Tilikum retuned to SeaWorld show, performs flawlessly

March 31, 2011 at 5:41a.m.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)

The killer whale that drowned a female trainer at Orlando's SeaWorld flawlessly performed Wednesday for the first time since last year's death, wowing thousands amid heightened safety that included a steel bar protecting the orca's trainers.

Tilikum participated without incident in the marine park's signature "Believe" show for the first time since dragging 40-year-old Dawn Brancheau from poolside by her pony tail and drowning her during a performance Feb. 24, 2010.

Trainers on the platform stood Wednesday behind the stout metal bar shaped as an inverted "U" that was designed to prevent a whale from coming up out of the pool and biting and dragging a trainer into the water.