SeaWorld invents what for killer whales??? A treadmill, that's what

IT'S something you would expect to see in a gym. It's certainly not something you'd never expect to see at SeaWorld. So what have they rigged up for the killer whales?

SeaWorld's potential Killer Whale Treadmills wouldn't look at all like this, but it's kind of fun to imagine they would. Mind the cord.

A TREADMILL.

Yes, we're not kidding. SeaWorld Orlando is reportedly in the process of constructing a Killer Whale treadmill.

Why? Because the theme park has received a bunch of bad press - including a documentary - in recent years thanks to a number of deaths caused by a six-ton, 22-foot male whale called Tilikum. The whale killed three people, including its top trainer.

Dawn Brancheau drowned in 2010 when Tilikum, who is SeaWorld's largest killer whale, grabbed her hair with its teeth and pulled her under the water.

"It was scary," Dutch tourist Susanne De Wit, 33, told investigators, according to outsideonline.com. "He was very wild."

Whale trainer Dawn Brancheau is shown performing at SeaWorld Adventure Park in Florida, 2005.

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The treadmill, therefore, is hoped to keep SeaWorld's whale population happy and healthy.

According to theme park website micechat.com, the business is in the process of investigating whether the device would make any difference in the daily lives of the marine creatures and says it would be "whale vandal safe".

"Feasibility studies and 3D modeling were conducted for a device which would create water flow speeds up to 30 miles (approx 1.5km) per hour, essentially simulating the sensation of endless swimming."

SeaWorld's first park opened in 1964 and has copped criticism for its poor maintenance and construction of their habitats. But it's not the only one involved in poor practices.

Animal activist group PETA said tanks are "kept clean with chemicals that have unknown side effects" and described shocking instances of animal cruelty, including dolphins at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium who were "unable to open their eyes, and their skin began to peel off".

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