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After a fall recess, SeaWorld is back in court to resume its fight against a citation imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which found that the theme park exposed its employees to serious risks after trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed by the orca Tilikum last year.

SeaWorld repeatedly tried to prevent the day's witnesses from testifying. The first witness, Ken Peters, is the assistant curator of animal training at SeaWorld San Diego. During a 1999 show, Peters was attacked by an orca named Kasatka. After the orca tried to grab Peters' feet and hands, SeaWorld described the near tragedy as an "unfortunate incident" and an "excellent learning tool." Peters acknowledged a "calculated risk of dying tomorrow"—which almost came true in 2006, when Kasatka, forcibly separated from her baby, grabbed Peters' foot and repeatedly dragged him underwater for extended periods. All water work with this angry orca stopped because of the "intensity" of the incident.

The next witness, Mike Scarpuzzi, is vice president of zoological operations. Scarpuzzi gave short and evasive answers to the government attorney's questions and repeatedly stared at the ceiling before responding to even the simplest yes-or-no questions. He was ultimately designated as a hostile witness by the court.

Scarpuzzi oversaw orca training at Spain's Loro Parque theme park when trainer Alexis Martinez was killed after being rammed and dragged underwater by an orca named Keto—just two months before Dawn Brancheau's death. Although SeaWorld attempted to distance itself from this park and attack its credibility, a SeaWorld trainer, Brian Rokeach, was stationed at Loro Parque to supervise animal training, and all decisions about animal care and training were made in conjunction with the three SeaWorld parks and SeaWorld's corporate headquarters. 

Although he was the supervisor, Scarpuzzi testified that he didn't know (or ask about) the details surrounding Martinez's death other than being told by Rokeach that he "didn't make it." Telling Rokeach to "take care of it," Scarpuzzi took no other action or offered any measure of support until he arrived on site the next day. He said SeaWorld had concluded that "a combination of relatively commonplace and minor occurrences" caused the trainer's death. Water work with orcas was suspended for less than a week after Martinez's death, and no additional protocols or safety measures were adopted.

Rokeach closed out the day's proceedings by admitting that SeaWorld's emergency procedures generally are not successful when the killer whales are in an agitated state.

Stay tuned.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

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When I hear "Christmas spectacular," I think snow, lights, and a tree—really, it doesn't take much to make me happy. For the twisted folks at Loro Parque in Spain, however, it's apparently not Christmas without some animal exploitation. Wholesome and heartwarming? Yeah, right.

There was nothing festive about the death of a captive orca's trainer during the rehearsal for the zoo's Christmas performance. The whale hit the trainer, who drowned after being underwater for several minutes.

Freedom must've been first on this orca's Christmas wish list. Orcas swim up to 100 miles a day in the open ocean, so confining them to tanks in theme parks is like confining a person to a bathtub. Captured from their ocean homes by boats that chase orca pods to shallow waters so that the animals can be surrounded with nets that are gradually closed and lifted onto the boats, some orcas die from shock or stress. Others slowly succumb to pneumonia when water enters their lungs through their blowholes. After they are torn away from their homes and families, these animals are then forced to learn circus-style tricks from trainers who withhold food and isolate animals who refuse to perform.

At the top of my New Year's wish list? A PETA theme park in which the only "animals" forced to perform are the animatronic kind.

Written by Logan Scherer