Video: dolphin bites little girl at Sea World

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Jillian Thomas was feeding the dolphins, her favorite animals, at SeaWorld's Dolphin Cove area in Orlando when she made a mistake. One that her parents say has traumatized their family.

Thomas, and the other visitors were warned not to lift the trays filled with small fish for the dolphins. But when her supply ran out she forgot the warning, and picked up her tray... that's when one of the dolphins leapt forward (presumably to snatch the tray) and took her hand and arm in its mouth, pulling her toward the water. She ended up with thee puncture wounds on her hand, but was otherwise unharmed and is recovering nicely at home in Alpharetta, Georgia.

The whole incident was captured on home video.
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http://www.hlntv.com/video/2012/12/03/girl-bit-dolphin-sea-world-wkmg
 
I wish they would just close places like this, care for the animals until they die and call it a day.

I don't even understand the mentality of a parent who takes their kids to something like this. Is this something a child ***must*** do to have a fulfilling childhood? Nope. It actually perpetuates the concept that animals are here to entertain us. Ugh.

I'm sure Sea World will offer some money and the parents will take it, even though it was the child's own fault for not following the rules.
 
This is why animals shouldn't be kept in captivity, all so humans can gawk at at them and interact with them, which is soooo unnatural.

It's not right. It's unfair to the animals and it's cruel. Period.
 
Who wants to bet the parents try to sue Sea World?
 
If it has teeth it is possible it will bite. Any animal or mammal.

I'm sorry this young child got bitten. Bless her heart.

Her parents should have been supervising instead of standing behind a camera? (I know that sounds harsh but it's what I really think). JMHO
 
Hopeful One said:
This is why animals shouldn't be kept in captivity, all so humans can gawk at at them and interact with them, which is soooo unnatural.

It's not right. It's unfair to the animals and it's cruel. Period.
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I totally agree. I grew up with my parents taking me to zoos on occasion and had no idea about them.

Only until I got much older and learned about circus and zoo animals have I realized it is truly horrible what society does...allowing zoos and circus to lock up animals solely for the public viewing.

It is very sad and I am sure a lot of families and parents still do not see anything wrong with it. I see a lot wrong with it now. I have no problem if certain animals are truly rescued, but a lot of them are raised, bought, traded, or sold just for the purpose of being in a zoo or circus just to make money for the zoo or circus.

I am sickened by it now, and cannot believe that they are still alllowed to go on. So very sad.

I wish they all would turn into rescue only type facilities and strict control that only animals that are recued can go live there. And all animals neudered or spade.

The last time I went to a zoo, I saw in all the animals eyes a deep sadness of being there. It is horrible IMO.

Oh....and for the parents of that kid feeding the dolphin. TOO BAD. How about teaching your kid to respect nature. If you let your kids feed animals, it is your own fault if one gets too hungry and happens to bite you by mistake.
 
I'm one of those people you cannot take to the zoo, makes me so sad, even if the animals were rescued and could not make it in the wild I get sad for them. (Much like I get sad everyday I go to work, lol, and think how unnatural that is!)

I'm sorry this little girl was bitten. Maybe there should be adults only up that close as children forget rules, or simply break them just b/c they can.

Not sure what should happen, but I agree, these types of attractions are unnecessary for us, only necessary to pay to support the animals/mammals. Seems like the frequency of incidents is increasing, are they pushing them too far?
 
I'm going to defend zoos on the vague and overly broad ground that they encourage interest and empathy toward animals. If we want people to ban off-shore drilling out of respect for sea life, then we have to create environments where people encounter such life and learn to recognize its value.

It would be lovely if everyone could just learn to love animals in theory, but that isn't really how human beings operate. Most of us need close enough contact to form some sort of emotional response.

THAT BEING SAID, I don't think it's necessary that we pet or hand-feed wild animals. And zoos should be built so that the animals are allowed as "natural" a life as possible. (I much prefer the parks where humans are confined and the other animals roam free.)

(FWIW, at the Sea-World-type park in my hometown of Fort Lauderdale, they used to have a pet-and-feed-the-dolphins tank. I remember quite vividly how the dolphins would nip at the hands of those who didn't bring "treats" to the tank. I wasn't injured, but I was quite clearly reprimanded!)
 
They had a segment of this on the local news tonight. Someone had a video showing a park person telling exactly what to do and not to do when feeding. One thing she said was not to hold food up above the brick wall. Parents also said they did not intend to sue.
 
I assume it's obvious to all that the dolphin wasn't trying to hurt the little girl. It could have taken her arm off if it chose to do so.
 
Scary for the little girl. All it takes is a moment of forgetting. Family needs to take it as a lesson learned and a memory to talk about for years.
 
Wow, if they think this attraction is so dangerous maybe one of the parents should put down the camera and stand over the children and make sure they don't do they one thing they were told not to do during the few minutes of the feeding exercise. The dolphin was not being vicious, it was acting how it would naturally act to eat. These parents need to get real, IMO they are the only ones that can be at fault here, either for not properly being prepared to react quickly or by not expecting and accepting the possibility that something like this could happen when letting young children participate with wild animals during feeding time. We are so quick to blame everyone else but ourselves that it's really sickening. I think time with animals could be important because many times this inspires children and adults to donate to wildlife funds, spend time helping wildlife, or even pursuing careers involving wildlife. The fact that you can get small puncture wounds by not following directions shouldn't take this gift from others. As children I grew up on a farm. The closest thing I can remember to this is feeding horses, if you don't listen to what your parents say and hold your hand flat when feeding it your fingers will get bit, and HARD! It's life, it's what happens when you don't follow directions. If you take away all possibilities in childhood then we'll never learn.
 
If I were a dolphin in sea world, I'd bite people too. Just saying...
 
I've actually fed them at that park about 2 years ago-the dolphins are really smart (of course) and they know that it's feeding time when everyone's standing there. They will try to knock the tray out of your hand or snatch the food away before you can set it in another dolphin's mouth. I never would've worried about them biting me, though. Feeding a stingray was much scarier to me.
 
Nova said:
I assume it's obvious to all that the dolphin wasn't trying to hurt the little girl. It could have taken her arm off if it chose to do so.
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I don't know. Dolphins are pretty shifty. Shifty, I tell you.

I feel sad for the girl. Sad for the dolphin. I hate that animals are kept in captivity, and I am not an animal lover (any animals) at all.
 
Skagirl said:
I've actually fed them at that park about 2 years ago-the dolphins are really smart (of course) and they know that it's feeding time when everyone's standing there. They will try to knock the tray out of your hand or snatch the food away before you can set it in another dolphin's mouth. I never would've worried about them biting me, though. Feeding a stingray was much scarier to me.
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I thought stingrays could only hurt you from the other end...
 
I saw the interview of the parents and the little girl last night on national news. I was cooking dinner and had the TV on so I didn't see the entire interview and I didn't stop cooking so I might have misinterpreted what was shown.

However, they showed her little hand and it looked fine. I didn't see any bruising or swelling just a small little mark that looked like a superficial sore scabbed over.

Her Father was talking evenly and calmly. The Mother was talking fast and frantically and was very perturbed (like her hair was on fire) about how it should have never happened and Seaworld was responsible...etc. etc. etc.

I thought to myself---oh Mom is probably someone that over reacts and when she over reacts e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y knows it too! LOL

Of course the child could have been hurt more and I am assuming that the one picture I saw was accurate but the child was talking too and she didn't seem overly distressed. Just a regular kiddo.
 
Kat said:
I saw the interview of the parents and the little girl last night on national news. I was cooking dinner and had the TV on so I didn't see the entire interview and I didn't stop cooking so I might have misinterpreted what was shown.

However, they showed her little hand and it looked fine. I didn't see any bruising or swelling just a small little mark that looked like a superficial sore scabbed over.

Her Father was talking evenly and calmly. The Mother was talking fast and frantically and was very perturbed (like her hair was on fire) about how it should have never happened and Seaworld was responsible...etc. etc. etc.

I thought to myself---oh Mom is probably someone that over reacts and when she over reacts e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y knows it too! LOL

Of course the child could have been hurt more and I am assuming that the one picture I saw was accurate but the child was talking too and she didn't seem overly distressed. Just a regular kiddo.
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I'm glad to hear that, I'm sure the little girl and mom both will suffer from a little trauma. People need to see the bright side, ya the kid got hurt but she will be alright. I'm sure she will keep her hands away from any fishy s for quite awhile. I really see to many people there at once and it's confusing for the Dolphins, maybe they should only let a couple of people go at a time.
 
I might be wrong but I think this will eventually become a story that is shared at the holiday table when the little girl is grown up. In fact, if it were my family it would be retold with enough embellisment to make it a hilarious story! :) I think the little girl is going to be fine :)
 
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