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orca.jpgIt’s not easy for jailers to keep their prisoners happy, but when the prisoners are 17-feet-long and 5,000 pounds, it’s certainly important! By now we’re sure that you’ve heard about last week’s incident at SeaWorld in San Diego during which a killer whale pulled a trainer underwater twice during a show (the trainer suffered a broken foot before the whale finally released him).

On Friday, Florida Today spoke to staff at SeaWorld in Orlando about the incident. Chuck Tompkins, the park’s vice president of animal training, said what happened in San Diego was “a very rare event,” but he did admit that a similar incident happened at SeaWorld Orlando in April 2005. Tompkins also explained how they try to stay on the whale’s good side- a very difficult task considering the animals are trapped in a small concrete tank performing stupid tricks daily- “We spend hours and hours working with them each day, making sure we’re their best friends.”

After the incident in San Diego, trainers at SeaWorld may not be so confident about their “friendship.”

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