Tilikum: Grim History of SeaWorld's Killer Orca That Violently Killed 3 People

Experts diagnose that SeaWorld's infamous killer orca Tilikum had psychotic rages during its 30 years in captivity. This theory is a result of Tilikum killing three people, including two of its trainers and a SeaWorld guest.

At the age of two, Tilikum was taken from the waters off the coast of Iceland in 1983 and has been held in captivity ever since. The orca spent several months in a concrete holding tank at Hafnarfjördur Marine Zoo near Reykjavík, according to The Sun.

In 1984, the orca reached a length of 22.5 feet in length and was shipped to Sealand of the Pacific. Tilikum shared a 26-foot-wide enclosed tank with two older female killer whales, Haida II and Nootka IV.

However, due to a matriarchal social structure, the two females asserted their dominance, constantly raking Tilikum with their teeth.

Due to the constant abuse and stomach ulcers that plagued the orca, Tilikum was often isolated in a smaller medical pool.

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Three Tilikum Kills

About seven years into its captivity, Tilikum killed his first victim. A young part-time Sealand employee slipped and fell into the pool in 1991. Immediately the trio, Tilikum and the two female orcas, submerged marine biology student Keltie Byrne.

Onlookers witnessed the 21-year-old try to free herself, reach the surface twice, and then be pulled back into the tank. The struggle lasted ten minutes.

Steve Huxter, head of animal training at Sealand in 1991, explained that the orcas became incredibly excited and stimulated by the interactivity of their "toy."

Sealand closed 18 months later and the three orcas were transferred to the care of SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida.

On July 6, 1999, eight years after the first kill, SeaWorld orca trainers found the body of Daniel Dukes on Tilikum's back. The 27-year-old man was a SeaWorld guest who was at the park after business hours.

Dukes entered Tilikum's pool unclothed. The next morning, he was found bitten to death with injuries, bruises, and abrasions all over his body, according to a report in The Mirror.

SeaWorld claims no footage was taken of the ordeal. An autopsy of Dukes' body revealed no drugs or alcohol in his system. His official cause of death is drowning.

In February 2010, after the show Dine with Shamu, Tilikum pulled star trainer Dawn Brancheau into the water. SeaWorld staff subdued the orca with a net but struggled to recover the trainer's body from the orca. Brancheau's official cause of death is drowning and blunt force trauma.

Hyper-aggressive orcas

Former SeaWorld trainer Sam Berg pointed out that killer whales have no records of harming humans in the wild but in captivity, there have been more than 70 incidents.

Jeffrey Ventre, who worked at SeaWorld from 1987 to 1995, claimed that attacks on trainers were commonplace, with many incidents going unreported.

Ventre added that the orcas become hyperaggressive due to stress. He witnessed the orcas gnashing their teeth, chewing concrete, and raking each other.

He stated in 2018 that the whales received daily medication, including for stomach ulcers and chronic infections.

In 2017, Tilikum died after a persistent and complicated bacterial lung infection and other severe health problems.

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