SeaWorld Death 911 Calls Released
Updated at 3:09 p.m. ET
The 911 calls made after a SeaWorld Orlando trainer was pulled into a pool by a killer whale last week show an increasing awareness of the seriousness of the situation with each call.
The recordings were released Thursday by Orange County Fire Rescue.
The first call was made as the 12,000-pound whale named Tilikum swam in the pool with 40-year-old trainer Dawn Brancheau in his mouth.
"We actually have a trainer in the water with one of our whales, the whale that they're not supposed to be in the water with," the female caller told the dispatcher.
"We don't know what is going on," the SeaWorld employee told the dispatcher. "We were told just to have somebody here on standby once they get the person out."
The 911 dispatcher asked if other workers were trying to get Brancheau out of the water.
"There are people working on it ... about two or three dozen people over there now," the SeaWorld worker said.
In the second call, the SeaWorld worker told the dispatcher that a defibrillator has been pulled out of its box for the trainer. In the next call, she told the dispatcher to send an ambulance inside the park.
Investigators have said Brancheau died from multiple traumatic injuries and drowning. The 22-foot-long whale pulled Brancheau into the pool by her ponytail last week after a performance.
In police investigative reports released Monday, Brancheau's co-workers describe the swiftness of the attack and the furious response that came after alarms sounded around the pool. Employees who were at other pools, behind computers or emptying coolers of fish rushed to the scene.
Jan Topoleski, whose job is to monitor trainers' safety during shows, told investigators he saw Brancheau lying on the deck face-to-face with the whale and communicating with him right before the attack. He said Tilikum bit Brancheau's hair and pulled her into the pool in a span of about two seconds. He sounded an alarm and grabbed safety equipment.
Susanne De Wit, a 33-year-old tourist from the Netherlands, told investigators her group had just walked to a window for a photo when she saw the attack. The attack occurred in front of about 20 visitors who had stuck around after a noontime show.
"Suddenly I saw (the whale) grabbing the trainer ... and pulling her down in the water," she said. "It was scary. He was very wild, with the trainer still in the whale's mouth, the whale's tail was very wild in the water."
Tanner Grogan, who scrambled to help other employees unfurl nets to corral Tilikum, said the whale at one point let go for several seconds, but snatched Brancheau again by the foot before anyone could react. The plastic, weighted nets - similar to temporary fencing used at construction sites - were unrolled and dropped in the water to help direct the whale to a pool with a hydraulic lift.
The witness statements were unclear how long it took workers to finally trap the whale in that pool and lift him from the water. One witness said it seemed like 10 minutes. Another said it could have been as long as 30 minutes.
More coverage of the SeaWorld tragedy
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Whale Attack Renews Captive Animal Debate
Tears Flow as Whale Shows Resume
SeaWorld Called Best Place for Tilikum
Whale, Trainer Play on Film Before Attack
SeaWorld Defends Serial Killer Whale
SeaWorld: The Show Must Go On
Ex-SeaWorld Official: Trainer Made Mistake
Dawn Brancheau's Last Moments Alive
SeaWorld Trainer Embraced Risks of Job
Even after the whale was lifted out of the water, Brancheau still could not be freed until the whale's jaws were pried open. The trainer was pronounced dead by paramedics on the deck by the pool.
"Tilly was not giving up Dawn," said Robin Ann Morland, another SeaWorld worker.