- A video shows a dolphin in a Miami sequarium attacking a coach last weekend.
- A former veterinarian at Seaquarium told local media that this was not an isolated incident.
- PETA condemned the “exploitation of dolphins” from the Miami Marine Aquarium after a horrific USDA report last year.
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A member of the audience filmed the moment when a dolphin became violent and attacked a coach last weekend at the Miami Seaquarium.
A video of the incident, shared on TikTok, shows the trainer struggling to stay afloat while the Sundance dolphin drags her underwater.
Sundance, who has lived in captivity at the Miami Aquarium all his life, can be seen pushing the simulator to the edge of the pool.
The coach was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, Local10.com reports. Miami-Dade’s safety authorities have contacted him as a precautionary measure, media reports said, but the coach did not appear to have suffered any serious injuries.
Kentucky photographer Shannon Carpenter, who shot the episode, attends the show with her family when the dolphin appears to be becoming aggressive. “The children applauded and thought it was clean. “It could be said that adults know something is wrong,” she told the New York Post.
The Miami Seaquarium did not respond to Insider’s request for comment, but according to a statement provided to CBS News, the investigation concluded that the trainer accidentally scratched the dolphin.
“A dolphin and a coach accidentally collided in the water on Saturday while performing routine behavior as part of the Flipper Show. It was an awkward interaction for both of them and the dolphin reacted by breaking away from the routine and hitting the coach,” the statement said.
The dolphin was also unharmed, according to CBS News.
Jenna Wallace, a veterinarian who previously worked at the Miami Seaquarium, told Local10.com that she believes this is not an isolated incident.
“Previous vets and staff have told me that this animal hit another trainer in the abdomen,” Wallace told the media.
“When dolphins become aggressive this way, there’s always something basic,” she continued.
PETA condemned the “exploitation of dolphins” at the Seaquarium in Miami in a statement issued Tuesday.
“The time has come for the Miami Marine Aquarium, where long-suffering dolphins are in desperate need of protection and workers are at risk,” said Jared Goodman, general adviser to the animal rights organization.
“PETA calls on this harassment park to end its exploitation of dolphins by taking them to shelters as soon as possible so that they are never used again in unpleasant shows and no one else is harmed,” the statement continued.
The Miami Seaquarium was cited for numerous animal welfare violations in a 17-page report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) last June.
The report mentions the feeding of animals with rotten fish, the death of dolphins, emergency pools and inadequate animal care.
The Miami Marine Aquarium is also home to the Lolita killer whale, which has been playing in front of an audience for 52 years. She has become the focus of a campaign to free her from her killer whale aquarium, the world’s smallest, into a marine refuge in her native Northeast Pacific, euronews reported.
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