Was Orca Trainer Jessica Radcliffe Really Attacked and Does She Even Exist? The Viral Story, Debunked

When the 2013 documentary Blackfish was released, millions of people were made aware of the issue of the condition of orcas and other sea animals held in captivity for the sake of entertainment, like at SeaWorld. In the documentary, there is real footage of trainers being attacked. So when a video went viral on TikTok of an alleged trainer named Jessica Radcliffe being attacked, many felt it was akin to what they had seen in Blackfish.

But what happened to orca trainer Jessica Radcliffe? In a video that has made the rounds on the app, a trainer is in the water with an orca at a sea life park, though it's unclear if it is SeaWorld or another park. She performs tricks with the orca until things turn deadly, and the orca attacks and eats her. But did that actually happen, and is the trainer even a real person?

There are a couple of different videos of the orca trainer making the rounds on TikTok. In one video, a trainer flies through the air and goes back down into the water before performing other tricks with the orca. She is later attacked by the animal, but at one point, she seems to disappear altogether behind the orca, which drew some red flags for viewers who called out the video as pure AI-generated content.

In another, shorter video, you see the same trainer who is, presumably, the Jessica that people are worried about. But in this video, paramedic vans are already stationed near the tank, and immediately after the attack happens, other trainers jump in the water. Again, it looks pretty inauthentic as far as actual orca attacks and reactions from witnessing trainers go.

So far, there has not been a confirmation that the orca attack footage and trainer Jessica are even real. It's unclear who made the video and shared it on TikTok, or who came up with the potentially computer-generated trainer named Jessica, but it looks like no trainer by that name who was attached exists. According to International Business Times, the trainer and orca video is nothing but a hoax. Without proof of who Jessica is, it's hard to debunk that theory.

After the footage, which some believe to be AI-generated, made the rounds on TikTok, users commented with differing opinions of what they saw. Under the longer TikTok with the alleged orca attack, one user commented that animals should not be kept in captivity. Another wrote that "there is no credible evidence of a trainer by that name being attacked by an orca."

But that doesn't mean others who believe the attack happened don't have reason to think that it's possible. In one real attack, detailed by The Whale Sanctuary Project, SeaWorld Orlando trainer Dawn Brancheau was dragged into the pool by orca Tilikum. She was attacked, drowned, and killed by the whale. Prior to that, Tilikum had attacked two other people, both of whom died.

The alleged orca trainer, Jessica, appears to be a victim of a similar attack during a show involving a pool with a large audience watching. But the footage looks largely AI, and even the voice-overs in some of the videos sound much more computer-generated than human.