A SeaWorld trainer met a tragic end at the hands of a captive orca, suffering severe injuries in the process.
The whale responsible was Keto, a captive-born orca who had never experienced life in the wild.
Trainer Alexis Martínez, who had several years of experience working with orcas, was well-regarded as a skilled handler.
While preparing for a series of Christmas shows in December 2009, Martínez observed a change in Keto’s behaviour.
On that fateful day, Martínez was among several trainers interacting with Keto and was performing an underwater routine.
Keto did not respond to the standard training techniques typically used with the whales.
Another trainer had to step in during the routine in an attempt to assist Martínez.
Unfortunately, this intervention was unsuccessful, and Keto used his snout to pin Martínez to the bottom of the pool.
Other trainers made frantic efforts to control the situation and regain command over the orca.
For a brief moment, there was hope when Keto resurfaced for air.
However, the whale then descended back to the pool’s bottom where Martínez lay.
Eventually, trainers used a net to separate Keto from Martínez, allowing them to retrieve his body from the water.
Martínez did not survive the incident, suffering multiple injuries.
The cause of death report indicated that he ‘died due to grave injuries sustained by an orca attack, including multiple compression fractures, tears to vital organs, and the bite marks of the animal on his body’.
Martínez is among four individuals who have been killed by captive orcas.
While Keto was involved in only one fatality, another orca named Tilikum was linked to the deaths of three people.
Tilikum was the central figure in the Netflix documentary Blackfish.
Among the victims was trainer Dawn Brancheau, who lost her life during a live show.
John Hargrove, a senior trainer at SeaWorld, commented: “We’ll never know why Tilikum made that choice to grab Dawn and pull her into the pool.
“He had a great relationship with her, and she had a great relationship with him. I do believe that he loved her, and I know that she loved him.”
In the wild, no fatal attacks on humans by orcas have been documented.