A woman filed a lawsuit after she said she was hit by a duck while she rode the Mako roller coaster at Sea World, but the theme park’s lawyers said it wasn’t a duck at all.
WFTV reported that SeaWorld’s legal team was instead hit by a Snowy Egret.
“This matter does not and has never involved a duck,” the parks’ lawyers wrote in a court filing.
Hillary Martin sued SeaWorld, saying the park had created a “zone of risk” by building a coaster near where birds congregate.
The park called her accusation speculative and without legal basis.
“The duck’s presence in the air, away from the alleged water source, negates any plausible relationship between Sea World’s premises and Plaintiff’s alleged injury,” SeaWorld’s attorney wrote, according to WFTV. “Martin’s event, by its own description, could have occurred regardless of the presence or absence of any body of water within the park, and it still would not have been Sea World’s legal responsibility.”
They also said that she had refused medical treatment because she didn’t want to take time away from the park. She did receive treatment the next day, SeaWorld’s lawyers said.
The park’s lawyers are asking that the lawsuit be thrown out, saying it had no legal responsibility for the Egret since it didn’t control the bird.
A Snowy Egret feeds in shallow waters and lives on coasts, shorelines, freshwater wetlands, lakes, ponds, rivers and saltwater wetlands. They can be found in Florida, California, the Great Lakes, New England and other parts of North America, according to the Audubon Society.
They are between 20 and 27 inches, or about the size of a mallard, Herring Gull or heron, the society said.
Martin’s attorneys did not respond to a request from WFTV for a comment.
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