Alexis Martinez was an animal trainer from Spain. He specialized in working with orcas at the Orca Ocean at Loro Parque in the Canary Islands.
On December 24, 2009, he unfortunately passed away while rehearsing for a Christmas concert.
Dawn Brancheau died in an orca assault at SeaWorld two months prior to her more well-known death.
Concerns were heightened by the fact that this occurrence occurred two years after the park dismissed another orca attack as an accident.
Keto and Alexis Martinez
For three years, Martinez, 29, had been training orcas at Loro Parque.
Estefanía Luis Rodriguez, his boyfriend, said he was “handsome, generous, and funny.”
She revealed that Martinez had recently expressed worries about his job at Orca Ocean, pointing out that the killer whales had been acting more aggressively, disruptively, and disobediently.
At first, the park said his death was a sad accident and that there was no sign of violence on his body.
But the autopsy showed severe injuries, including bite marks, a broken chest, and crushed organs.
The male orca, Keto, weighing 6,600 pounds, was born in captivity at a SeaWorld facility in 1995 and had never seen the ocean.
Ohio, Texas, San Diego, and eventually the Canary Islands were among the parks where Keto performed.
He was one of four orcas borrowed from SeaWorld when the deadly tragedy happened during his third year at Loro Parque.
