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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Alice Peacock

Violent dolphin attack horrifies families as it turns on trainer during Flipper show

A dolphin show took a horrifying turn when one of the animals went rogue, attacking a trainer who was also swimming in the water.

The dolphin, 23-year-old Sundance, turned violent in front of young children and families during the Flipper show at the Miami Seaquarium, where it has lived all its life.

Photographer Shannon Carpenter captured the footage in a video posted to TikTok.

The clip shows the dolphin diverting from its choreography to lunge at a trainer swimming in the water.

Two other performers, one of whom was on a surfboard, rushed to clamber out of the pool, the Mail Online reports.

Meanwhile, the dolphin lunges at the trainer two more times, pushing the woman back as she tries to swim to the pool’s edge.

The trainer pulls herself from the pool shortly after, visibly shaken and seemingly in pain.

A spectator captured the moment Sundance went rogue (@scphoto_ky/TikTok)

Another trainer can be seen kneeling down beside her.

Ms Carpenter told local news network WPLG Local 10 that the kids spectating were “cheering and thinking this was neat”.

“You could tell the adults knew something was wrong,” she continued.

“You could tell she was in some type of pain.”

The trainer was picked up by an ambulance soon after and taken to an area hospital, the outlet reported.

In footage posted to TikTok by photographer Shannon Carpenter, the dolphin can be seen lunging at a trainer swimming in the water (@scphoto_ky/TikTok)

IN 2019 The Mirror reported on an incident in which a young girl was left terrified and injured after she was savagely assaulted by two dolphins who went berserk during a swim with dolphins experience.

Lexi Yeo was dragged underwater by the vicious animals - despite desperate pleas from the trainers - as her mother watched on horrified in Cancun, Mexico.

Lexi's mother Laura-Jane Yeo was said to be shocked to watch the pair of dolphins dragging her daughter underwater in the sea pen.

Ms Yeo, from Barkingside in east London, said the dream holiday quickly became a nightmare.

She said: "It was terrifying. I thought she was going to die."

Unfortunately Lexi did not escape unscathed - the 10-year-old was left with deep bite marks, cuts and prolific bruising.

Organisers from Dolphin Discovery said their behaviour was because of bad sea conditions which "distressed" the sea creatures.

Dolphin attacks on human are incredibly rare, with only one recorded case of a bottlenose dolphin ever killing a human being.

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