In 2010, at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla., tragic incidents occurred involving an adult male killer whale named Tilikum who killed an experienced marine mammal trainer, Dawn Brancheau, in addition to two other human deaths. As a result, the government banned trainers from entering into the water with the whales, and fined SeaWorld for violating workplace safety laws. On Tuesday, November 13, SeaWorld fought back against the government ruling.

The court documents filed by attorneys for SeaWorld state that "close contact with killer whales is essential to the product offered by SeaWorld, and is indeed the primary reason trainers and audiences have been drawn to SeaWorld for nearly 50 years."

Under the ruling, trainers are still allowed to be near the whales, as long as there is a protect barrier that separate them from the mammals. Eugene Scalia, a lawyer for SeaWorld, argued saying that the ban on contact is like, "if the federal government came in and told the NFL that 'close contact' on the football field would have to end."

However, Chief Judge Merrick Garland responded asking if the helmet "totally change[d] the nature of the presentation of the NFL?"

The government lawyers are firm going against the close contact. The legal briefs state "forty-plus years of history at the SeaWorld parks have yielded occasion after occasion where captive killer whales have not responded as their trainers intended."

Earlier today, SeaWorld said in a statement: "The safety of zoological staff and the welfare of our animals are SeaWorld's highest priorities. SeaWorld animal care and training professionals have worked safely with and around killer whales for nearly five decades. The techniques in husbandry, veterinary care, and training that we have developed for killer whales over that span are a model for marine mammal facilities worldwide. Close contact with these animals is critical to providing a safe environment for our zoological staff and appropriate care for SeaWorld animals."