SANFORD, Fla. — Government attorneys declined to show video of a SeaWorld trainer's death during a hearing Tuesday over whether $75,000 in job safety penalties for the theme park are fair.
SeaWorld has asked an administrative law judge to throw out three federal citations issued after an investigation of trainer Dawn Brancheau's death in February 2010. A previous ruling by a federal judge gave attorneys for Occupational Safety and Health Administration the option of using video of her death to defend their decisions. Another objection to use of the video by SeaWorld lawyers was also overruled Tuesday, but the federal agency's lawyers stopped short of showing her death.
Also on Tuesday, a witness disputed that Brancheau was pulled under by her ponytail, a widely accepted detail cited by other witnesses and SeaWorld officials.
Attorneys for OSHA introduced about 16 minutes of video taken by a witness at the time Brancheau died, but it stopped about a minute before a whale pulled her underwater and drowned her. The video showed Brancheau on the edge of the pool feeding and directing the whale during a special dining show at the theme park. Later in the show, she's shown interacting with whales in the water.
What wasn't shown Tuesday included footage of the killer whale named Tilikum grabbing her and violently dragging her underwater. The medical examiner said she drowned and suffered traumatic injuries.
It wasn't immediately clear why the government chose not to show the footage.
A federal judge last week denied a request from Brancheau's family to stop OSHA from showing videos of the fatal performance at the hearing because of privacy concerns. An attorney representing Brancheau's family was in the courtroom Tuesday, along with the trainer's husband and her sister.
Fredy Herrera, a security officer that was inside Shamu Stadium and witnessed the incident that killed Brancheau, disputed that she was pulled underneath the water by her ponytail — which is part of the account long held by SeaWorld and other witnesses. He said it looked from his vantage point that she was pulled by her arm.
Because it would be easier for a whale to reach someone's arm than hair, Herrera's account bolsters OSHA's contention that trainers were exposed to dangerous conditions. Going forward, it would also be more difficult to design safety measures to keep whales from grabbing an arm because trainers use their hands to feed and direct the animals.
"The angle that I was across the pool, that's what I saw," he said. "I may have a doubt, but that's what I saw. I saw her arm by the whale going down and that's why I assumed that is what happened."
Other witnesses told detectives they saw Brancheau's hair in the whale's mouth, and the information was included in a death report from the Orange County Sheriff's Office weeks after her death.
Lynne Schaber, a spotter who was also present that day, testified that management at the facility decided who was allowed to work with Tilikum and that there were protocols in place to determine if a whale was exhibiting precursors for aggressive behavior.
Those precursors include the animal having large eyes, making noises and squirting water at a trainer. Tilikum could be seen in the video spraying water occasionally at Brancheau. But Schaber also said that though that could be a sign of frustration, it doesn't necessarily lead to aggression.
The first of the three citations by OSHA claimed SeaWorld exposed its workers to drowning hazards and the chance of being struck during interactions with killer whales. The federal agency noted in the citation that Tilikum also was involved in the death of a trainer at a marine park in British Columbia in 1991. The agency recommended putting physical barriers between trainers and killer whales.
The other two citations involve equipment in Shamu Stadium.
OSHA attorneys said their citations should apply to performances, but SeaWorld contends there is little difference in trainer interaction with the whales in shows and behind the scenes.
A ruling against SeaWorld could force park officials to change how trainers interact with the whales. The hearing is expected to last a week.
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