Chilling image of SeaWorld orca trainer taken moments before being dragged to her death by trapped killer whale
The chilling photo taken just moments before a SeaWorld trainer was dragged to her death by a captive killer whale has resurfaced online, reminding many of the tragedy that unfolded more than 14 years ago.
On 24 February, 2010, SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau lost her life when a performance with a whale she had 'built a great relationship with' took a devastating turn.
At the end of the Dine With Shamu show Dawn had performed with a male orca named Tilikum, she was lying on a slide-out on the edge of the pool rubbing the orca's head as part of the end-of-show routine.
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Dawn had vast experience working with Tilikum, having worked with the orcas at the Orlando park for 15 years.
Without warning at the end of their routine, however, Tilikum suddenly snatched the 40-year-old's ponytail and dragged her into the pool where, in front of hundreds of horrified visitors, she desperately struggled to free herself.
Tilikum thrashed Dawn around the pool while SeaWorld staff tried to distract him with food and nets.
But it was no use.
The orca - nicknamed 'Tilly' - held onto Dawn for 45 minutes, reportedly severing her spinal cord, scalping her and tearing off an arm in the attack.
An autopsy revealed that Dawn had died by drowning and blunt force trauma, and also suffered fractures to her jawbone, ribs and a cervical vertebra.
Unbelievably so, a photograph was captured of Dawn just moments before Tilikum pulled her beneath the water's surface.
The experienced animal trainer was pictured leaning over the pool, giving Tilikum some love, before the whale - who performed under the generic 'Shamu' name - grabbed her.
Speaking at the time of Dawn's death, John Hargrove, a senior trainer at SeaWorld, said: "We'll never know why Tilikum made that choice to grab Dawn and pull her into the pool.
"He had a great relationship with her, and she had a great relationship with him. I do believe that he loved her, and I know that she loved him."
Experts believe that the killer whale was driven mad by captivity and had become 'psychotic', with Dawn being his third victim after killing two other people in 1991 and 1999.
Dawn's death became a focus of the 2013 documentary Blackfish, which looked into the life of Tilikum in captivity after he was captured at two-years-old.
The doc also accused SeaWorld of abusing their captive animals, which includes the likes of whales, dolphins and other marine life.
The killer whale returned to performing just over a year after killing Dawn, but high-pressure water hoses were used to massage him instead of hands and removable guardrails were used on the platforms.
In 2016, SeaWorld announced that they were ending their killer whale breeding programme, meaning that the orcas who live there will be the park's last generation.
Tilikum died from a bacterial infection in 2017 at the age of 35, but there are still 18 killer whales living at three different SeaWorld parks in the US today.
Rikki Loftus