{"id":69810,"date":"2025-12-03T17:01:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T17:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/69810\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T17:01:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T17:01:08","slug":"duck-did-not-hit-a-woman-riding-a-seaworld-roller-coaster-but-another-bird-did-wftv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/69810\/","title":{"rendered":"Duck did not hit a woman riding a SeaWorld roller coaster \u2014 but another bird did \u2013 WFTV"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 A woman who claimed she was knocked out by a duck<\/a> while riding SeaWorld\u2019s Mako roller coaster earlier this year was not, in fact, hit by a duck, SeaWorld said in a court filing.<\/p>\n

The park operator said Hillary Martin was hit by a Snowy Egret, a bird described by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission as a \u201csmall and active wading bird that can reach a height of 26 inches [that] commonly prefer shallow estuarine areas, including mangroves, shallow bays, saltmarsh pools, and tidal channels.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis matter does not and has never involved a duck,\u201d Sea World\u2019s attorney wrote.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the park said its investigation of Martin\u2019s claims found she refused medical treatment because she did not want to be held up, and she wanted to continue enjoying her day at the park. They said she was treated for her bird strike the next day.<\/p>\n

Sea World is now asking a judge to throw Martin\u2019s lawsuit out, saying the park has no legal responsibility for the Egret\u2019s actions since it had no control over the bird. Its filing cited several past legal cases involving birds and an alligator.<\/p>\n

Sea World also swatted down Martin\u2019s claim that the park created a \u201czone of risk\u201d by building a roller coaster near a body of water where ducks \u2014 or Egrets \u2014 congregate, calling the accusation speculative and conjecture with no legal basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe duck\u2019s presence in the air, away from the alleged water source, negates any plausible relationship between Sea World\u2019s premises and Plaintiff\u2019s alleged injury,\u201d Sea World\u2019s attorney wrote. \u201cMartin\u2019s event, by its own description, could have occurred regardless of the presence or absence of any body of water within the park, and it still would not have been Sea World\u2019s legal responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sea World said it alerted Martin\u2019s attorney to its findings. A hearing has been scheduled for December 8.<\/p>\n

Martin\u2019s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n

\u00a92025 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 A woman who claimed she was knocked out by a duck while riding SeaWorld\u2019s Mako…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[6982,19576,19577,696,19578,19579,17781,104,11758,12641,19580,14819,28,2884,19581,19582,16783,2890,19583,11765,19584,19585,19586,139,141,140,2894,105,3032,992,6653,600,4829,19587,19588,15989,2043,2745,19589,3577,857,19590,2544,19591,19592,2393,1316,19593,10189,107,19594,1265],"class_list":["post-69810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-activity","tag-adventure","tag-amusement","tag-blue","tag-coaster","tag-enjoy","tag-enjoyment","tag-entertainment","tag-entrance","tag-equipment","tag-exciting","tag-fast","tag-florida","tag-fun","tag-good","tag-having","tag-horizontal","tag-joy","tag-leisure","tag-logo","tag-loop","tag-looping","tag-mako","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-outdoor","tag-outdoors","tag-park","tag-people","tag-rail","tag-recreation","tag-ride","tag-roller","tag-rollercoaster","tag-scary","tag-seaworld","tag-shark","tag-sharks","tag-sign","tag-sky","tag-smooth","tag-structure","tag-thrill","tag-thrilling","tag-time","tag-tourism","tag-tourist","tag-track","tag-travel","tag-upside","tag-vacation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}