He apparently failed to perform several of his moves correctly – still seeming calm at this point – while floating on the surface of the pool with the trainer.
Staff have since claimed that on that tragic day, Keto appeared to have deliberately positioned himself between his trainer and the stage.
At this point, the underwater stage call came and Martínez began swimming, with Keto leaning into him.
A trainer other than Martínez then began using controls that always worked with the killer whales. However, Keto did not respond and continued to push Martínez to the bottom of the pool using his rostrum – a protrusion at the tip of a whale’s mouth that functions like a beak.
Orca Ocean assistant supervisor Rafael Sanchez said in his testimony to investigators (via The Sun): “The animal in question moved towards him and hit him and violently played with his body.”
Realizing the situation was becoming critical, the trainer observing the incident began using several more signals to get the orca under control.