Should Public See Video of SeaWorld Killer Whale Trainer Dawn Brancheau's Death?

(March 9) -- The audience in Shamu Stadium watched in horror as an orca named Tilikum killed Dawn Brancheau last month. The SeaWorld trainer's family wants to make sure the scene isn't replayed on TV and computer screens around the world.

The Orlando park's cameras recorded the 22-foot, 12,000-pound killer whale grabbing the veteran trainer's ponytail and pulling her into the water on Feb. 24. Brancheau, 40, died of multiple traumatic injuries and drowning, the county medical examiner reported.

SeaWorld gave the tapes to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, which would be obliged to release them under Florida's public-records laws once the investigation of Brancheau's death is finished, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The sheriff's office said some news organizations have already asked for the video.

Brancheau's family and SeaWorld are seeking legal help to block the video from being shown on television or online. The Sentinel said it has spoken with attorney Jon Mills, who was part of the legal team that stopped the release of photos from Dale Earnhardt's autopsy after the NASCAR star's fatal crash at Daytona in 2001.

"Use of this video will do nothing more than further sensationalize a tragic event and traumatize our family," Brancheau family spokesman Charles LoVerde said in a statement Monday. "The conduct of some members of the press has been disgraceful."

Web searches for video of Brancheau's death spiked in the days after the incident, and hackers were quick to capitalize on the opportunity. Within hours, misleading links for "killer whale video" or "Dawn Brancheau video" were popping up in search engine results -- taking users to sites that infected computers with harmful software.

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