"The whale named Tilikum dragged 40-year-old trainer Dawn Brancheau into the pool at SeaWorld Orlando on Wednesday, killing her.
Tilikum was one of the three orcas blamed for killing a trainer in 1991 after she lost her balance and fell in the pool at a park near Victoria, British Columbia.
Documents show SeaWorld asked federal marine officials for permission to temporarily house Tilikum in Orlando several months later because he needed medical care he couldn't get in Canada.
National Marine Fisheries Service official Nancy Foster said in a letter then that neither the Canadian park nor SeaWorld took precautionary steps necessary for Tilikum's health and welfare."
Source: AP - Thursday, February 25, 2010 06:32:11
