A heartbreaking footage captured the unimaginable attack on Spanish orca trainer Alexis Martinez, which left many disturbed.

The 28-year-old had been working with orcas at Loro Parque’s Orca Ocean in the Canary Islands when the tragic incident occurred. Martinez was killed by an orca named Keto during a Christmas show rehearsal on December 24, 2009. Tragically, this event occurred just two months before another fatal attack, when orca trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed by an orca after 14 years of service.

According to Martinez’s partner, Estefanía Luis Rodriguez, Martinez had expressed concerns about the behavior of the killer whales in the weeks leading up to the attack. She mentioned that he had noticed the whales becoming more disobedient, disruptive, and aggressive.

Keto, the orca responsible for Martinez’s death, was a 6,600-pound male killer whale born in captivity at SeaWorld in 1995. At the time of the attack, Keto was on loan to Loro Parque from SeaWorld and had never seen the ocean.

The tragedy unfolded when Martinez attempted to perform a stand-on spy hop, a trick where the trainer balances on the orca as it rises out of the water. However, Keto leaned to one side, and according to another trainer, the orca appeared to intentionally position himself between Martinez and the stage.

Martinez was instructed to slowly move to another pool while other trainers used methods that had worked with the orcas in the past, but Keto refused to comply. Instead, he used his rostrum (the tip of his snout) to push Martinez down and violently played with his body.

Eventually, the trainers were able to regain control of the orca and retrieve Martinez’s body. However, he had suffered severe injuries, including internal bleeding, which ultimately led to his death.

The post-mortem report revealed that Alexis Martinez had died from “grave injuries sustained by an orca attack, including multiple compression fractures, tears to vital organs, and bite marks on his body.”