DEBBIE Frogameni remembers welling up with tears as she watched her sister living her lifelong dream working with killer whales at SeaWorld.
She would go to every show she could – and watch in awe as Dawn Brancheau performed stunning tricks with the massive animals that would eventually take her life.
Dawn Branch shown performing on December 30, 2005[/caption]
She ended up being killed by the orca Tilikum[/caption]
Dawn seen smiling with Tilikum moments before he turned on her[/caption]
The renowned marine trainer was 40 when she was tragically killed when orca Tilikum dragged her under water at the end of a show in SeaWorld Orlando on February 24, 2010.
Dawn – often seen as the park’s poster girl – was sitting on the edge of the 12,500lb, 22 and a half foot long, killer whale’s pool as paying guests enjoyed the “Dine with Shamu” show.
SeaWorld fans could sit and eat at the open-air restaurant while watching the orca’s tricks as part of the show – but today the much-loved routine ended in a horror.
Dawn was rubbing the orca’s head when she appeared to be pulled into the pool by her arm or hair.
She was held under the water and drowned by Tilikum – with the orca clutching her in his jaws for 45 minutes.
Her shocking death ignited heated debates around whales in captivity and spurred changes to SeaWorld‘s safety practices.
Speaking to The Sun, her sister Debbie Frogameni reflected on the dark days in the aftermath of losing Dawn and the difficult road in trying to deal with what happened.
“Some days, I think we are still processing her loss,” Debbie said.
“Dawn was just so special to so many people and I’m not sure you ever get past losing someone like her.
“I think we do find some comfort knowing that she accomplished and experienced more in her short 40 years than most people who live long lives.
“But that doesn’t take away what our family and the world lost that day.”
Her beloved sister worked with the whales at SeaWorld for fourteen years before her death.
Dawn was safety conscious and was known to adore Tilikum and the other animals at the theme park.
Her death left many shocked, and those that knew her personally were heartbroken.
But in the wake of her devastating loss, Dawn’s family created an opportunity to continue her legacy and make a difference helping others as she had always intended.
Growing up, Dawn was a nothing short of a high-achiever – being an the avid learner who could do anything she set her mind to.
Dawn loved her job at SeaWorld[/caption]
The fatal attack sparked a debate about Orca safety[/caption]
Killer whale ‘Tilikum’ appears during its performance in its show Believe at Sea World[/caption]
But more than that, she genuinely wanted to make the world a better place.
At nine years old, Dawn grew an interest in marine life, but it was aged 13 that her destiny was formed.
Watching the Shamu show at SeaWorld Ohio, she was left bewildered and in that one moment decided ‘I want to do that’.
Her actions were deliberate in pursuing her dream.
As a model student at high school in Merrillville, Indiana, she did as many extracurricular activities as she could and excelled at many of them.
Dawn was just so special to so many people and I’m not sure you ever get past losing someone like her.
Debbie Frogameni
She graduated from University of South Carolina with degrees in psychology and biology.
Dawn’s dream of working at SeaWorld came true in 1994 – spending two years working with otters and sealions before moving into whales.
Debbie said: “We were in awe of Dawn and the way she cared for the animals and interacted with them.
“If we were at SeaWorld for the day, we attended every show that Dawn performed in.
“Watching her perform was sure to bring tears of joy for some of us. She was simply amazing.”
Those who knew Dawn say her and Tilikum had a strong bond and the pair worked countless shows.
Tilikum – the triple killer orca
By Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter
HAULED out of the ocean and thrown into the clutches of captivity at just two years old, orca Tilikum went on to become a notorious animal.
Over the course of 30 years in captivity, Tilikum killed three people, including two trainers, and a man who climbed into his tank naked after the park had closed.
Experts believe the whale’s endless years imprisoned in water parks rendered him “psychotic” from psychological and physical trauma – leading him to take three lives.
Former SeaWorld trainers have even claimed the whales were routinely drugged and deprived of food – driving them to self-harm.
Tilikum was torn away from his family in waters off the coast of Iceland in 1983 and put into a concrete holding tank at Hafnarfjördur Marine Zoo near Reykjavík.
After months spent swimming in circles, the infamous 22.5ft orca was shipped off to Sealand of the Pacific in 1984 where he was housed with two older female killer whales – Haida II and Nootka IV.
Totally incompatible, the trio endured 14 hours a day crammed in a tiny 26ft-wide enclosed pool – with the females raking Tilikum with their teeth to assert dominance as a result of their matriarchal social structure.
Relentlessly abused by the orcas and suffering stomach ulcers, Tilikum was then isolated alone in a smaller medical pool in what was just the start of his traumatic life.
Within a decade of his capture, Tilikum’s killing streak began.
In 1991, Tilikum – who weighed a colossal 5,700kg – was still cooped up at Sealand when a young part-time worker slipped and plunged into the pool.
Onlookers watched on in sheer terror as Tilikum and his two tankmates submerged marine biology student 21-year-old Keltie Byrne – ferociously and fatally dragging her around the pool.
Eight years later, Tilikum struck again.
On the morning of July 6, 1999, horrified trainers found the drowned body of a 27-year-old man over Tilikum’s back.
Daniel Dukes had visited SeaWorld the day before and stayed after the park closed – somehow escaping the watching eyes of security.
In February 2010, Tilikum killed for the third and final time.
After enjoying the Dine with Shamu show at the attraction, panicked tourists then witnessed a nightmarish spectacle they could never have even dreamed of.
As part of the post-show routine, star trainer Dawn Brancheau lent over the tank’s edge to rub Tilikum when his behaviour suddenly changed and he pulled her into the water by her ponytail.
Many experts and former trainers believe Tilikum turned serial killer purely as a result of his traumatic time in captivity – with the landmark 2013 documentary Blackfish shining a light on longstanding concerns.
Ex-SeaWorld trainer Sam Berg told the documentary: “There has not been a single incident of killer whales harming humans in the wild. In captivity, it’s happened more than 70 times.
“Someone said if you put a human in a bathtub for 25 years they’d be psychotic too, and it began to fall into place. I wasn’t training killer whales – I was messing with their minds.”
SeaWorld trainers were forbidden from hopping into the water with Tilikum, as they commonly did with the theme park’s other orcas.
Only a select few employees, including Dawn, had been trained to work with him from the edge of SeaWorld’s pools.
Tilikum had spent most of his life performing at SeaWorld after being captured in Iceland near Reykjavik in 1983 when he was two years old.
The orcahad a distinctive “collapsed” dorsal fin – believed to be a symptom of his time in a small tank.
And he was largest orca kept in captivity.
He was moved to Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia, about a year later before moving to SeaWorld in 1992.
On February 24, 2010, for reasons only speculated, Tilikum’s behaviour suddenly changed and Dawn was pulled in the water from pool‘s edge and died.
Some believe, Tilikum had grown frustrated because he wasn’t getting rewarded for tricks he was doing correctly.
Others believe the attack was intentionally carried out after years spent inside the restricted tanks.
Debbie and her four other siblings were in different locations when the news of Dawn’s death made its way to her family and friends.
Dawn followed hers and lived each day to the fullest. Now in her name, we hope to continue her legacy of improving the world.
Debbie Frogameni
She said: “I don’t think any of us will ever forget where we were when we heard the devastating news. We were all in shock.”
As Dawn’s death played out so publicly, Debbie said it was a “very difficult” time.
Reporters tried to get the family to talk in the days, weeks and months about their feelings on SeaWorld after they lost Dawn.
But the family did not want to comment on the marine park’s safety operations.
She said: “We were constantly seeing pictures of her, having people give their opinions about what happened and why it happened and should trainers be in the water and should whales be in captivity.”
Debbie, who works as a dentist, says her family don’t have the expertise to be able to comment as to why it happened.
And trying to figure it out also doesn’t bring Dawn back.
She said: “All we wanted to do was have the space to grieve the loss of our beloved Dawn. “
LECACY LIVES ON
The family launched The Dawn Brancheau Foundation a year after her death to mark her 42nd birthday.
As a family, they’ve built playgrounds for local communities, planted community gardens, sponsored youth development programmes, helped low-resource areas with tutoring and counselling, supported charities and supplied personal care products to homeless.
For more than 10 years, the foundation hosted two major events – the Dream Big 5K and fun walk through SeaWorld and the Dream Big Walk at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Crown Point, Indiana.
So far their work in her memory has raised and disbursed over $1.5 million dollars to make a difference to children and animals in need.
Tens of thousands have benefited from the work the family does to make the world a better place for Dawn.
Debbie said: “Part of the mission of The Dawn Brancheau Foundation is to inspire others to follow their dreams.
“Dawn followed hers and lived each day to the fullest. Now in her name, we hope to continue her legacy of improving the world.”