SeaWorld and OSHA Face Off in Court Case Following Death of Animal Trainer; Future of Popular 'Shamu' Shows Uncertain

According to the September 16^th orlandosentinel.com article, ''SeaWorld fights for future of killer-whale shows'', legal experts opine that the case could affect whether or not SeaWorld will be allowed ''to put trainers and whales in the water together ever again.''

Jack Hanna, celebrity biologist and director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo in Ohio was quoted as saying in the orlandosentinel.com article: ''A lot of people are following this. I'm concerned about the outcome. And I think anybody in our business should be.''

SeaWorld is contesting OSHA's citation, following the agency's six-month investigation of SeaWorld's killer-whale program. SeaWorld stands accused of committing a ''willful'' safety violation, which is OSHA's most severe class of violation, for failing to adequately ''protect trainers from the danger of being struck or drowned by killer whales'', per the orlandosentinel.com article.

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To address, or ‘abate' this safety violation, OSHA is proposing trainers be protected by some type of physical barrier in order to work with the whales. However, according to the orlandosentinel.com article, SeaWorld says that because the whales are highly social animals, trainers must be allowed contact with them in the water to adequately care for them. Also, the ''Shamu'' shows are SeaWorld's biggest draw.

John Black, an attorney for the U.S. Department of Labor, was quoted as saying in the September 19^th usatoday.com article, ''Lawyers clash in SeaWorld killer-whale case'': ''Killer whales are large, powerful and non-domesticated animals. They have the potential to cause serious physical harm or death to people who get near them.''

However, Carla Gunnin, an attorney representing SeaWorld was quoted as saying in the same article that: ''There's a lot of training of the killer whales themselves … that goes hand-in-hand with the training of killer-whale trainers. They have a lot of safety procedures in place. You don't start Day 1 at Shamu Stadium and go train a killer whale the next day. You have a long process.''

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Besides SeaWorld's desire to resume its water shows, the company is concerned about OSHA's ''willful'' finding because of loss of reputation, as well as the belief it could possibly increase the company's exposure to civil lawsuits.

SeaWorld is determined to institute other safety measures, and has been testing a false-bottom floor in the pool where Brancheau was killed; as well, the company has designed vests that would contain emergency air supplies for trainers to wear in case they ended up being pulled underwater. But even with these safety measures, SeaWorld may be unable to meet the ''physical barrier'' recommendation.

Art Sapper, a partner in the OSHA practice group of the Washington law firm McDermott Will & Emery , was quoted as saying in the orlandosentinel.com article: ''You can't effectively promise the federal government, at the risk of jeopardizing your company, that you're going to abate if you're not sure you can.''

The outcome of the case could extend ''far beyond SeaWorld,'' to affect zoological and amusement-park industries and ''other facilities where employees'' have contact with big, ''potentially dangerous animals.''