More fines for SeaWorld
There has been some more bad news for SeaWorld in the US following the announcement that California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CAL/OSHA) has fined SeaWorld San Diego for failing to protect its employees from orcas it holds captive in its tanks.
The fines amount to $25,770, and relate, in part, to trainers riding on orcas and swimming with them. SeaWorld has been fined repeatedly in recent years for failing to meet strict safety standards implemented after the death of a trainer, Dawn Brancheau who was dragged into a pool by orca Tillikum in 2010. Her death prompted swift action by OSHA and, in 2011 SeaWorld was ordered by a US court to provide physical barriers (or equivalent) or greater protection for trainers working with orcas, or stop the trainers from working in close proximity to them altogether.
The park said it will appeal this latest fine.
