Audience Holds Their Breath When Dolphin Attacks Trainer During Show At Miami’s Seaquarium

When animals become hostile, it can be scary. This is exactly what happened during the Flipper Dolphin Show in Miami. During the Seaquarium show, a dolphin who was once very friendly and obedient, started becoming violent and struck a female trainer.

An official statement released states that a dolphin was behaving aggressively toward its trainer. The woman seems to be able to free herself from the water and shout for help. Thankfully, another staff comes over to help and bring her out of the water to safety.

The entire incident was caught on camera. Photographer Shannon Carpenter captured everything that has happened and shared it on TikTok. And in an interview with WVSN, he said, “[It] looked like the dolphin rammed into the trainer. There was a struggle, some kind of collision underwater happened. The lady on the paddleboard, she paddled out of the water pretty quick, and then the lead trainer started swimming back towards the dock, and it looked like she got ran into a couple more times.”

Carpenter also added that while the trainer was fighting for her life, the kids were “cheering” thinking it was all part of the show. However, the adults in the audience knew that something was not right. He said, “You could tell the adults knew something was wrong.” Carpenter told the outlet that as soon as the trainer was out of the water, she was immediately taken by ambulance to a local hospital.

Animal rights organization PETA denounced the “exploitation of dolphins” at Miami Seaquarium in a statement. According to Jared Goodman, the PETA Foundation’s general counsel for animal law, that this is not the first time that a situation like this has happened, that an animal has been aggressive.

Regarding the incident, Goodman issued a statement, saying, “Time is up for the Miami Seaquarium, where long-suffering dolphins desperately need protection and workers are at risk. PETA urges this ‘abusement’ park to end its exploitation of dolphins by getting them to sanctuaries as quickly as possible so that they’d never be used in tawdry shows again and no one else would get hurt.”

CBS News reports that an investigation concluded that the trainer had accidentally scratched the dolphin which led to it becoming aggressive.

The statement said: “A dolphin and trainer accidentally collided in the water on Saturday while performing a routine behavior as part of the Flipper Show. This was an uncomfortable interaction for both of them and the dolphin reacted by breaking away from the routine and striking the trainer.”

CBS News assured that the dolphin was also not injured.

Also, Jenna Wallace, a veterinarian who formerly worked at Miami Seaquarium, said that she believes it was not an isolated incident. She shared, “I have been told by previous veterinarians and staff that this animal had rammed another trainer in the abdomen. When dolphins become aggressive like this, there’s always some underlying thing.”

Reports say that Miami Seaquarium was cited for a number of animal welfare violations in a 17-page report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) just last June. The report mentioned that they have been feeding animals rotten, some dolphins dying, and the pools were fairly maintained. Also, there were reports of inadequate care for these animals.

Aside from the amazing dolphins, the Miami Seaquarium is also home to the orca “Lolita” who has been performing for audiences for the last 52 years. In fact, she has become the focus of a campaign to release her from her orca tank which is considered the world’s smallest for such a large creature. The petition was for her to be released into a sea sanctuary in her native northeast Pacific.