Tragedy at Loro Parque: Orca Attack Claims Life of Trainer Alexis Martinez
A devastating incident that shook the marine animal community involved Spanish orca trainer Alexis Martinez, whose fatal encounter with a killer whale was captured in heartbreaking footage.
Martinez, 28, had been working with orcas at Loro Parque’s Orca Ocean in the Canary Islands. On December 24, 2009, during a rehearsal for a Christmas show, he was killed by Keto — a 6,600-pound male orca born in captivity and on loan from SeaWorld.
The attack occurred just two months before a similar tragedy claimed the life of veteran SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau.
Martinez’s partner, Estefanía Luis Rodriguez, later revealed that he had expressed concerns in the weeks leading up to the incident, noting that the whales had become increasingly disobedient and aggressive.
During the rehearsal, Martinez attempted a “stand-on spy hop,” where the trainer balances on the whale as it rises vertically out of the water. However, Keto deviated from the expected behavior, leaning to one side and positioning himself between Martinez and the stage. Despite trainers’ efforts to redirect the orca using established cues, Keto refused to comply.
Instead, he used his rostrum — the pointed part of his snout — to forcefully push Martinez underwater and violently interacted with his body.
Although staff eventually managed to retrieve Martinez from the pool, he had sustained fatal injuries. A post-mortem examination revealed multiple compression fractures, severe internal trauma, and bite marks consistent with an orca attack.
Following the tragedy, SeaWorld temporarily suspended all in-water interactions with orcas across its three parks.
Martinez’s death remains a grim reminder of the inherent risks of working closely with powerful, intelligent marine mammals in captivity.