Following a fatal incident in 2010, in which whale trainer Dawn Brancheau was attacked by an orca whale during a performance, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration created limitations on human interaction with the whales during shows. SeaWorld Orlando is going before three judges on a federal appeals court on Tuesday to challenge the limitations as well as the citations that resulted from the incident. SeaWorld originally received a $75,000 fine, but it was degraded to $12,000 last year after an appeal to an administrative law judge.
In court documents from SeaWorld, the company says that the entire case could cause damage beyond just a fine. “SeaWorld offers the public an opportunity to observe humans’ interaction with killer whales,” the company said. “This brings profound public educational benefit, is integral to SeaWorld’s care of the whales, and responds to an elemental human desire to know, understand, and interact with the natural world.” However, the OSHA responded: “It is clear from SeaWorld’s adoption of these measures that close contact of the kind that resulted in Dawn Brancheau’s death is not essential to SeaWorld’s ability to draw visitors to its parks, to practice behaviors during shows, or to care for its whales.”
Benjamin Briggs, a labor law specialist with Seyfarth Shaw LLP, mentioned that the OSHA will also draw attention to previous instances of trainers being put in danger. “There’s a long and well-documented track record of these types of animals behaving aggressively toward humans to the point that they’ve caused a number of fatalities, not only at SeaWorld but at a number of places,” Briggs said. “That is what OSHA is going to say: ‘You absolutely were on notice of this, this is absolutely a recognized hazard.’ This kind of track record is not one you can ignore. So it’s very important, it’s what OSHA’s case really hinges upon.”
