A SeaWorld stranded whale was captured in a video that has gone viral. A pilot whale was shown struggling to get back into the water for 25 minutes before any trainers responded to help.
As the whale struggled, the crowd continued to call for help. The video was shot by Carlo De Leonibus, who was at SeaWorld with his family to celebrate his daughter's 11th birthday.
As reported by Fox News, De Leonibus explains that the whale jumped out of the water as he and his family waited for the show to begin:
"After about ten minutes, I realized it was in distress. I felt very concerned, so I went down and told one of the employees who just dismally responded and said 'it's having fun, it's playing.' He didn't even bother to look at the whale, so I went back to the crowd. I began recording. In that time you can hear people upset, people were screaming."
As the crowd continued to scream, De Leonibus described that an announcement was made over the loud speaker assuring the crowd the pilot whale was fine and it was at least 25 minutes before employees responded to the whale.
Representatives with SeaWorld say the stranded whale was never in any danger. In an official statement they explain:
“Pilot whales come out on the ledge all the time and always get back into the deeper water without any problem. The younger animals are still inexperienced and sometimes it takes them a bit longer.”
