In 1987, Joanne Webber, then 26, sustained a broken neck during an incident with an orca at SeaWorld. With five years of experience working with orcas, Webber found herself at the bottom of the pool after the 6,000-pound mammal landed on her.
The orca, named Kandu V, had a history of incidents prior to this one. John Hargrove, a former SeaWorld trainer featured in the 2013 documentary Blackfish, recounted to The Sun Online that while he wasn’t present during the event, he learned that Webber endured “excruciating pain.” Witnesses heard Webber shouting, “I think my neck is broken,” as she struggled to escape the pool.
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| SeaWorld |
Reports from The Los Angeles Times detailed how Kandu V leapt into the air during a training session, landing on Webber and fracturing her neck, forcing her to the bottom of the 40-foot-deep pool.
Webber later sued SeaWorld, resulting in an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed amount. Following the incident, SeaWorld prohibited trainers from swimming with orcas, asserting that their animals were not aggressive and were cared for with positive reinforcement by specialists.
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| inherentlywild / Orcaholic |
In her June 1988 lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court, Webber stated she had been told the orcas were “gentle” and “safe,” leading her to enter the pool with them. The lawsuit claimed staff worsened her condition by delaying medical treatment, urging her to remove her wetsuit to avoid damaging it.
Webber’s lawsuit alleged that SeaWorld staff knew killer whales had a dangerous propensity for attacking people but failed to inform her. She noted Kandu V’s history of aggression, including biting and raking other whales.
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This wasn’t Kandu V’s first attack on a person. Months earlier, former trainer Jonathan Smith was attacked by Kandu V and another orca, Kenau, suffering serious injuries including bruised kidneys, ribs, and a liver cut, which required nine days of hospitalization. Smith’s lawsuit was also settled out of court.
BREAKING: Orcas ATTACKED their tankmate at SeaWorld!
— PETA (@peta) August 5, 2022
The eyewitness stated, “We all immediately saw blood soaking the water which triggered my 9 year old daughter to start crying.” pic.twitter.com/HqFbBm5OhR
Despite these incidents, Kandu V continued to perform at SeaWorld until her death on August 21, 1989. During a show, Kandu V, kept in a side pool, repeatedly rammed into her daughter Orkid, breaking her own jaw and severing a major artery. Kandu V’s death, marked by blood spouting from her blowhole, shocked visitors.
SeaWorld explained Kandu V’s behavior as a common dominance fight, with vet Jim McBain stating, “It’s common behavior. For the survival of any species, the stronger animal has to rule. The death was an unexpected shock, but the altercation was not a rare event at all. It was normal behavior.”
In 2016, SeaWorld announced it would stop breeding orcas in captivity. This story resurfaced after a recent incident where two orcas attacked each other during a performance.
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