Seaworld’s Serial Killer Orca: The Tragic Life of Tilikum

In 1983, in the waters off the coast of Iceland, a 12-foot-long, two-year-old male killer whale, also known as an orca, was caught and held in a concrete holding tank at a marine zoo near Reykjavik, Iceland. Stuck in cramped conditions for months, the young orca, given the name Tilikum, could barely swim in circles. Then, in 1984, he was shipped off to Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, Canada. Sealand was just a big net pen, surrounded by bleachers, floating in a bay like a small marina. Tilikum was housed with two older female orcas, Haida II and Nutka IV, in yet another cramped tank. It was only 26 feet wide, and the female orcas didn't take to their younger tank mate kindly. Early on, a trainer reportedly paired Tilikum with a pre-trained killer whale. If the trained whale performed the behavior that the trainer wanted, but Tilikum did not perform it, the trainer punished both whales, depriving both of food. The trained whale became sufficiently frustrated to rake Tilikum head to tail with bleeding tooth marks. Sealand's management feared that someone sympathetic to their whales might cut the net on the killer whale enclosure, so at night they stored the three killer whales in a dark, 20 by 30 foot floating steel container. Free-living killer whales may travel 40 or more miles a day. The width of those containers was less than twice a single whale's body length. On many mornings, Tilikum, by then 16 feet long, and spending more than half his hours jammed together with two hostile companions, appeared with freshly bleeding bites. His two female tank mates regularly asserted their dominance over Tilikum, raking him with their teeth and physically abusing him. He developed stomach ulcers and was soon transferred to an isolated medical pool to heal. In February 1991, a 20-year-old part-time trainer and marine biology student named Kelty Byrne reportedly slipped and fell into the pool housing Tilikum, Haida, and Nutka. With little hesitation, the orca swarmed, pulling Kelty down under the water and dragging her through the pool. Kelty made several attempts to get away from the orcas as her screams echoed around the pool. She reached the edge of the pool and attempted to climb out, but the orcas pulled her away and submerged her again. Other staff members attempted to rescue Kelty by throwing her a life ring, but the orcas kept her away from it, treating her like a plaything. Over the course of 10 minutes, Kelty surfaced twice, trying to escape the orca tank. Unfortunately, she couldn't, and when she came up for the third time, she had drowned. Several hours passed before Sealand's staff were able to recover her body. Eighteen months after Kelty's death, Sealand shut its doors, and Tilikum and his two tankmates were sent off to SeaWorld. Arriving at SeaWorld, reportedly weighing 12,000 pounds, Tilikum was again housed with females who continually harassed him. Several years later, Tilikum was involved in a second death. On July 6, 1999, SeaWorld Orlando trainers found a horrific surprise in Tilikum's pool – the dead body of a 27-year-old man named Daniel Dukes, draped over the orca's back. Daniel had been a visitor to SeaWorld the day before, and somehow dodged security and snuck into Tilikum's pool in the middle of the night. When trainers found him the next morning, Daniel was naked and covered in contusions and abrasions. An autopsy determined that he had died by drowning. SeaWorld additionally claimed that none of their cameras had caught the incident, and therefore, there was no way to determine what exactly had happened. SeaWorld continued its operations after the incident, and Tilikum made frequent appearances in the park's various performances. A decade passed without incident, and one trainer in particular established a strong bond with Tilikum. Her name was Dawn Branshaw. Tilikum was beloved at the park and would perform in theatrical shows and experiences, including Dine with Shamu, where visitors would sit alongside a tank and observe him while they ate. 40-year-old Dawn started working as a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando in 1994, and by 2010, she had become the park's poster girl and star trainer. She was lauded as a dedicated professional by her colleagues, who noted her special connection with Tilikum, who had been in captivity for nearly 30 years by this point. Dawn's colleagues said she and Tilikum had a strong sense of love and trust. On February 24, 2010, Dawn had been feeding Tilikum fish near the end of the Dine with Shamu show. Horrifically, visitors watched as Tilikum grabbed Dawn and pulled her into the water. Some initial reports claimed he grabbed her by the ponytail, others said he grabbed her by the shoulder or her left forearm. It wasn't a quick death. As Tilikum dragged Dawn across the pool, her left arm was torn from its socket, her spinal cord was severed, and her ribs and jaw were broken. Her head was gruesomely scalped. SeaWorld employees later found Dawn's hair and skin at the bottom of the pool. For 45 minutes following the attack, Tilikum refused to let go of Dawn's body. Trainers were only able to recover Dawn's body after they lured Tilikum into a medical pool and calmed her down. An autopsy confirmed that Dawn had died from drowning and blunt force trauma. The incident was put down as a tragic accident. Dawn's brutal death spawned an onslaught of critical observations about SeaWorld. Many questioned the ethics of keeping orcas in captivity. Then, the 2013 documentary Blackfish delved further into the poor conditions captive orcas are subjected to, and how these conditions could have contributed to Dawn's death. After Dawn's death, Tilikum was largely hidden away from the public eye. SeaWorld faced heavy scrutiny for their treatment of captive orcas and for using them in shows. And as more information came to light, the public learned just how terrible life was for captive orcas. A former SeaWorld trainer, who joined the company in 1987, claimed in a 2018 interview with The Sun that the park's captive killer whales often showed signs of extreme distress. There was a lot of self-mutilation, he said. The whales and dolphins were stressed, and this caused stomach ulcers. They were also sometimes aggressive or hard to control, so they could be given Valium to calm their aggression. Tilikum lived to be 36. Throughout his life, Tilikum had been used in captive breeding efforts and was the father of an estimated 21 calves. 11 of them died before he did. Tilikum reportedly spent the last few years of his life largely just lying in a pool until his death in January 2017. SeaWorld put an end to its breeding program in 2016. SeaWorld continues to feature orcas in shows across its three US parks. The company says these presentations will phase out with the last of its current captive orca population.