Killer Whale Kills Trainer Footage: Dawn Brancheau's Last Moments Alive
Photo: Amateur footage of Dawn Brancheau and Tilikum moments before he killed her.
PICTURES: Dawn Brancheau SeaWorld Trainer Killed
Todd Connell videotaped seven minutes of footage which shows Brancheau working with Tilikum the killer whale. He told CBS affiliate WKMG, which is running the footage, that he shut off the camera seconds before Tilikum grabbed Brancheau by the pony tail and dragged her underwater.
The 40-year-old died of multiple traumatic injuries and drowning Wednesday.
Photo: Dawn Brancheau with an unnamed whale.
PICTURES: Dawn Brancheau SeaWorld Trainer Killed
"It was terrible. It's very difficult to see the image," said Brazilian tourist Joao Lucio DeCosta Sobrinho. He and his girlfriend said they watched the whale show at the park two days earlier and came back to take pictures. But on Wednesday the whales appeared agitated.
"He was thrashing her around pretty good. It was violent," witness Victoria Biniak told the Orlando Sentinel. The whale "took off really fast in the tank and he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing (her) around," she told the paper.
She said the attack was so violent that Brancheau's shoe flew off.
Some workers hustled the audience out of the stadium while the others tried to save Brancheau, but it was too late.
SEE THE FOOTAGE
WKMG
MEDIA
PICTURES: Dawn Brancheau SeaWorld Trainer Killed
MORE ON CRIMESIDER
February 25, 2010 - Dawn Brancheau Pictures: SeaWorld Trainer Loved Whale That Killed Her
February 24, 2010 - Tillikum the Killer Whale Had Violent Past Before Deadly Attack on SeaWorld Trainer
February 24, 2010 - SeaWorld Trainer Killed by Tillikum the Whale