SAN ANTONIO, July 30 (UPI) -- An animal protection group wants SeaWorld to stop staging interactive shows with humans and killer whales in the wake of an incident in San Antonio.
The Humane Society of the United States also wants the Department of Agriculture to investigate the submerging of a veteran trainer by a killer whale last week, the San Antonio Express-News reported Friday.
Trainer Steve Aibel, who was not injured, called the actions of the whale named Ky playful compulsion. Park officials said Aibel was always in control in the incident that was captured on amateur video by a spectator.
Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist with the Humane Society, called the episode unusual because of its duration. She said the whale's upbringing has left him a "social misfit" and there might have been a genetic factor.
The Canadian media has reported that Ky's parents were involved in a 1991 tragedy in which champion swimmer Keltie Byrne drowned at age 20.
Byrne fell into a pool during a show at Sealand in Victoria, British Columbia. Ky's parents and a third whale batted Byrne around in the tank, keeping her from life-saving equipment, said testimony in a coroner's inquest.
