List of captive orcas

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This article gives a partial list of captive orcas, or Killer Whales, large predatory marine mammals that were first captured live and displayed in exhibitions in the 1960's, and soon became popular attractions at public aquariums and aquatic theme parks due to their intelligence, trainability, striking appearance, playfulness in captivity and sheer size.^[1] As of April 2009, 42 orcas are held captive at facilities in North and South America, Europe and Japan, providing entertainment for the theme park visitors.^[2]

Contents 1 North Eastern Pacific captures 1.1 Corky 1.2 Kanduke 1.3 Lolita 1.4 Namu 2 Icelandic captures 2.1 Gudrun 2.2 Kandu V 2.3 Kasatka 2.4 Katina 2.5 Keiko 2.6 Tilikum 3 Orcas born in captivity 3.1 Ikaika 3.2 Kalina 3.3 Kayla 3.4 Keet 3.5 Kohana 3.6 Sumar 3.7 Taku 3.8 Taima 3.9 Trua 3.10 Unna 4 References 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] North Eastern Pacific captures

The first North Eastern Pacific orca was captured in November 1961 by a collecting crew from Marineland of the Pacific, and over the next 15 years, around 60 or 70 Killer Whales were taken from Pacific waters for this purpose.^[3]

[edit] Corky

Corky (II) is a female orca from the A5 Pod in British Columbia, Canada. She currently lives at SeaWorld San Diego in California. Corky became the first Orca to become pregnant and give birth in captivity. With her first calf, nobody even knew she was pregnant. On February 28, 1977, the first calf to be born alive in captivity was born at Marineland to Corky and Orky. The calf was a male and died after eighteen days. Corky went on to give birth six more times, but the longest surviving calf lived only a total of 47 days.^[4]

In 1989, the dominant Orca at the park, Kandu V, attempted to "rake" Corky, showing dominance by forcefully scratching with her teeth. Kandu charged at Corky, attempting to rake her, she missed and continued swimming into the back pool, where she ended up ramming the wall, rupturing an artery in her jaw.

Corky is easily identified thanks to her tall, straight dorsal fin, her pointed eyepatches, and her large size for a female. She also tends to swim upside down in the pools. Corky is now approximately 40 years old, about middle age for an orca. She has lived in captivity for almost 37 years, the second longest period of captivity of any orca.^[5] Calls to release her have been heard since the early 1990s.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11]}

[edit] Kanduke

Kanduke was captured from T pod in British Columbia, Canada, in August 1975. When captured, he was about 14 ft long and weighed about 2,600 pounds, which made him about 4–5 years old. His mother is thought to be T 7. He was sent to Sealand, Victoria, and then sold to Marineland, Canada. In January 1987, he was sold and moved to SeaWorld Orlando. While at Marineland, he did water work with his trainers, but once at SeaWorld he was described as a "moody and unpredictable" whale and the water work stopped. At SeaWorld Orlando, Kanduke often fought with a younger Icelandic male named Kotar. The aggression became increasingly serious. After an incident in which Kotar bit Kanduke's penis and caused an infection and show cancellations, the exhibitors decided to move the smaller whale to the newly opened SeaWorld San Antonio.^[12]

[edit] Lolita

Lolita, originally known as Tokitae, is an Orca at the Miami Seaquarium. She was a member of the L-25 pod. When about six years old she was captured on August 8, 1970 at Penn Cove, Puget Sound, off the coast of Washington, and is now the oldest captive Orca. The Penn Cove capture became controversial due to the large number of wild Orcas that were taken (seven) and the number of deaths that resulted: four juveniles died, as well as one adult female who drowned when she became tangled in a net while attempting to reach her calf.

Lolita does not live with any other orcas. She vocalizes in captivity, in the unique calls used only by her pod. She is still apparently healthy. She is a large Orca, measuring 22 feet and weighing 7,500 pounds. Since Lolita arrived at the Miami Seaquarium, she has lived in their Whale and Dolphin Stadium, where she performs 1–2 shows daily. Lolita is the subject of the documentary Lolita: Slave to Entertainment released in 2008.^[13] Various groups consider that Lolita should be released into the wild.^[14][15][16]

[edit] Namu

Namu was only the second orca captured and displayed in an aquarium exhibit, and was the subject of a film that changed some people's attitudes toward orcas. In June 1965, William Lechkobit found a 22 foot (6.7m) male orca in his floating salmon net that had drifted close to shore near Namu, British Columbia. The orca was sold for $8,000 to Ted Griffin, a Seattle public aquarium owner.^[17] Namu was an extremely popular attraction at the Seattle aquarium and Griffin soon captured a female orca to be a companion for Namu. The female, whom Griffin named Shamu, did not get along with Namu, however, and Shamu was eventually leased to SeaWorld in San Diego. Namu survived one year in captivity and died in his pen on July 9, 1966.^[18]

[edit] Icelandic captures

When the US Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 effectively stopped the capture of Pacific orcas, most subsequent captures were made in Icelandic waters.^[19]

[edit] Gudrun

Gudrun was an Icelandic female Orca who lived at Dolfinarium Harderwijk in the Netherlands^[20] and at Sea World Orlando in Florida. Gudrun was caught close to the coast of Iceland in the 1970s. She was kept in captivity in the Dolfinarium Harderwijk in the Netherlands, where she was the main attraction. In 1987, Gudrun was moved to SeaWorld Orlando in Florida, United States. Gudrun gave birth to Taima on 11 July 1989 at 16:45 EST during a thunderstorm. Gudrun gave birth to Nyar in 1993. Nyar suffered with illness often. She was so both mentally and physically ill, it was reported that Gudrun tried to drown her during several shows. Nyar died from an illness a few months later in April. Gudrun died in 1996 from stillbirth-complications.^[21]

In 1982, Gudrun was the subject of an experiment in two-communications, designed to see if she could learn new words and incorporate them into her vocabulary.^[22]

[edit] Kandu V

Kandu V was a dominant female Icelandic Orca, caught in 1977 and kept at SeaWorld San Diego in California. In August 1989, she struck a newcomer Orca, Corky II, with her mouth during a live show. The blow severed an artery near Kandu V's jaw, and she began spouting blood. The crowd was quickly ushered out, and after a 45-minute hemorrhage, Kandu V died.^[23]

[edit] Kasatka

Kasatka is a female Orca who lives at SeaWorld San Diego. She was captured off the coast of Iceland on October 26, 1978, at the age of one year. Her name probably comes from the Russian word Kasatka (Russian: Кaсатка), a generic name for Orcas. She is 5 m (17 feet) long and weighs around 2.4 tonnes (5,400 pounds). Kasatka became a grandmother for the first time when her daughter Takara gave birth to her first calf, a female born May 3, 2002, named Kohana. Takara gave birth a second time, on November 23, 2005, to a male named Trua in SeaWorld Orlando. Kasatka was separated from Takara and Kohana on April 24, 2004, when they were moved to SeaWorld Orlando.^[24]

Kasatka has shown aggression to humans. In 1993 Kasatka tried to bite a trainer during a show, and again in 1999.^[25] On November 30, 2006, Kasatka grabbed a trainer and dragged him underwater during their show. The trainer escaped with his life and was later in good condition despite being underwater for a "brief" amount of time.^[26]

[edit] Katina

Katina is a female who lives in SeaWorld Orlando. She was captured near Iceland at about two years of age on October 26, 1978. She is healthy and the most successful breeding female Orca in captivity. At 16 feet 4 inches and about 5,600 pounds, Katina is small compared to other females, but she is rather bulky.

Upon her capture, Katina was purchased by Marineland (Ontario). In 1979, Katina was bought by SeaWorld and was sent to their park in San Diego. In 1982, Katina was moved to Sea World Ohio in Aurora, Ohio with another female named Kasatka, with whom she was captured in 1978. For two years, the two would perform in the Ohio park during the summer months and then be moved back to San Diego for the winter. Finally, in 1984, Katina was transferred to the SeaWorld in Orlando.

Katina became pregnant in early spring of 1984 at SeaWorld San Diego from a male named Winston. Soon after, she was moved back to Sea World Ohio for the summer. The trainers soon realized she was pregnant, so she was moved to Orlando at the end of the summer season, where she gave birth on September 26, 1985 to a female who was named Kalina. Although ten Orca calves had been born in captivity prior to Kalina, none had survived past a few weeks. Kalina was the first Orca calf to be successfully born and raised in captivity. Kalina was taken from her mother at 4 years 5 months and conducted on a trip around all four SeaWorld parks.^[27]

In early 1987, an adult male named Kanduke arrived in Orlando. He and Katina soon mated. Katina bore her second calf on November 4, 1988, a female named Katerina. In early 1991 at a very early age Katerina was transferred out of Orlando. Katerina died on May 5, 1999 at SeaWorld San Antonio at 10.5 years of age. A male named Tilikum came to SeaWorld in January of 1992. It wasn't long before Katina was pregnant again. She gave birth to her first son on September 9, 1993, named Taku. Katina's next calf came on December 27, 1996, a female named Unna. Her fifth calf was a male born on August 25, named Ikaika. Unna, Ikaika, and Taku were all fathered by Tilikum. Katina gave birth to her sixth calf, a female named Nalani, on September 18, 2006. The calf appears to be in good health and is now appearing in shows with Katina.^[28]

Katina is an excellent performer and is very reliable, putting on performances daily. Katina is sweet-natured and patient and has never been involved in any incidents with handlers. Being the matriarch of the Orcas, Katina is rather dominant. She can sometimes, although rarely, be stubborn and refuse to perform. When this happens, usually all of the other Orcas follow suit. Katina only lives with two of her six calves (Kalina and Nalani) and one of her grandchildren (Trua). She is always with her calf, but is also with Takara and Trua quite often. She is grouped with Taima, Trua, Malia, Nalani, Kayla and occasionnaly Kalina.^[29]

[edit] Keiko

Keiko (1977 – December 12, 2003) was an orca who starred in the first of three Free Willy movies. Keiko died on December 12, 2003 from pneumonia in the Taknes Fjord. Keiko was captured near Iceland in 1979 and sold to the Icelandic aquarium in Hafnarfjörður. Three years later, he was sold to Marineland Canada, where he first started performing for the public and developed skin lesions indicative of poor health. He was then sold to Reino Aventura (now named Six Flags Mexico), an amusement park in Mexico City, in 1985. He was the star of the movie Free Willy in 1993.

The publicity from his role in Free Willy led to an effort by Warner Brothers Studio to find him a better home. Donations from the studio and Craig McCaw led to the establishment of the Free Willy Keiko Foundation^[30] in February 1995. With donations from the foundation and millions of school children, the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon spent over US $7 million to construct facilities to return him to health with the hope of returning him to the wild. He was airlifted by UPS to his new home on January 7, 1996, weighing 3500 kg (7720 pounds). During his years in Oregon, he gained over a ton in weight.

On September 9, 1998, he was flown to Klettsvik Bay in Vestmannaeyjar in Iceland, and gradually reintroduced to the wild, returning to the open sea in July 2002. Keiko died from pneumonia on December 13, 2003. He had become lethargic and had a loss of appetite. He beached himself in the morning and died aged 27 years. Following requests from fans of the orca and Free Willy, the Oregon Coast Aquarium held a memorial service for him on February 20, 2004. 700 people attended the service, at which the aquarium's veterinary chaplain said, "Keiko was not one of our kind, but nonetheless was still one of us." There is a memorial site for Keiko set up by the locals in Halsa, Norway, where the famous orca spent the last year of his life.^[31]

[edit] Tilikum

Tilikum, sometimes misspelled Tillikum, is a bull Orca who lives at SeaWorld Orlando. He was captured near Iceland in November 1983 at about two years of age. Tilikum measures 22 feet 5 inches long and weighs in at 12,220 pounds (as of 2007). His pectoral fins are six and one half feet long, his massive flukes curl under, and his 6-foot-tall dorsal fin is flopped completely to his left side, and weighs close to 500 pounds. He is the largest Orca in captivity and also the most successful sire in captivity, with 13 offspring, 10 of which are still alive. His name means friend in Chinook Jargon, usually spelled Tillicum and also meaning "people/tribe" or "kin".

Tilikum was first sent to live at Sealand of the Pacific near Victoria, British Columbia. There, he lived with two older females named Haida II and Nootka IV. While living in British Columbia, Tilikum sired his first calf when he was about eight or nine years old. His first son, Kyuquot, was born to Haida II on December 24, 1991. Just a few months prior to the birth of Kyuquot, Tilikum was involved in an incident which resulted in the death of a trainer. Twenty-year-old Keltie Byrne, who worked at the park, slipped and fell into the tank with the whales. Tilikum, a pregnant Haida II, and Nootka IV grabbed her in their mouths and tossed her to each other, presumably playing. Keltie drowned. The orcas had never had humans in the water with them before. Haida II and Nootka IV were overprotective of the newborn calf and aggressive towards Tilikum, who was forced into the small medical pool. Because of his huge size, Sealand staff requested an emergency transfer. Tilikum was moved to SeaWorld Orlando, Florida in January 1992; he has been there ever since. Sealand of the Pacific closed soon thereafter.

Since his arrival at SeaWorld, Tilikum has sired many calves with many different females. His first calf, born in Orlando, was to Katina. Katina gave birth to Taku on September 9, 1993. Tilikum's other calves are: Nyar (born 1993, died 1996), Unna (1996), Sumar (1998), Tuar (1999), Tekoa (2000), Nakai (2001), Kohana (2002), Ikaika (2002), Skyla (2004), Kalia (2004), and Malia (2007). In 1999, Tilikum began training for artificial insemination (AI). In early 2000, Kasatka who resides at SeaWorld San Diego was artificially inseminated using his sperm. She gave birth to Tilikum's son, Nakai, on September 1, 2001. On May 3, 2002, another female in San Diego, named Takara, bore Tilikum's calf through AI.

Tilikum was at the scene of another death on July 6, 1999, though evidence suggests the Orca was not at fault. A park guest, 27-year-old Daniel Dukes, was found floating naked in Tilikum’s pool, apparently killed by a combination of hypothermia and drowning. Dukes had visited SeaWorld the previous day, stayed after the park closed, and evaded security to enter the Orca tank.

Tilikum no longer takes part in water work with trainers, not due to aggression, but because he doesn't realize his own strength. Tilikum is the feature of the show "Believe" where the audience and trainers chant "Shamu" as Tilikum soaks the audience.^[32]

[edit] Orcas born in captivity

A growing number of theme-park orcas have been born in captivity. Nakai, the first orca conceived through artificial insemination was born to Kasatka, at the SeaWorld park in San Diego in September, 2001.^[33] This technique lets park owner maintain a more healthy genetic mix in the small groups of orcas at each park, while avoiding the stress of moving orcas for breeding purposes.^[34]

[edit] Ikaika

Ikaika (pronounced ee-KY-ka which means "strong" in Hawaiian) is a male Orca born at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida on August 25, 2002. He is the offspring of Tilikum (father) and Katina (mother), making him Katina's fifth calf. To decide the name of the new born whale a poll was taken. The following names were chosen to be on the poll: Ikaika (Hawaiian for "strong"), Mottaka (Icelandic for "reception"), Ramu (in honor of the late whale by that name), Tsunami (Japanese for "tidal wave") and Ramius (after the Captain in "The Hunt for Red October").

Ikaika no longer lives at Seaworld Orlando, Florida but was transferred to Marineland (Ontario) Ontario, Canada on a breeding loan. His move was on November 18, 2006 in exchange for three male beluga whales — Juno, Aurek, and Klondike — whom joined Spooky within the Wild Arctic area.^[35]

[edit] Kalina

Kalina is a female Orca, born on September 26, 1985 at SeaWorld Orlando, the first captive Orca calf to survive more than few days. Kalina's mother is an Icelandic female named Katina, and her father, Winston (also known as Ramu III) was a Pacific Southern Resident, making Kalina an Atlantic/Pacific hybrid — a unique situation that would not have occurred in the wild. Kalina measures 17 feet, 9 inches and weighs approximately 6,300 pounds.

Kalina first appeared in shows at SeaWorld Orlando in 1987, billed as "Baby Shamu", performing with her mother. On February 12, 1990, Kalina was transferred to SeaWorld Ohio. She was moved again in October of that year to SeaWorld San Diego, and again on May 30, 1991 to SeaWorld San Antonio. In October 1994, Kalina was moved back to SeaWorld Orlando, where she currently lives with eight other killer whales, including her mother and a half sister.

Kalina gave birth to her first calf, a male named Keet, on February 2, 1993 at Sea World San Antonio. Kalina was only seven and a half years old at the time of Keet's birth — an extremely young age for an Orca to become a mother. Kalina became pregnant again shortly after Keet's birth, and was moved back to SeaWorld Orlando in October 1994, where she gave birth to her second calf, another male, Keto on June 17, 1995. She gave birth to another male, Tuar, on June 22, 1999. Kalina bore her fourth calf and first successful daughter, on February 9, 2004, named Skyla. Kalina is a gentle whale, learns quickly, and is used a lot in shows. She is used as a "starter whale" for new trainers. She has never shown any signs of aggression towards her trainers or other orcas. Currently, Kalina can be seen swimming with Taima, a female orca, and Malia, Taima's calf and the youngest orca at Orlando.^[36]

[edit] Kayla

Kayla is a female born on November 26, 1988 at SeaWorld San Antonio. Her parents were Kenau and Orky II, both now deceased. Kayla is about 18 feet long and weighs about 6,000 pounds. Kayla only lived with her mother for the first two and a half years of her life. Kenau was moved to SeaWorld Orlando in January 1991, and Kayla was moved to SeaWorld Ohio in April 1991. Kayla lived there for the next eight years with another young female, named Katerina, who was just three weeks older than her. After Katerina was moved out, another much older female named Winnie was moved in.

In November 1999, Kayla and Winnie were both transferred to SeaWorld San Antonio. Kayla and Winnie joined a female named Haida II and her son Kyuquot. A young male named Keto arrived in March 2001. Haida II died on August 1 of that year, making Winnie the new dominant female. Winnie died on April 11, 2002. Kayla became the new dominant Orca in the stadium and has been so ever since. After the death of Winnie, only three whales were left in the park: Kayla, Kyuquot, and Keto. A young female by the name of Unna was moved to the park in December 2002 to settle down Kyuquot and Keto, because the two maturing males were constantly fighting over Kayla. Kayla was the dominant female at SeaWorld San Antonio, since her arrival in 2002. In November 2006, Kayla was transferred to Sea World Orlando leaving behind a mate Keet, and their daughter Halyn was raised by Unna immediately after Kayla's transfer. Once Kayla arrived, she immediately gave up her dominant role to Katina, who has been the dominant female there since 1988.

Kayla gave birth to her first calf on October 9, 2005, a female named Halyn. Halyn was moved to a special animal care facility to be hand raised. Kayla likely rejected her calf because she had never been exposed to a young calf before and did not know how to deal with it. Halyn lived in Animal Care in a different part of the park, and in May joined her SeaWorld Orca family at Shamu Stadium. Halyn's father is Keet. On June 15, 2008, Halyn died unexpectedly.^[37]

Kayla is gentle and affectionate, loves attention and is willing and quick to learn and please. Kayla can do many high-agility behaviors very well. Trainers do water work with her often. Kayla gets along well with all of the Orcas, but used to spend most of her time with Keet and/or Unna when she was at SeaWorld San Antonio. Since Kayla is an experienced performer, she is frequently used in Believe.^[38]

[edit] Keet

Keet is a bull Orca who was born on February 2, 1993 in SeaWorld San Antonio, where he still resides. The word "Keet" means orca in the Tlingit language. His parents are Kalina and Kotar. Keet currently measures about 18 feet and weighs 6,000 pounds. Keet is also known as Grandbaby Shamu because his mother is the first Orca to be born and raised under human care successfully.

When he was 1 year and 8 months of age, his mother was moved to SeaWorld Orlando in Florida to support her next pregnancy, Keet's brother Keto in 1995. Katerina, his aunt, was moved in from SeaWorld Ohio. In 1995, his father, Kotar, died. On May 5, 1999, Katerina died. Five months later, two females named Kayla and Winnie were moved in. In November 1999, he was moved to SeaWorld San Diego in California. There, he met his brother, Keto, and his playmate, Sumar. All three whales were moved to SeaWorld Ohio in February 2000. On February 15, 2001, Keet was returned to California; Sumar followed three days later, while Keto was relocated to SeaWorld San Antonio in Texas. Keet's best friends were the bull Ulises and a maturing male named Splash. On April 24, 2004, Keet was moved to his birth place, meeting Kyuquot, Unna, Kayla, Keto, Tuar, and Tekoa. He is mostly with Kayla and Keto and also doing very well.

Keet is a gentle and wonderful performer. On December 21, 2004, he became a father for the first time when Kalia, his daughter, was born at Sea World San Diego. On October 9, 2005, his mate Kayla gave birth to his second daughter Halyn, at SeaWorld San Antonio. Keet is the lowest ranking adult orca in the dominance chain at Seaworld Texas. He is very sweet and is often used as a "starter whale" for new trainers along with a younger male named Tuar. On June 15, 2008, SeaWorld announced Halyn died unexpectantly, in which a necropsy will be performed and test results will be announced soon. ^[37]

[edit] Kohana

Kohana is a female born at SeaWorld San Diego on May 3, 2002. She was the second orca to be conceived through artificial insemination. Her parents are Takara and Tillikum. On April 25, 2004, Kohana and her mother were moved to SeaWorld Orlando. On February 13, 2006, Kohana was moved to Loro Parque in Spain with three other Orcas: Tekoa, Keto, and Skyla. Kohana is a vibrant and playful whale. She often floats at the acrylic glass to interact with visitors. She is intelligent and eager, and learns quickly.^[39]

[edit] Sumar

Sumar is a male Orca born at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida on May 14, 1998. His mother is Taima and he is her first calf. Just six months after birth, an incident happened when, during a show, his mother attacked him, pushing him against the glass, trying to make him fall. The crowd was evacuated and the show canceled. The trainers tried to move Taima to another tank and finally separated her from her son. Since then, the two of them have been always separated and Kalina and Katina became his surrogate mothers until he was transferred to SeaWorld San Diego in California on March 8, 1999. Afterwards, he spent a few months at now-closed SeaWorld Ohio before being transferred back to the San Diego park. There, he was mothered by Corky II.

He is very gentle with other Orcas^[40] and trainers. He spends a lot of time with Nakai. However, the dominant female Kasatka has a tendency to pick on him time to time. He is one of three males currently at the park, and is seen as a possible breeding male in the future; Nakai, the younger male, is still too young to breed, and the older male Ulises seems to have a low sperm count and has failed all times to impregnate a female. Sumar is approaching full size for a typical bull orca: his dorsal fin is more and more leaning to its left, and it will not be long before its completely collapsed, his flukes are beginning to curl under. He is about 4.6 m (15.3 feet) long and weighs around 5,300 lbs. He is often used frequently for shows.^[41]

[edit] Taku

Taku was a male Orca, who was born at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida. After birth, Taku spent most of his time with his mother Katina or Nyar, his half-sister. Three years later, Katina gave birth again to a female, Unna. On August 25, 2002, Katina gave birth to her fifth calf: a male, Ikaika. Unna was later moved to SeaWorld San Antonio in December 2002. Afterwards, Ikaika and Taku bonded to the point where Ikaika swam in mother-calf-position with Taku. On November 18, 2006 Taku was moved to SeaWorld San Antonio whereas Ikaika was moved to Marineland Canada in Ontario.

When Takara and her daughter Kohana arrived at SeaWorld, Taku immediately began showing an interest in her. Visitors were commenting on Taku's persistence in following Takara and Kohana everywhere after their arrival. Things settled down and Takara began to tolerate Taku's company. She would often initiate contact with him by swimming with him or rubbing. Takara soon became pregnant. On November 23, 2005 around 21:50 EST (4:50 PM), Takara went into labor with her second calf. Her daughter Kohana was at her side. An hour later around 22:22, Takara gave birth to a male calf (Taku's son/first calf) who was later to be named Trua.

Taku died unexpectedly on October 17, 2007, at the age of 14 and weighing over 7000 lbs and at 22 feet long. Trainers were notified that Taku had been acting differently the Wednesday before his death. A necropsy was performed, and after a long awaited report that took longer than 6 weeks, it was determined that Taku had passed away from a sudden case of pneumonia, a common illness among captive orcas.^[42][43]

[edit] Taima

Taima is a transient/Icelandic hybrid female Orca who lives at Sea World Orlando in Florida. Her name means crash of thunder in the Icelandic language.^[44] She was born tail-first around 16:45 EST during a thunderstorm.

Taima was born on July 11, 1989 to mother Gudrun and father Kanduke. In 1990, Kanduke died at the age of 20 from a stomach ailment; Gudrun gave birth to Taima's half-sister Nyar in 1993. Nyar suffered frequent illness and it was reported that Gudrun tried to drown her during several shows. Trainers believe that this confused Taima, as she witnessed this and thought this was how to raise a calf. She was later reported to have performed this on her own calves, Sumar, Tekoa, and Malia. Gudrun died in 1996 from stillbirth complications, and Nyar died from an illness a few months later in April.

On May 14, 1998, Taima gave birth to a male calf named Sumar. They were separated when he was about eight months old because of the aggression between them. On one occasion while performing, Taima started biting Sumar, and throwing him out of the pool, onto the trainer’s platform. She then slid out herself and started biting him. The show was stopped, and Taima was pulled to the other swimming pool. A few months later Sumar was transferred to SeaWorld San Diego in California.

On November 8, 2000, at 3:47 pm, Taima gave birth to a male named Tekoa. He began feeding overnight and was estimated to be 7 feet (2.2 m) long and weigh 350 pounds (159 kg). During the birth, Kalina assisted Taima and helped the calf to the surface for its first breath. The two were separated after only nine months due to aggression between them. It was reported that Tekoa was swimming with Katina and Taima began to display signs of aggressive dominance and went after Tekoa. Katina, the dominant female at the park, became involved by trying to protect Tekoa. Taima then attacked Katina whom was pregnant at the time, which caused her immense physical and psychological stress nearly causing a miscarriage. Tekoa was sent to SeaWorld San Antonio in 2005, and was later sent to Loro Parque in Spain in February 2006. After Tekoa's attack, Taima was separated from all other whales except Tilikum, until she gave birth again in 2007.

Taima became pregnant again in early 2006 and gave birth to her third child and first daughter, Malia, on March 12, 2007. Though many became worried after noticing bumps and scratches on Malia's body, especially one particularly noticeable that appeared a month later on her melon, Taima has proved to be a very nurturing and mature mother to Malia. There have been no reported incidents between mother and calf. Malia was shortly introduced to her father Tilikum, and the three performed together within a few months of Malia's birth. Across the next two years, Taima and Malia have been introduced to all the other whales except for Katina. She was first housed with Takara and Trua for over a year, in which Taima began to act up and stop shows, and then later met Kayla and was reintroduced to Kalina. These new social opportunities also affected Taima's former tankmate Tilikum, who more recently has been grouped with his grandson Trua and Trua's mother Takara. With the departure of Takara, Taima has been reintroduced to Katina and they have been doing fairly well. She even allows her calf, Malia, to swim with another adult female whale named Kayla.

[edit] Trua

Trua is a male Orca born at SeaWorld Orlando on November 23, 2005. His parents are Takara and Taku. Takara and Kohana had just been moved to SeaWorld Orlando when she and Taku met. At the time of Trua's birth, Kohana was by Takara's side and thus acted as the midwife. Trua currently lives at Sea World Orlando with seven other orcas: Katina (matriarch), Tilikum, Kalina, Kayla, Taima, Nalani, and Malia.

Trua, now almost three years old, is a very vibrant and playful whale. He is very interactive and has recently been learning water works. Trua is a very intelligent and eager whale, in which he learns quickly. Trua and Takara, his mother, could usually be seen performing in almost every show together, since they are almost inseparable. In February of 2009, Takara was moved to SeaWorld San Antonio.

[edit] Unna

Unna is a female Orca. She was born on December 27, 1996 at SeaWorld Orlando. Her parents are Katina (mother) and Tilikum. She is Katina's fourth calf and also Tilikum's, and was the second calf to be born to the pair. Unna lived with her mother, father, siblings, and other whales at her birthplace in Orlando for the first six years of her life. In August 2002, Katina gave birth to her fifth calf, a male named Ikaika. Unna was there to assist her mother during the labor. In December 2002, Unna was transferred to SeaWorld San Antonio because the park only had three whales at the time: two males who were fighting over one female. In late April 2006, Unna gave birth to a stillborn calf. Unna recovered well from her stillbirth.^[37] She currently lives with three other whales. She is the dominant female, and the second oldest.^[45]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Shamu
• Keiko, the star of the 1993 movie Free Willy
• SeaWorld
• Famous Orcas

[edit] External links

• Orca Spirit: Site dedicated to Orcas
• SeaWorld Florida Family
• Pictures of Kayla