Once Tilikum had Brancheau in his mouth, he alternated holding on to her by her neck and shoulder and other parts her body. Some witness said he shook her "violently" on occasion. He only came to the surface to breath, avoiding the other trainers who were trying to get control of him. 

The effect the 23-foot-long killer whale had on the 5'7, 123 pound trainer was fully detailed in her autopsy report. The cause of death listed for Brancheau was drowning and traumatic injuries. The animal attack was deemed accidental. 

Per the report, Brancheau was badly bruised, cut, and scraped. Her left elbow and left knee were dislocated. She had multiple broken bones, including ribs, her jaw, and her neck. Her liver had been torn open and her scalp was ripped off. So was her left arm. According to the OCSO report, once SeaWorld workers finally were able to extract Brancheau from Tilikum's mouth, they had to go back and get her arm, her scalp and her whistle from the tank. 

It was a horrifying end to the life of a woman who was fulfilling her childhood dream of working as a SeaWorld trainer. According to Dawn's Foundation, she saw the Shamu show at SeaWorld when she was a child and knew she wanted to become a trainer and work closely with the marine mammals. Brancheau lived her dream for 15 years. She was survived by her husband, Scott.

The New York Times reported that Tilikum died of a bacterial infection on January 6, 2017.

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