{"id":69071,"date":"2025-08-15T01:50:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T01:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/69071\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T01:50:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T01:50:18","slug":"jessica-radcliffe-viral-deepfake-video-of-fake-orca-attack-twists-real-life-tragedy-of-dawn-brancheau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/69071\/","title":{"rendered":"Jessica Radcliffe: Viral Deepfake video of fake orca attack twists real-life tragedy of Dawn Brancheau"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">The insidious nature of deepfake content which causes us to question our own grip on reality has been proven by the latest AI hoax; a video of an orca Whale attacking its trainer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">The series of TikTok <a class=\"css-hwy1qg-StyledTextLink ezegcyi0\" data-link-type=\"article-inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@asmr4ever11\">videos<\/a> \u2014 which have racked up more than 87 million views between them \u2014 show trainer, Jessica Radcliffe, being brutally attacked by an orca whale that is performing in a pool at Pacific Blue Marine Park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Many viewers were deceived by the footage, taking to the comments section to share their condolences and comment on the tragedy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3mk41m-StyledText eze0guv9\">Sign up to The Nightly&#8217;s newsletters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1r9pdr5-StyledSubText eze0guv8\">Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n<p>By continuing you agree to our <a href=\"https:\/\/thenightly.com.au\/subscription-terms\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Terms<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sevenwestmedia.com.au\/privacy-policies\/privacy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cWhy they don\u2019t help and only watch her ?! Why?,\u201d one person asked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cRip to Jessica Radcliffe,\u201d another said, echoing the opinion of many others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">However, there is some tell-tale signs the footage isn\u2019t real, including the fin of the whale morphing into a human leg in one <a class=\"css-hwy1qg-StyledTextLink ezegcyi0\" data-link-type=\"article-inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@asmr4ever11\/video\/7536584831652662542\">video,<\/a> and the other staff members on the side of the pool moving in complete unison.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ac79158ae16695887bde9f807c2c7dabfa2ec2ec.jpg\" alt=\"One sign the videos are AI is when fin of the whale morphs into a human leg.\" class=\"css-16r7l45-StyledImage en5ut4d0\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>One sign the videos are AI is when fin of the whale morphs into a human leg. Credit: TikTok<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">There is no record of a whale trainer called Jessica Radcliffe online, no record of Pacific Blue Marine Park, and a story like this would have made national news.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">The now-viral video unearths the uncomfortable question of how these videos are allowed to be published on social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">According to <a class=\"css-hwy1qg-StyledTextLink ezegcyi0\" data-link-type=\"article-inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/johnbbrandon\/2025\/08\/11\/the-jessica-radcliffe-orca-attack-video-is-fake-but-why-is-it-even-on-tiktok\/\">Forbes<\/a>, the problem can be the viewer because humans are attracted to the sensational.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/f62c790a242fcba36b36f2f79637a74313d5f657.jpg\" alt=\"Dawn Brancheau was a SeaWorld Trainer who was killed by an Orca Whale on Febuary 24 in 2010.\u00a0\" class=\"css-16r7l45-StyledImage en5ut4d0\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>Dawn Brancheau was a SeaWorld Trainer who was killed by an Orca Whale on Febuary 24 in 2010.\u00a0 Credit: Instagram<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">In a dark twist, the video also seems to have been inspired by the real-life tragedy of Dawn Brancheau; the SeaWorld Trainer who was killed by an orca whale, Tillikum, on February 24 in 2010.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\"><a class=\"css-hwy1qg-StyledTextLink ezegcyi0\" data-link-type=\"article-inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dol.gov\/sites\/dolgov\/files\/SOL\/files\/ATLdecisionSeaWorld.pdf\">A report<\/a> from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Commission outlines the details of what happened to Brancheau.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cMs. Brancheau reclined on a platform located just a few inches below the surface of the water. Tilikum was supposed to mimic her behavior by rolling over onto his back, the report stated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cInstead, Tilikum grabbed Ms. Brancheau and pulled her off the platform and into the pool. Ms. Brancheau died as a result of Tilikum\u2019s actions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-9czhig-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Like in the fake video, Brancheau was killed by the orca in the pool while the audience watched on in complete horror.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The insidious nature of deepfake content which causes us to question our own grip on reality has been&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,2331,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-69071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-culture","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}