In November 2006, trainer Kenneth Peters, 39, was was bitten and pulled underwater several times by a 7,000-pound killer whale during a show at SeaWorld’s San Diego park.
The new video shows a grueling 10 -minute ordeal capturing a terrifying moment when a SeaWorld trainer got caught under water by a killer whale and dragged deep under water, struggling to reach the surface and was pulled down again and again by his feet. in 2006.
Peters suffered a broken foot and puncture wounds in the attack.
The 17-foot-long orca had attacked Peters two other times, in 1993 and 1999.
The video, captured by SeaWorld, is surfacing now because it’s being used as part of a government safety hearing.
Mireya Mayor, from National Geographic’s ‘Ultimate Explorer,’ discussed what it’s like to work with wild animals on today’s America’s Newsroom. While she points out that there’s innate risk when working with these animals, she admitted that at times she becomes complacent since she’s been working with them for over 10 years.
“I think that that just happens when you work with these animals day in and day out and you get a little bit complacent,” she said.
Since she can’t say if that was the case in this tragic instance, she did say, “Wild animals are unpredictable, and you don’t know how they’re going to react. Sometimes people get hurt, as in this case, even if the animal was playing.”
Mayor continued, “Unfortunately a whale is incredibly powerful. We don’t stand the chance if they decide to drag us down, and we’re going to go all the way down no matter how much we fight to get back out, as was the case.”
In February 2010, a trainer at Orlando’s SeaWorld park was killed after the whale drowned her when when slipped and fell in to its tank.
“This incident was well documented and thoroughly covered by the news media in 2006. This video clearly shows the trainer’s remarkable composure and the skillful execution of an emergency response plan, both of which helped result in a successful outcome with minor injuries. It should be noted that CalOSHA did not issue any citations to SeaWorld as a result of this incident. SeaWorld’s trainer returned to work shortly after this incident and remains a member of the team at Shamu Stadium to this day.”
