Just visited the Shamu show of San Diego's Sea World early November. My two little girls were all blushed with joy. They really did love the show and still talked about it.

Surely, this killer whale attraction is excellent; no comparison. The sheer size of the whales is by itself an attraction, let alone the tricks they are performing. There the image of 'Free Willy' came alive.

But then, there is the news of this attack as reported by FoxNews, Thursday, November 30, 2006:

SAN DIEGO — A trainer at SeaWorld Adventure Park remained hospitalized Thursday after a killer whale grabbed him and twice held him underwater during a show, officials said.

The trainer was in fair condition at the University of California, San Diego, Medical Center, nursing supervisor Denise Thompson said. Ken Peters, 39, was "resting comfortably," SeaWorld San Diego spokesman Dave Koontz said.

Koontz did not know the extent of Peters' injuries and the hospital declined to release details.

And also another case in San Antonio, adding to earlier history and occurings of similar accidents.

In a way, considering the nature of shamu as 'killer whale', a sudden wildness and attack could just happen. As a friend of mine put it: wild beast is always wild beast, no matter how well you tame it. It is luck if all goes right, yet accident just bound to happen.


Anyway, a fun way to reflect on a shamu attack is the way David Littermen offered it at the CBS. Just click the clip above hosted by YouTube. As Littermen puts it, that is an approach to avoid controversy and get on with business. Yes, a ha ha ha way.

Despite all that unfortunate occuring, watching a Shamu show is always interesting. Hopefully, Shamu trainers can do better with their killer whales.