Featured Image Credit: Estel Moore / Estefanía Luis Rodriguez
Topics: Animals, World News
Ella Scott
Killer whales may be one of the ocean’s most powerful predators, but they’ve also been routinely used as theme park attractions across the globe for decades.
In 1965, the San Diego branch of SeaWorld made history by putting on the company’s first-ever orca show, starring a female orca named Shamu.
When Shamu died in 1971, the company trademarked the name and has continued to bestow the mantle on various orcas over the years.
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While SeaWorld no longer breeds orcas in captivity, many parks still keep these majestic beasts in captivity and continue to task them with learning tricks and performing stunts.
As well as holding the animals at their own parks, the company has previously lent out orcas to other parks.
Back in 2009, SeaWorld loaned four killer whales to Loro Parque in Tenerife to star in the resort’s Orca Ocean attraction.
One of these was a 6,600-pound Orca named Keto.
Keto, 28, is famously the offspring of the late Kalina, the first killer whale to be birthed in a SeaWorld theme park.
Following Keto’s arrival at Loro Parque, he was put under the care of 29-year-old Alexis Martínez, a man who would meet his fate while training the beast.
At the time, Martínez had been working at the park for five years and was known to be intuitive and experienced with the apex predators.
During Keto’s initial tenure at the Tenerife institution, he was paired with Martínez and the duo would perform for thousands of paying customers.
However, in December 2009, he started to behave out of character.
At the time, he and Martínez were working with another trainer, Brian Rokeach, on a festive-themed show. It’s said Keto’s training started positively during the Christmas session.
Outside Magazine reports that staff claimed the animal ‘appeared in a good mood’ and was ‘on form’. But when Martínez attempted a move called ‘a stand-on spy hop’, Keto caused his trainer to fall off him.
A 2012 report says: “After Keto failed to perform a number of behaviors correctly, [Martínez] and Keto were floating on the surface of the pool.”
It’s then reported that the orca ‘positioned himself’ between his trainer and the stage before pushing Martínez to the bottom of the man-made pool with his rostrum.
It's then said the orca hit him and violently played with his body underneath the water.
Realising that Martínez was in danger, Rokeach signalled for Keto to stop. An alarm was sounded and Keto resurfaced near the stage with his trainer on his rostrum (the orca’s snout) and his mouth closed.
The report said that the sea beast eventually released Martínez, who sank to the bottom of the pool.
Rokeach and his fellow trainers at Loro Parque were able to manoeuvre Keto into another pool while they recovered Martínez’s dead body.
Following the fatal incident, the report claimed that SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment temporarily suspended waterwork in all of its parks, while Loro Parque temporarily ceased all waterwork with killer whales.
Martínez’s death was initially characterized as an ‘unfortunate accident’ by Loro Parque's bosses.
However, an autopsy later discovered he died of massive internal bleeding and injuries, as per the Occupation Safety and Health Review Commission.
The report claimed Martínez died due to 'grave injuries sustained by an orca attack, including multiple compression fractures, tears to vital organs, and the bite marks of the animal on his body'.
It later emerged that Keto had been displaying aggressive behaviors and had injured his fellow species in two separate attacks.
Following Martínez’s tragic death, the trainer’s former co-worker Dawn Brancheau was killed in an orca attack in front of spectators at Seaworld in Orlando, Florida.
Six years later, SeaWorld announced that they would cease breeding orcas in captivity and would begin to phase out their shows.
Today, guests can still see the animals up close in shows such as Orca Encounter: A Killer Whale Experience.
The site claims the event will leave revellers with a ‘ deeper understanding of these magnificent animals’ and will ‘inspire’ customers to ‘care even more profoundly for the wonders of our natural world.’