I just got back from a two week trip to Orlando and we did a lot of Sea World. In fact we have been there every almost year for some 15 years or so and I can speak with some authority on the impact that this incident (the death) has had on the Shamu show.
It's really unfortunate. The trainers no longer swim with or ride on the Orcas. I used to watch from the stands and think to myself: "getting paid to ride a killer whale might be the coolest job in the world". Now? They don't get much closer than the audience actually.
This was the best iteration of the Shamu show I recall seeing;
Shamu Rocks in High Definition HD at SeaWorld Orlando 12th October 2008 (External Embedding Disabled)
The highlight begins at the 4:20 mark or so. Maybe I'm a big pussy but I get all choked up watching that. My older daughter remembers it but the show changed drastically last year due to the tragedy (and it WAS a tragedy) and Maggie is too young to remember it as it was is in the video. Chances are she'll never get to see that level of interaction again and that makes me sad.
I also have had occasion to get to know a Sea World Orca trainer and she is as upset as anyone that the show has been gutted. She told me that her dream job was to swim with the Orcas ever since she saw her first Shamu show. She achieved that dream and lived it for a while but now it's been taken away. She also said that she was never under any illusion about the level of danger involved and that no one who undertakes the career of working with enormous predators thinks that it's a "safe" occupation. Sea World never forced anyone into that tank. In fact, people were lining up to get in there with them.
This is really no different from something like being a NASCAR driver or MOTOGP rider. They know the risks and sometimes die while doing what they love. People (sometimes numbering in the millions) also witness those deaths. Yet, OSHA doesn't mess with them. Why the double standard?
Anyway, bear in mind that the barriers are a "recommendation" not a regulation or requirement. Though we all know how "recommendations" can be with an entity like OSHA.
