WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: SeaWorld trainer Ken Peters was locked in a battle to save his life after a killer whale went off script, with footage of the harrowing incident recently being rereleased
A killer whale suddenly turned on a SeaWorld trainer and twice held him underwater for prolonged periods – all in front of hundreds of horrified spectators.
The life or death struggle happened almost 20 years ago and 60 Minutes Australia has now rereleased harrowing footage. It showed Ken Peters performing his routine as normal when Kasatka, a 2,250kg (5,000lb) orca, became distressed after her calf called out to her. However, not knowing anything was amiss, Ken dived into the water at the San Diego marine park in 2006, only to be locked in a ten-minute battle for his life.
Author David Kirby, who investigated the incident, said: “Kasatka has other ideas. She doesn’t want to perform and instead, she grabs Ken Peters’ foot and drags him directly down to the pool. She holds him down there for upwards to a minute as the other trainers around the pool’s edge begin to realise that something has gone terribly wrong.”
He added: “I am sure SeaWorld would have preferred this video never to have been seen by the public. It is graphic and it is chilling.”
Ken eventually broke free after the heart-stopping struggle, and he is seen on video catching his breath in relief, before the predator pulled him down once again after getting a deadly grip on his foot.
The beast shook the trainer violently under the water before eventually returning him to the surface.
According to David, Ken managed to stay remarkably calm, and he believes this is what prevented his death.
Ken desperately tried to kick his feet to prevent them being latched on to again, but Kasatka managed to pounce once more before dragging him through the water.
It was not the first time a scary situation like this happened, and since the 1970s, over 30 incidents involving captive whales have caused injury or death to humans.
Speaking to 60 Minutes Australia in 2012, SeaWorld representative Kelly Flaherty Clark, said: “We are the experts and we know how to read killer whale behaviour and since we have been doing this for 40 years we are well prepared.”
As for Ken’s battle, broadcaster Michael Usher said: “After 10 minutes of unrelenting torture, Ken Peters seizes his chance.”
He eventually managed to break away from the orca before swimming as fast as he could to the edge of the pool. Seeing what was happening, Kasatka charged at him, but he escaped successfully.
The trainer was rushed to hospital where he was treated for serious puncture wounds and crushed bones in both of his feet.
David reiterated that the whale acted the way it did because its child called for her. He warned: “Killer whales have opinions of their own, when they go off behaviour, when they are rampaging, they are not going to listen to any human being. They make up their own mind about what they want to do.”
This was backed up by marine biologist Naomi Rose who cautioned: “They are in their element and the trainers are out of theirs. They are in water.”
She added: “I think they (SeaWorld trainers) might never understand how dangerous they are in the first place.”
However, after the incident, Ken told a federal hearing he thought the risks associated with his job were “acceptable”, adding: “I could get killed in a car accident today, but I still get in a car. Even when I was down at the bottom of the pool, I thought she’d let me go.”
Ken also defended SeaWorld after Dawn Brancheau was dismembered and killed by killer whale Tilikum in Orlando in 2010.
Kasatka meanwhile was put down aged 41 in 2017 and her ex-trainer, John Hargrove, was a whistleblower for the documentary Blackfish.
He claimed the predator suffered bacterial infections and that the immune systems of whales were impacted by antibiotics given so they could live in small pools.
He told the Mail on Sunday: “They claim captive orcas help educate people, and for years I bought into it. But Kasatka lived in misery, in barbaric and horrific conditions, and died in agony. She lived out her days in a house of horrors – and I was complicit in selling the lie to the public.”
After the footage of Ken’s struggle was rereleased in recent days, one person commented: “It’s called keeping a 7,000 pound intelligent mammal in a kiddie pool. They are meant to be free.”
Another added: “Ripping a whale away from its family, putting it in a small pool with absolutely zero stimulation, except to perform is incredibly cruel.”
And a third went with: “Sticking a whale in a small tank like that is the same thing as putting a person in solitary confinement.”