopsy report said that Brancheau died from drowning and blunt force trauma.

Her spinal cord was severed, and she had sustained fractures to her jawbone, ribs, and a cervical vertebra.

Her scalp was completely torn off from her head, and her left elbow and left knee had been dislocated.

Brancheau was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Worth Township, Cook County, Illinois.

No SeaWorld trainer entered a pool to perform a show with an orca following Brancheau's death.

Immediately afterwards, SeaWorld disallowed trainers from being in the water with any orca.

This internal, voluntary prohibition was similar to what happened after other injuries to animal trainers.

Each time, the temporary pause had been lifted by SeaWorld.

However, this time the ban was solidified by an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) intervention.

This led SeaWorld to repeatedly seek the lifting of various aspects of OSHA's citations and rulings until 2014, when it decided not to go to the Supreme Court.

Brancheau was the second SeaWorld trainer, after Alexis Martínez, to be killed by an orca.

Brancheau was the third fatality associated with Tilikum and the fourth by a captive orca.