Dawn Brancheau has worked for Sea World in Orlando, Florida for many years. During that time there, she became a beloved coach, and her performance with the world-famous orcas brought millions of dollars in revenue to the park. But on February 24, 2010, she was killed by an orca she loved very much in a rare and unprovoked attack.
Brando’s death forever changed the way the theme park handles wild marine animals and became the subject of the award-winning documentary “Black Fish”. This is the tragic true story of Dawn Brancheau, whose death triggered a revolution.
Brancheau was born in Dawn Therese LoVerde, grew up in Indiana, and decided early on to work with orcas. As the youngest of six children, when she was 10 years old, when her parents took her to SeaWorld Orlando for a vacation, she saw Shamu for the first time—perhaps the most notorious killer whale in captivity.
“I remember walking in the aisle of [Shamu Stadium] and telling my mom,’This is what I want to do,'” she told the Orlando Sentinel in 2006. “It’s her dream to do this,” said Marion Loverde, Brando’s mother. “She loves her job.”
But before she embarked on the path to her dream job, she graduated from the University of South Carolina with a double degree in psychology and animal behavior. In 1994, she started working with otters and sea lions at Six Flags Theme Park, and then moved to Sea World in 1996. In the same year, she married Sea World stunt skier Scott Brancheau and started working with the orca she loved very much.
Soon Dawn Brancheau became the spokesperson of Sea World. Her portrait was posted on advertisements and billboards, and she played an important role in transforming the Shamu show. Over the years, Brando often paired with orcas and performed various stunts with them.
Although Brando is well aware of the potential dangers associated with working with orcas, she also knows that orcas will not attack humans in the wild, and that it is very rare to attack humans in a captive environment.
“Orcas are very curious, very intelligent, and are truly social animals,” said Carl McLeod of the Australian Department of Conservation. “So it’s no surprise that we met a lot of people all over the country, diving fishermen and the like.”
Dawn Brancheau has an “intimate relationship” with a sea world orca named Tilikum. “He has a very good relationship with her, and she has a very good relationship with him. I do believe that he loves her, and I know she loves him,” said senior trainer John Hargrove (John Hargrove).
Unfortunately, love is not enough to save her. On the same day, Tilikum and Brancheau performed in the “Dining with Shamu” performance at Sea World. Guests enjoyed an open-air meal while watching the orca show.
According to the testimony provided by witnesses, Tilikum grabbed her ponytail, pulled her into the lever, and began to swing her underwater in his mouth. However, other witnesses claimed that she was pulled into the swimming pool by her arm or shoulder.
However, no matter which part Brancheu Tilikum grasped, the end result was the same: the trainer was quickly and violently pulled into the pool, drowning her.
To make matters worse, the violent movements of the whale caused Brando’s jaw fracture, dislocated ears, knees and arms, and fractured vertebrae and ribs. The coroner also determined that Brando’s spinal cord was severed during the attack and her scalp was completely removed from her head.
Dawn Brancheau is only 40 years old. She was buried in the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery outside Chicago, Illinois.
