One thing you wouldn't expect from a trip to SeaWorld is to be covered in faeces, but that's unfortunately what happened during an orca show last year.
Back in October, some unlucky customers were unpleasantly surprised when they were watching orcas perform at the animal theme park.
SeaWorld orcas have made headlines in the past, albeit for more violent reasons, with the death of a trainer at the hands of the sea creature featured in a 2013 documentary.
This time, nobody was hurt, though social media users were left disgusted at a viral clip from the park.
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Taking place at the SeaWorld in San Antonio, Texas, USA, one of the orcas, which are also known as killer whales, could be seen diving and performing for the audience, when they noticed something.
The creature had relieved itself in the water, with its excrement seen floating at the edge of the huge tank that they were diving in.
One of the younger spectators can be seen turning around to the camera, looking unimpressed and worried.
And he had every right to be.
Before long, the giant whale circled back, flipping its tail and sending a wave of faeces-contaminated water onto crowd members in the splash zone as it landed back in the water.
While the area is usually an attraction for those visiting, it quickly became the least desirable place in the park.
One of the guests that was hit with the contaminated water spoke to TMZ, saying: “We expected to get wet sitting so close, but not like that. It smelled awful, and people were gagging.”
To nobody's surprise, the video quickly did the rounds on social media, with SeaWorld quickly releasing a statement on the situation.
“We regret this unfortunate event and are taking every step to ensure the safety and comfort of our guests. Our team followed established protocols to minimise health risks and will review our procedures to prevent this from happening again,” they said.
They insisted that guests were taken to a decontamination area, where they were given soap, drinking water, and towels to dry off.
Users took to the comments of the original video to share what they thought, as one wrote: "And they all just sat there and watched it happen," with a laughing emoji.
Another claimed: "That was personal," while a third added: "The look back like nooooooooo."
A fourth pointed out: "That kid was FLABBERGASTED!"
While a lot of users took it humourously, animal welfare organisation PETA reposted the video on Instagram to criticise people that were surprised.
They wrote: “What did these people expect? That orcas have specific tanks to poop in?”
This may be the stinkiest form of trauma.
Topics: Social Media, Viral, Animals
Joshua Nair