Girl bitten by dolphin at SeaWorld

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Updated: 12/03/2012 8:28 am

(YouTube/)
(YouTube/)
ATLANTA (AP) - An 8-year-old Georgia girl says it "really, really hurt" when a dolphin snatched her hand in its mouth while she fed the animal as part of an attraction at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla.

But Jillian Thomas of Alpharetta says she was concerned that the dolphin didn't get sick from eating the paper carton she held. In an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America," Jillian said Monday she prayed for the dolphin afterward.

Jillian suffered three puncture wounds to her hand. Her father Jamie, who was with her at the theme park when the dolphin lunged from its pool Nov. 21, described his reaction as: "Instant fear."

SeaWorld officials said in a statement that the safety of their guests is paramount, and they are taking the situation seriously.


Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Ruger1 - 12/4/2012 8:11 AM
2 Votes
vicious...

Ruger1 - 12/4/2012 8:10 AM
3 Votes
it's time to ban these viscous creatures! they are a danger to humans! All dolphins must die! (see how stupid that sounds?)

joedomino - 12/3/2012 9:00 PM
1 Vote
let us see your hand. its important. i'm not going to show it to anybody. that was the funny part. as for the girl, i feel bad for the girl. she's a kid. She didn't intend to harass the dolphin. She only lifted the tray up and tell her mom she's out of fish. Only a second and all it takes. No foul on her part, just a lesson learned. Hope they still had fun. Additionally hope mom and dad, don't get a dime in a lawsuit, except medical coverage and thats it.

GenStarX - 12/3/2012 5:31 PM
5 Votes
While I feel bad that the little girl was bitten, and I'm sure it was quite a scare for her, at the same time... there are rules about feeding the dolphins that tell you to keep the paper food carton on the wall, and the video this parent posted to YouTube shows the little girl holding the food carton in the air and the dolphin lunging for it. Shouldn't her dad (the one causing a big stink about all of this) have been doing his job to watch his kid and making sure that she kept the food container where it was supposed to be? I'm sorry, but if you hold up a fish scented paper carton in the air, where you were just feeding an animal out of said carton, odds are, it is going to draw that animal's attention. If you feed a dog bacon out of a paper towel, and then wave the paper towel in the air, do you think the dog is not going to try and grab this paper towel? When I fed dolphins at Sea World in San Diego, pretty damn near to the ocean, one of the first things they told us, was to keep the fish covered and hold on to the cartons because the seagulls flying overhead WOULD most definitely try and grab the fish from us. So when I did not pay attention to this, and did not cover the container or hold on to it properly, was I shocked when a sea gull swooped down and took off with the ENTIRE carton of fish? No. No, I was not shocked by this...

Canaandogsrule - 12/3/2012 3:44 PM
2 Votes
Why oh why would any sane parent put their child near a wild animal? Got that cute photo for the Christmas cards? Freakin' idiots are probably related to the same dolts I saw in Yellowstone encouraging their child to stand closer to the elk buck who had a very large rack....

Jimkata - 12/3/2012 3:38 PM
2 Votes
Notice where the tray of fish is in the picture?

AFretired2002 - 12/3/2012 2:15 PM
1 Vote
they need to put that dolphin down because it's racist (attacking a white girl)

Anonymous - 12/3/2012 2:05 PM
3 Votes
Instant fear after you decided to put down the phone to help the poor kid.

donoho - 12/3/2012 1:48 PM
8 Votes
This is so typical of the stupid people infesting the nation. They fail to listen to and heed the instructions for what is a wild-animal encounter, and then, in clear violation of instructions, when their child is inadvertently bitten by the animal, they whine and moan. I’ll be amazed if they don’t try to sue Sea World. Geez.

pandalvr1970 - 12/3/2012 1:23 PM
3 Votes
"we're not banking on...." no you're banking on a MEGA $$$$$$. PEOPLE! STOP DOING HUMANLY THINGS WHILE AROUND CAGED ANIMALS, THEY ARE NOT HUMANS, THEY ARE ANIMALS. geesh, another I.D.10.T. family/human doing things that will provoke animals that should be left in the wild to do animalistic things, because they're animals. I hope that the dolphin is not put down nor seperated from it's pod.....
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