Tillikum, an 11,000-pound male, is twice the size of the Orlando theme park's other killer whales. He has been used primarily for breeding. [AP]

Man found dead in SeaWorld tank

Police think a Miami man may have tried to swim with Tillikum, a killer whale that does not interact with humans.

By PAUL WILBORN

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 7, 1999

ORLANDO -- SeaWorld is famous for its creatures from the sea, but no species symbolizes the park like the Orcinus Orca, or, as they are better known, killer whales.

Before dawn Tuesday, in an icy, rock-rimmed pool, just a few yards from the theater where they perform for thousands of visitors, one of the park's killer whales apparently lived up to its billing.

A 27-year-old Miami man died after what police think was an attempt to swim with the whales. Tuesday morning, a park employee found the man's body, naked, draped just below the dorsal fin of the park's largest whale, an 11,000-pound male named Tillikum. It was the second time Tillikum has been linked to the death of a human.

The man was not identified pending notification of his family. No one reported a missing person matching the man's description.

The man's body was not marked, police said. He appeared to have either drowned or died of hypothermia in the 50-degree water.

A coroner's investigation into the cause of death was under way Tuesday.

Witnesses said the man was seen Monday lingering around the whale pools, where visitors can watch the whales swimming between performances.

Just beyond the interconnected pools are hedges of evergreens, azalea and other tropical vegetation thick enough to hide a person. Park officials think the man hid somewhere in the park after the 10 p.m. closing and evaded guards who check the whale area regularly.

His clothes were piled near the whale pool and his wallet was intact, police said. The man's bathing suit was later found in the pool where he died.

Although some of the whales at SeaWorld do interact with humans in the water, Tillikum never did. One reason was his size. Victor Abbey, SeaWorld's general manager, said Tillikum was four times the size of the park's other whales.

But Tillikum also has a record. In 1991 at a park in Victoria, British Columbia, a trainer accidentally fell into a pool with Tillikum and two other whales and was drowned in view of park visitors. The Canadian park later closed its whale show and sold Tillikum to SeaWorld.

When the trainer drowned, witnesses said the whales did not attack the woman, but treated her like "a new toy."

Police say that is likely what happened to the young man at Sea World early Tuesday morning.

"He could have been pulled under by the whale's vortex or the whale may have considered him a toy," said Jim Solomons, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Orcinus orca, famous for their white underbodies and the ebony-and-white, camouflage-like markings on their upper bodies, can hold their breath for more than 10 minutes at a stretch, while humans run out of air after a minute or two.

The mammals are the top predator in the ocean's food chain and use their teeth to attack their prey. A photo display near Shamu Stadium, where the whales perform, shows an orca attacking a sea lion.

Killer whales are unlikely to view humans as prey, said Chuck Tompkins, SeaWorld's vice president of Animal Training.

"They don't want people," Tompkins said of the whales. "We're not sure Tillikum did anything wrong. We're not sure exactly what happened."

The park canceled the whale shows in the morning, but resumed the shows in the afternoon. The whale viewing area was cordoned off for the remainder of the day.

Trainers at SeaWorld normally swim with the whales, diving to the bottom of the pool and riding into the air atop their snouts. Tompkins said years of training make the work look easy.

The park does offer a program that allows visitors to swim with dolphins, but, as park officials point out, dolphins and killer whales are two entirely different species. Only trained handlers swim with the whales, and no one swam with Tillikum.

"These are killer whales," said Abbey.

But despite the moniker, this is the first fatal accident of its kind at the theme park.

"In the 35-year history of SeaWorld, this has never happened before," Abbey said.

The whale program has generated some controversy around the world, as animal rights groups protested the capture and display of the whales. For most of this decade, SeaWorld has relied on captive breeding to add to its whale population.

Tillikum has been a star in that department.

"He's a good healthy animal. He's sired four babies since he's been here," said Abbey, the park's general manager.

Tillikum does some tricks during the whale shows, but he is mostly used to generate the huge splashes that are the show's trademark. He is likely to continue in that role.

In fact, the park markets T-shirts and towels for people who are splashed by Tillikum and the other killer whales, like the show's namesake, Shamu.

They identify the wearer as "Shamu's Victim."

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