Unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard about the tragic death of SeaWorld San Diego orca trainer, Dawn Brancheau. She was drowned by a 6-ton killer whale named Tilikum when he grabbed her by her ponytail with his teeth and dragged her under water.

The most heartbreaking part of the story is how this type of situation could have been prevented. According to SeaWorld policy, all animal trainers are required to have their hair pulled back as a safety precaution and even train the animals to not pull hair. Unfortunately, this particular whale was not trained on this and was even classified as an animal whose pool trainers were not allowed to enter. It has been reported that SeaWorld is currently working to make changes to its safety protocol, specifically in relation to employees handling killer whales. Hopefully this horrific incident will result in more safety precautions that will help keep these employees safe.