'Your work is a piece of s**t': Teen marine animal trainer, 19, trolled by Olympic silver medallist Taylor McKeown and called a 'joke' for working with dolphins 

• Dolphin sanctuary staffer Xanthe King says she was trolled by Taylor McKeown
• The 19-year-old worked for three years at Dolphin Marine Magic in Coffs Harbour 
• McKeown called her an 'animal user,' 'a piece of s***' and said she was 'a joke' 
• The park has come under fire in the past for having 47-year-old dolphin perform

A teenage marine animal trainer claims she was trolled online by Olympic silver medallist Taylor McKeown and called an 'animal user' for her work with dolphins - which saw the swimmer's animal activist followers bombard her with abuse. 

Xanthe King, 19, worked at Dolphin Marine Magic in Coffs Harbour, NSW for three years and helped care for and train the five bottle-nose dolphins born in captivity at the park.

Although Ms King no longer works at the facility, McKeown made multiple comments on her Instagram account last month and told her she has 'no respect for animals'. 

The Olympic silver medal winner in the women's 4X100 medley relay is also known for her passionate activism against the slaughter of dolphins and whales - and even has a dolphin tattoo.

'Your work is a piece of s**t, I don't give a f**k about how you weigh fish and pretend you're doing the right thing. 3 years is f*** all experience and you're a joke,' McKeown wrote.

'Mate, I have dignity for people who have respect, and you have no respect for animals therefore I have no respect for you.  

'You're so sheltered into buying the whole bull**** the company sells you that you actually believe dolphins are ok in captivity'.

Ms King told Daily Mail Australia she often receives abuse from protesters, but when McKeown told her tens of thousands of followers she had 'abused animal' she was viciously trolled.

The 19-year-old said the Olympic swimmer started tagging her in her Instagram story and commenting on her photos, saying she was an 'animal user'.

'I messaged her to ask her to stop harassing me but she kept tagging me incessantly and all her followers were doing it too,' Ms King said.

When she sent messages to McKeown telling her to stop the abuse, she called the teenager a 'hypocrite' and denied bullying her.

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, McKeown said she had 'done nothing wrong'.

'If you don't want your name to be on the internet, don't have social media and furthermore don't have your profile on public,' the swimmer said.

'I targeted (employees) because they need to know what they are doing.

'They are supporting animal cruelty! And it's my job as a role model to speak out when something isn't right, and what they do to those dolphins isn't right'. 

Ms King said the trolling from animal activists continued for several weeks until she put her Instagram on private to avoid further public comments.

Over the past three years, Dolphin Marine Magic has been slammed by conservationists, who claim the five captive dolphins are overworked and unfairly forced to 'kiss' visitors.

Activists are furious that Bucky, one of the six dolphins who is still alive at the park according to its website, is still forced to perform, despite being 47 years old.

But CEO of Dolphin Marine Magic, Paige Sinclair, said the animals 'need enrichment'.

'The work that they do is what gives our guests the greatest pleasure; the ability to inspect, connect and touch and then possibly change their behaviour at their homes when they go home,' she said. 

McKeown, a passionate advocate for marine animal freedom, said dolphins at the marine park in Coffs Harbour are essentially held as 'prisoners' for tourist pleasure.

'The science demonstrates that dolphins suffer stress, anxiety and early death in captivity,' she said.

'They display behaviours such as chewing on parts of the tank, circling, aggression towards humans and other dolphins, beaching themselves and logging, all of which aren't displayed in the wild'.

Ms King said she has been attacked by protesters on many occasions, the worst ending in rocks being hurled at her and human faeces smeared over her car in the shape of a dolphin. 

She told Daily Mail Australia despite what the animal activists believe, the dolphins are 'happy' in their home at the North Coast marine park.

Ms King left the park after three years to pursue a university degree, but said she would happily return to Dolphin Marine Magic, despite the trolling.  

'The harassment never made me want to leave it just made me more passionate about educating these people about how we do treat the dolphins at the park,' she said.