Dawn Brancheau was killed by Tilikum, a 5.4 tonne orca measuring more than 22ft in length, in a prolonged and violent attack in front of horrified onlookers at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida Dawn Brancheau with an orca (Image: Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The family of Dawn Brancheau are still tormented by the tragic day she was killed in a orca whale attack. The SeaWorld trainer was pulled into the water so swiftly by Tilikum, a 5.4 tonne killer whale spanning over 22ft, that no one noticed until it was tragically too late.
Tilikum didn't merely kill his trainer, but brutally mauled the 40-year-old in an extended and shockingly violent assault, even refusing to let go of her body on that dreadful day in February 2010. Horrifyingly, her spinal cord was severed, an