SeaWorld hit with $70,000 fine for 'willfully' endangering trainer Dawn Blancheau, killed by whale

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also recommended that SeaWorld stop putting trainers in the water with orcas without installing a barrier, a deck or an emergency underwater oxygen supply.

Animal rights groups called on SeaWorld to halt the popular water shows altogether and return all their killer whales to the ocean.

OSHA fined the Florida water park $70,000 for the February death of Dawn Blancheau, saying she was routinely allowed to get too close to Tilikum, a giant orca that had killed twice before.

Even though trainers were forbidden from getting into Tilikum's tank, Blancheau would regularly lie on a submerged ledge and pet the 6-ton orca while park visitors snapped photos.

On February 24, the killer whale idly grabbed her by the ponytail and dragged her under.