An investigation was under way at a theme park in Florida yesterday after a captive dolphin was injured fatally while performing an aerial stunt for tourists.

Sharky suffered head injuries when she collided mid-air with a younger dolphin as they jumped and flipped in front of visitors at Discovery Cove in Orlando. She died soon afterwards.

“It's extremely sad and unfortunate, and although this was a unique incident it's something we take very seriously,” Becca Bides, a spokeswoman for the sealife park, said. “We are reviewing the situation to ensure that this cannot happen again.”

The accident happened as 30-year-old Sharky took part in a “Swim with Dolphins” encounter at the park, which is owned by the brewer and theme park operator Anheuser-Busch.

Sharky and another dolphin, a 13-year-old male named Tyler, were performing tricks — which the park owners refer to as “aerial behaviours” — over deep water in the middle of a 145ft (45m) lagoon as a small group of tourists stood in the shallows. One of the pair misjudged a leap during the routine, which they have performed together hundreds of times.

Trainers swam to Sharky and brought her to shallow water. Tyler was not badly injured, and was under veterinary supervision yesterday.

Unlike Orlando's other bustling theme parks, Discovery Cove limits the number of visitors to only 1,000 a day to keep the setting intimate. Visitors pay $289 (£145) to lounge on beaches, snorkel over coral reefs teeming with fish and stingrays, and swim past shark tanks built to resemble shipwrecks.

The highlight is a 30-minute dolphin encounter, in which children and adults can pet the animals, learn about their habits and be towed through the water while holding their dorsal fin.

Animal rights advocates say that some of the dolphins — including Sharky — were captured from the wild, and that captivity represents a “death sentence” for marine mammals because it subjects them to stressful and inappropriate conditions.

Several groups have campaigned against Discovery Cove and its sister park, SeaWorld, which keeps performing killer whales, or orcas. They say that visitors are helping to promote the suffering of marine mammals.

The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida said: “In their natural habitat, dolphins can live to be 50 years old and orcas can sometimes live for more than 90 years. In sharp contrast, more than half of all dolphins at SeaWorld and other marine parks die within the first two years of captivity; the remaining dolphins live an average of only five years.”

Ms Bides said: “The animals are a part of our family and their safety is very important to us. If they don't want to do something, it's up to them. The trainers don't ever force them.”

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