Gina Heslop
Joanne Webber was a 26-year-old SeaWorld trainer who had been working with orcas for five years when she experienced a life-changing accident in 1987. During a training session, a 6,000-pound orca named Kandu V leapt into the air and landed on top of her, forcing her to the bottom of the 40-foot-deep pool and breaking her neck. Webber was in excruciating pain and yelled, “I think my neck is broken” as she tried to get out of the pool.
Kandu V had a history of aggressive behavior and had been involved in several incidents before this one. John Hargrove, a former SeaWorld trainer who appeared in the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” mentioned that although he wasn’t at the park at the time, he heard about the incident and the severe pain Webber endured.
After the incident, Webber sued SeaWorld, claiming that she had been told the orcas were “gentle” and “safe,” which influenced her decision to work in the pool with them.
Her lawsuit, filed in June 1988 at San Diego Superior Court, argued that park staff worsened her condition by delaying her medical treatment and insisting she remove her wetsuit to prevent damage to it. Webber alleged that SeaWorld knew the killer whales had a dangerous tendency to attack and did not inform her. She also noted that Kandu V showed extreme aggression when frustrated.
Webber’s lawsuit was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. Following this incident, SeaWorld implemented a policy forbidding trainers from swimming with the orcas. They also claimed that their orcas were not aggressive and received top-notch care through positive reinforcement.
Kandu V had previously attacked another trainer, Jonathan Smith, months before Webber’s incident. During that attack, another orca named Kenau joined in, and Smith suffered serious injuries, including bruised kidneys and ribs, and a cut liver. He spent nine days in the hospital, and like Webber, he settled his lawsuit out of court.
Despite these attacks, Kandu V continued to perform at SeaWorld until she died in a shocking incident on August 21, 1989. While her daughter Orkid was performing with another orca, Kandu V, in a side pool, began ramming Orkid.
She broke her jaw and severed a major artery, causing her to spout blood from her blowhole and die. SeaWorld’s vet Jim McBain explained that such behavior was normal as stronger animals assert dominance for survival.
In 2016, SeaWorld announced it would stop breeding orcas in captivity. This decision came after years of controversy and incidents involving orca aggression towards trainers.
