Investigators said the victim, 27-year-old Daniel Dukes, apparently hid in the park after it closed, took off his clothes, then climbed a fence outside the gigantic breeding tank and jumped into 55-degree water with Tillikum, whose name means 'Friend" in the Chinook language.
A park employee spotted the man's body draped over the back of Tillikum about 7:35 a.m. Tuesday in one of the whale pools behind Shamu Stadium, said Victor Abbey, SeaWorld's executive vice president and general manager. There were no bite marks on the man, and no signs of blood anywhere in the tank. Initially, police said it looked as if Dukes had drowned in the tank. Following that line of reasoning, scientists guessed that once Dukes had died, the whale assumed his corpse was a toy and began playing with it.
Still, animal-rights groups, including the Humane Society of the United States, said the death shows why whales should not be held in captivity. "The fact that a SeaWorld patron was able to gain access to the whale pools after the park was closed demonstrates that SeaWorld does not provide enough security for whales and visitors alike," said Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist for the Humane Society of the United States. "SeaWorld and all marine parks should have security officers posted around the whale pools while the park is closed to prevent this kind of tragedy."
Russ Rector of Fort Lauderdale, president of the Dolphin Freedom Foundation, said, "This animal is demented. Keeping those animals in small concrete boxes and making them do stupid animal tricks makes them angry and dangerous." One day after Dukes was found in the tank, Abbey told the Orlando Sentinel that three security officers patrol the Shamu Station area overnight, although no one is specifically stationed at the tank that holds Tillikum, the attraction's only male orca of breeding age. The park, which has no surveillance camera at the breeding tank, will review its security measures, Abbey said, adding that "in the 35-year history of SeaWorld, this has never happened before." Tillikum was brought to Orlando to breed. And as long as the park is successful at captive breeding, it doesn't have to attempt controversial captures in the wild. Federal officials had previously expressed concerns that Tillikum could kill again.
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