SeaWorld

SeaWorld is perhaps the most well known marine park corporation in the world. They own about a third of the world's captive orcas today, and they have a complicated legacy. Today, SeaWorld has three parks, in San Diego California, San Antonio Texas, and Orlando Florida respectively. In the past, they also had a seasonal park in Aurora Ohio, but it has since closed down.

SeaWorld is often seen as the standard of care for captive orcas and other marine life within the industry. Their facilities are advanced compared to other marine parks, but there is always room for improvement, and I believe that there is more they could be doing. To be frank, the bar is not especially high.

Recently, they have introduced live fish and pieces of kelp as part of their animals' enrichment, which I think is great, and I think the animals enjoy that. They are also phasing out their One Ocean show in favor of Orca Encounter, a more educational, ecological look at the species. This is a step in the right direction in terms of the purpose of the orca shows, but the lives of their whales really haven't changed all that much in switching the music and scripts.

SeaWorld has stopped their captive breeding program of orcas specifically, but they still breed dolphins, belugas, and pinnipeds. I think that this needs to stop.

SeaWorld pioneered effective captive breeding and transport, as well as animal husbandry with orcas. Without them, we would probably not know orca as intimately as we do. Nonetheless, I hope that SeaWorld continues to break down barriers and try new things to improve the lives of their whales. This will only happen with continued public pressure.

A lot of SeaWorld's more recent (~2014-present) messaging is attempting to address the concerns of the public. The issues that captive orcas face have become more important to the average consumer recently, and SeaWorld is trying to adapt to that. All of their messaging and language is carefully crafted and chosen. SeaWorld is always trying to emphasize the whale's 'participation' in their daily activities. For example, when the whales' teeth or other anatomical parts are inspected by animal care veterinarians, SeaWorld employees often say that the whales are, quote, "participating in their own healthcare." Meaning, they have choice. They also say that whales have 'access' to different pool areas. This messaging is trying to say that the whales have complete control over their own lives, and that they never have to do anything they don't want to do, which simply isn't true. A trainer at MarineLand Antibes once wrote that "you can't force an 8,000 pound animal to do anything." To an extent, this may be true, but to say that the whale has the power in a whale-trainer relationship is simply false. Who controls the food? Who controls when the whales perform, when they sleep, and when they socialize? Not the whales. It's irresponsible to say otherwise.

Captive whales don't control their own fates. They don't always get to decide if or when they have babies, who they get to spend time with, when they eat, when they are stimulated and when they're not. They don't get to decide when they'd like to have quiet time. They don't always get to decide whether to live or die. They don't have any say at all.

SeaWorld also claims that their whales contribute to scientific studies that aid wild whales in some way. SeaWorld does donate to wild whale research, which I think is really cool, but a lot of their scientific research on orcas feels to me a little bit limp. Any and all 'scientific information' collected on the whales is mostly physical. How much they eat, how big they get, things like that. These are things we knew fifty years ago. Furthermore, captive whales simply don't represent wild ones. They don't feed the same ways, they don't do the same activities, and they don't behave the same. A captive orca is not a valuable representative of a wild one in a social, mental, or behavioral way. Scientists figured out, long ago, that the best way to observe and study wild whales is in their natural habitat. As you can see throughout my other sections, wild whales are defined by their identities; their relationships, and their vocal and food cultures. Captive whales lack these things.

Now, in modern cetology, we are most interested in learning about the whales' behaviors, their relationships, their ecotypal differences. This information frankly cannot be gathered from captive orca.

I have a hard time reckoning with SeaWorld's moral platform. I know that the trainers and employees must care for the whales deeply, and that they are trying to improve their lives. I know that SeaWorld is trying to be more progressive in their animal care. Some people can separate the old SeaWorld and the new. I cannot.

Historically, SeaWorld has wrought so much suffering in the name of profit and performance. They try to move away from that image, but I just can't forget. I can't forget their irresponsible (now dissolved) breeding program. I can't forget their funding of whale captures. I can't forget their mother and calf separations, the simply horrific amount of blood on their hands.

The consequences of the former SeaWorld's actions still ripple out. The Southern Resident killer whales have never recovered to their pre-capture levels, after SeaWorld's Don Goldsberry captured them continuously from 1970-1972. Captive animals are long lived. They still suffer the consequences of being separated and moved, and of poor animal care. SeaWorld says they've changed, but I just don't think they've addressed the outcomes of their behavior, and I don't think they ever will.

Statistics

Captured: December 12th, 1969

Mother: Stripe (d)

Sex: Female

Age: 55

Weight: 8,300 lbs, 3,764 kilos

Length: 20ft, 6 m

Breed: 100% Northern Resident

Maternal Siblings: Ripple, Okisollo (d), Fife (all wild)

Calves: 1977 Calf (d), Spooky (d), 1980 Stillbirth, Kiva (d), 1985 Calf (d), 1986 Miscarriage, 1987 Miscarriage

About Corky

Corky is one of the oldest whales in captivity. She has had seven calves, unfortunately, none of which survived more than about a month. Nonetheless, Corky has maintained maternal instincts and has cared for Orkid, Splash, and Sumar, as well as aided other females in raising their calves. Overall, Corky is not extremely aggressive, but she, as most all captive whales, does have a history. She is known by trainers to be attentive and a sweet whale overall. Due to her age and varying living conditions over her long stint in captivity, it's likely that Corky is at least partially deaf and blind. However, because whales are equipped with sonar, this hasn't debilitated her completely. There has long been a campaign, originally put together by Dr. Paul Spong, to retire Corky to the waters of her birth in British Columbia, where her wild family members still swim. However, this plan would require Corky to be permanently separated from Orkid and Makani, two whales for which she has acted as a surrogate mother, which I think would be cruel. I support rehabilitation and whale sanctuaries more than anything, but I do not wish for whales to be separated from those they are close with.

Corky has two living wild siblings, Ripple and Fife, neither of whom she has ever met because they were born after she was captured. She belongs to A5 pod of A Clan of the Northern Residents. 

Corky has a large, rounded head, a tall straight dorsal fin, and a divot in her chin. 

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

In 1988, Corky was attacked by Kandu V. During the incident, Kandu hit her own head on the tank wall, which broke her jaw and ruptured her maxillary bilateral artery, causing her to bleed out over the course of 45 minutes. Corky, however, was not shown to be aggressive in this instance, but instead the target of aggression. In 1990, Corky pushed a female trainer with her head. She repeated this behavior again in 1994. A bit later, sometime in the early 2000's, Corky prevented a trainer from leaving the water by blocking her exit. In 2006, Corky showed interest in mouthing a trainers hair, but stopped when corrected.

Statistics

Captured: November 19th, 1980

Sex: Male

Age: 44

Weight: 9,570 lbs, 4,340 kilos

Length: 21 ft, 6.4 m

Breed: 100% Icelandic

Calves: Moana and Amaya (d)

About Ulises

Ulises is the largest and oldest male killer whale in captivity today. Like all adult male captive killer whales, his dorsal fin is collapsed, but his is rather unique looking, only collapsed at the top, hook shaped, making him easy to spot. Ulises also has a small notch between what would be his third and fourth fingers on his right flipper.

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

In 1997, Ulises lunged at a trainer. Because Ulises lived in Iceland in a marine park for several years in his youth, there are certain signals that Ulises has misread in the past, leading to missteps by both the whale and the trainer he was working with. However, during these incidences, the whale always remained calm. In 2004, Ulises showed worrying behavior towards a scuba diver in his tank, becoming so interested in the diver that calls and signals could not distract him. Ulises has shown signs of sexual frustration during his time in captivity.

Statistics

Captive born: September 23rd, 1988

Mother: Kandu V (d)

Father: Orky II (d)

Sex: Female

Age: 34

Weight: 7,000 lbs, 3,175 kilos

Length: 19ft, 5.7 m

Breed: 50% Icelandic, 50% Northern Resident

About Orkid

Orkid was one of the first whales ever born in captivity successfully. She is a social and smart whale who knows many trained behaviors and enjoys the company of her tankmates. She has always been known to be challenging to train and work with, due to her clever personality but also her history of aggressive behaviors. Corky II is a maternal figure for Orkid. The whale has never had any calves or known pregnancies, in spite of being artificially inseminated. Orkid is very intelligent and knows over 600 trained behaviors. 

One thing that she did always stuck out to me. Splash, a whale whom Orkid lived with for many years, was epileptic, and suffered seizures on a regular basis. Whenever he seized near a wall or window, he put himself in danger of slamming himself into the structures and causing bodily harm. That is, he would have, if it weren't for Orkid. She routinely placed herself between Splash and the wall to protect him. She had no reason to do this- she did it because she cared. Splash later passed away of his illnesses in 2005.

Orkid has suffered many traumas in her life, which I believe to be contributing factors to her violent behavior. When she was eleven months old she watched as her mother bled out in front of her, in one of the most gruesome killer whale deaths I have ever researched. Orkid was also by her friend, Sumar's side when he died of gastrointestinal disease. She stayed in the medical pool even after had passed and when his body was removed from the scene. Orkid appeared to be very agitated and upset following Sumar's death.

Orkid's dorsal fin is very straight and she has a very round melon. 

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

In 1990, Orkid bumped a trainer with her rostrum. In 1994 Orkid bumped a trainer's leg. In 1996, Orkid mouthed a trainer's leg. The following month, she repeated this behavior and fluked a trainer. Five more months later, she pushed a trainer again. In 1997, she bumped a trainer again. In 1998, Orkid became very occupied with a trainer in a small kayak in her tank, taking the kayak and swimming around with it. Later that year, Orkid was performing at SeaWorld San Diego and a trainer accidentally hit her tail fluke with his hand. Seemingly in retaliation, Orkid hit him back in the chest with her head. She responded to a bridge calmly and did not seem agitated. In 2002, a trainer put her foot into Orkid's mouth. Orkid took her foot and pulled her into the water, pulling her boot off. The trainer was uninjured. A month later, the same behavior repeated itself, with more violent consequences. Orkid and her friend, Splash, pulled a trainer into the water and broke her arm. The trainer was interacting with the whales without a spotter and was putting her foot on Orkid's head, which other trainers say provoked the incident. In 2004, Orkid repeated her thigh bumping behavior. In 2005, Orkid grabbed a trainer's ankle and pulled her down to the bottom of the pool before responding to a call. Two months later, she did it again, this time just dunking the trainer before letting go. Two years later, Orkid grabbed a trainer by the ankle yet again. She held the senior trainer underwater for about 26 seconds before letting go and responding to a call. The trainer was injured but not hospitalized. After this, procedures around whale shows were adjusted, and safety procedures regarding Orkid became tighter. In 2007, during an artificial insemination session, Orkid appeared agitated, and when asked for a slideout behavior, she swiped her head at a female trainer and knocked her down, causing mild injury. In 2010, during non-show times, Orkid was seen going out onto the slideout in the 'Dine with Shamu' area of the park, a behavior she was not asked to do. Park officials worried that this could result in an altercation between a park guest and the whale. SeaWorld has claimed that it will perform structural changes to the area, but such changes have never been implemented.

Statistics

Captive born: February 2nd, 1993

Mother: Kalina (d)

Father: Kotar (d)

Sex: Male

Age: 30

Weight: 8,000 lbs, 3,628 kilos

Length: 19ft, 5.7 m

Breed: 75% Icelandic, 25% Southern Resident

Maternal Siblings: Keto, Tuar, and Skyla (d)

Paternal Siblings: Takara

Calves: Kalia and Halyn (d)

About Keet

Keet has a rather laid back demeanor. Some believe this is because he is or was used to train new employees, making some behaviors sloppy. Others think that he is simply lethargic, which is probably also true. Unfortunately, Keet was separated from his mother, Kalina, when he was only a year old, which is one of the youngest separations I know of. Keet enjoyed spending time with his daughter, Halyn, at SeaWorld San Antonio, before she passed away in 2008. Overall, Keet gets along well with the other whales he lives with. He fills a lower role in the social structure of SWSD. 

Whenever Keet is seen with new rakes or scrapes, I always strongly suspect Kalia. She has been video taped biting and raking him before and I'm sure she still does it. 

Keet's flukes are very folded inward. I'm not sure exactly why this is, but it doesn't appear to be hurting him. Keet also has distinctive rake mark scars on one of his eye patches, which can be identifying. If Keet's dorsal was un-collapsed, you would better be able to see that it is covered in notches. I think that, as his fin has collapsed, the collagen and tissues around it are breaking down, and he is losing small pieces of his fin, particularly off the trailing side. 

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

Keet has never been involved in any documented incidences of aggression towards trainers. He has been photographed with many rakes on his body, probably coming from the more dominant females he lives with at SWSD.

Statistics

Captive born: February 25th, 1993

Mother: Sharkane (d)

Father: Kim II (d)

Sex: Female

Age: 30

Weight: 5,000 lbs, 2,267 kilos

Length: 17 ft, 5.1 m

Breed: 100% Icelandic

Full Siblings: Wikie and Inouk

Paternal Siblings: Valentin (d)

About Shouka

Shouka was the first orca to be born successfully in MarineLand Antibes. This didn't appear to serve her well. She didn't gain weight or grow in length at normal rates during her childhood. It's thought that malnutrition may have contributed to a stunting in her growth, although she appears to be an okay length and weight now, although she is on the small side. In 2002, Shouka moved to a Six Flags park in southern California, where she lived without other orcas for ten years. There, Shouka only had dolphins to socialize with, and so she learned dolphin calls and clicks. Lack of same-species contact probably caused some frustration and loneliness for Shouka. The whale moved to SWSD in 2012, after a law was passed in California which prevented orcas from being housed in isolation from their own species. Shouka socializes well with the other females in San Diego. Shouka is often paired with more experienced trainers because of her past behaviors. She is frequently the star of Orca Encounter in San Diego. 

Shouka has a small notch between what would be her fourth and fifth fingers on her right flipper, and her dorsal fin leans to one side. Shouka is on the smaller side and also has a little mark on her chin. 

Shouka has been photographed with spotty and lesioned skin on her lower jaw before.

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

While she was still at MarineLand Antibes, Shouka struck a trainer with enough force to cause internal bleeding. Sometime after, while still at the French park, Shouka slammed a male trainer into a wall and made a jaw popping motion at him. She did this on at least one other occasion. Shouka also attempted to pull this same trainer off the slideout by the front of his wetsuit, which she grabbed with her mouth. At Six Flags in 2012, Shouka repeatedly lunged at a trainer during a show. Since she was moved to SeaWorld San Diego, the whale has not been involved in any instances of violence toward trainers, suggesting that aggression stems from situational stressors.

Captive born: August 25th, 2002

Mother: Katina

Father: Tilikum (d)

Sex: Male

Age: 19

Weight: 7,200 lbs, 3,265 kilos

Length: 19ft, 5.7 m

Breed: 100% Icelandic

Full Siblings: Unna (d), Taku (d), and Makaio

Maternal Siblings: Kalina (d), Nalani, and Katerina (d)

Paternal Siblings: Nyar (d), Kohana (d), Skyla (d), Malia, Sakari, Kyuquot, Sumar (d), Tuar, Tekoa, and Nakai (d)

About Ikaika

Ikaika was born in Orlando and lived with his mother, father, and brother Taku for the first few years of his life. In 2006, his younger sister, Nalani, was born. Ikaika was observed harassing and attempting to mate with the newborn calf, which prompted his removal from SWO and breeding loan to MarineLand Ontario, in Canada, where he lived with a (likely post-menopausal) female named Kiska for six years. In 2011, SeaWorld sued MarineLand for separating Ikaika and Kiska. Ikaika moved to SeaWorld San Diego in 2012, and has lived there ever since.

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

During the court hearing over the custody of Ikaika between SeaWorld and MarineLand, a SeaWorld official detailed Ikaika's history of aggression. His sexual violence toward Nalani was noted, as well as past pulling and grabbing of trainer's arms and feet. The SeaWorld executive, Liam Casey, said that Ikaika had shown the precursors to fatal aggression, especially because this behavior had not changed. SeaWorld used this as the primary reason that Ikaika should be brought to San Diego; he was not safe in Ontario. 

Statistics

Captive born: December 21st, 2004

Mother: Kasatka (d)

Father: Keet

Sex: Female

Age: 18

Weight: 4,600 lbs, 2,086 kilos

Length: 16ft, 4.8 m

Breed: 87.5% Icelandic, 12.5% Southern Resident

Maternal Siblings: Takara, Nakai (d), Makani

Paternal Siblings: Halyn (d)

Calves: Amaya (d)

About Kalia

Kalia is the dominant female at the San Diego park, filling the role of her mother, Kasatka, after she passed in 2017. She is most often grouped with the other females in the park, as well as her brother, Makani. Kalia was only ten years old when she gave birth to her first and only calf, Amaya, which is really young to breed for killer whales, but Kalia and Amaya benefited from Kasatka's support. It's well known that, in the wild, calves with living, present grandmothers have higher survival rates. This is probably also true, in some circumstances, in captivity.

Kalia has been video taped biting and raking pretty much every male animal at the park excluding her brothers, Nakai and Makani. Keet, her dad, Ulises, and Ikaika have all been victim to really quite aggressive behavior on Kalia's part. In the videos, you see them, especially Ulises, bend themselves to get out of her way, but she makes contact. This is not normal behavior for wild killer whales. Raking is usually a behavior reserved for tussling calves, and is not commonly observed in adult orca. 

Kalia is young for a matriarch, at only sixteen. The whales she presides over are sometimes double her age and size, but she holds firm. 

On August 19th, 2021, when she was six years old, Amaya died. It's unknown how Kalia will react to the death of her calf. 

Kalia has some black dots in her eye patches, which can be used to identify her. Her saddle patch is also a very swooped closed shape. 

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

Kalia has never been involved in any documented violent incidents with trainers. Due to her dominant nature and social placement, it's likely that Kalia rakes some of the other whales in the park.

Statistics

Captive born: February 14th, 2013

Mother: Kasatka (d)

Father: Kshamenk

Sex: Male

Age: 10

Weight: 2,700 lbs, 1,224 kilos

Length: 13 ft, 3.9 m

Breed: 50% Icelandic, 50% Argentinian Transient

Maternal Siblings: Takara, Kalia and Nakai (d)

Paternal Siblings: Kamea

About Makani

Makani was conceived through artificial insemination between Kasatka and Kshamenk. He is the second-youngest whale at SWSD. As he gets older, Makani spends more time with the male whales at the park. When he was young, Makani was often separated from his mom, Kasatka, while she did training exercises. Makani would stay by the gate between them and cry while Kassy worked with trainers. It must have been really awful, for both of them. I can't think of any reason why separating a young calf from his mother would be beneficial to either of them. Kasatka died when Makani was four. Now they'll be separated for the rest of his life. 

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

Makani has never been involved in any documented violent incidents with trainers, nor has he shown inclinations to this behavior. 

Statistics

Captive born: July 9th, 1991

Mother: Kasatka (d)

Father: Kotar (d)

Sex: Female

Age: 31

Weight: 4,700 lbs, 2,131 kilos

Length: 17.3 ft, 5.2 m

Breed: 100% Icelandic

Maternal Siblings: Kalia, Nakai (d), and Makani

Paternal Siblings: Keet and Keto

Calves: Kohana (d), Trua, Sakari, Kamea, and Kyara (d)

About Takara

Takara is the matriarch of the San Antonio park. Takara lived with and was very close to her mother, Kasatka, for the first fourteen years of her life, before they were separated, Kasatka staying in San Diego and Takara, with her young daughter Kohana, bound for the Orlando park. They were never reunited. Takara has given birth to five calves. Kohana at SeaWorld San Diego with Tilikum via artificial insemination, then Trua at SeaWorld Orlando with Taku. She became pregnant with Sakari by Tilikum naturally in Orlando before being moved to San Antonio, where she gave birth to Sakari in 2010. She then had Kamea via artifical insemination with Kshamenk in 2013, from Buenos Aires, and had Kyara in 2017 by Kyuquot naturally. Kyara died three months later from a bacterial infection. Today, Takara lives with Sakari and Kamea. Takara has a birthmark on her chin which makes her easy to identify. She is a small whale for her age.

There are many stories about Takara, but one that has always stuck out to me is about her and Sakari. I'm paraphrasing, but former trainer John Hargrove wrote about it in his book. When a baby whale is born, their natural instinct is to immediately begin swimming. Being still is a learned behavior, and it takes several weeks for them to master. This is a useful survival skill in the wild, but in captivity, it was futile. At this time, Takara was also nursing the newborn Sakari. For over two weeks, Takara continually swam and nursed her calf. She almost never stopped moving. Trainers had to stand by the side of the pool and toss fish into her mouth as she passed by. She was very dedicated to the survival of Sakari, her third calf, even as she swam continually for weeks, completely exhausted by the end. To me, this story is both monotonously sad, but it also speaks to Takara's character. 

Takara means 'treasure' in Japanese.

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

In the 1990s, Takara slammed a gate that a trainer was walking across, in attempt to knock her off. The trainer was able to catch herself, and another trainer redirected the whale. In 1995, she swam over a surfaced trainer, a behavior she was not asked to do. In 1999, Takara came out at a trainer on a slideout.  In 2008, Takara, most likely accidentally, while doing a spin on a slideout, hit a trainer with her fluke/penduncle and knocked her down.

Statistics

Captive born: December 24th, 1991

Mother: Haida II (d)

Father: Tilikum (d)

Sex: Male

Age: 31

Weight: 9,300 lbs, 4,218 kilos

Length: 22 ft, 6.7 m

Breed: 100% Icelandic

Paternal Siblings: Taku (d), Sumar (d), Tuar, Tekoa, Nakai (d), Ikaika, Makaio, Nyar (d), Unna (d), Kohana (d), Skyla (d), Malia, and Sakari

Calves: Kyara (d)

About Kyuquot

Kyuquot is a very large whale. He was born at SeaLand of Victoria before he and his mother and father were transferred to SeaWorld parks. Ky lived in Orlando before being transferred to San Antonio. Kyuquot has had one calf with Takara, Kyara, who passed away at three months of age in 2017. 

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

Twice, once in 2003 and again in 2004, Kyuquot has prevented trainers from leaving the water and/or refused to respond to calls and signals. These behaviors, however, did not seem aggressive; I believe they were performed out of fear. Kyuquot is not a dominant animal, and it's thought that he was, at some points during his life, grouped with females who raked him. These behaviors then, may have been a panic response. Kayla especially seemed to cause this response in Ky. Takara, the matriarch he lives under now, seems to get along with him better, although she is still a dominant animal in a captive space. 

Statistics

Captive born: June 22nd, 1999

Mother: Kalina (d)

Father: Tilikum (d)

Sex: Male

Age: 23

Weight: 7,000 lbs, 3,175 kilos

Length: 19ft, 5.7 m

Breed: 75% Icelandic, 25% Southern Resident

Full Siblings: Skyla (d)

Maternal Siblings: Keet and Keto

Paternal Siblings: Nyar (d), Unna (d), Kohana (d), Malia, Sakari, Kyuquot, Taku (d), Sumar (d), Tekoa, Nakai (d), Ikaika, and Makaio

About Tuar

Tuar spends most of his time with his tankmate and half brother, Kyuquot, as male orcas tend to gravitate towards each other. Tuar was unfortunately separated from his mother, Kalina, and is now under Takara as the San Antonio matriarch.

Recently, Tuar has been photographed with red eyes.

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

In his youth, when a trainer was retrieving an object from his mouth, Tuar clamped down on the trainer's arm. He has also swam over surfaced trainers. After his move to San Antonio, Tuar began a repeated pattern of opening his mouth and snapping at trainers, and was placed on special watch regarding training. In 2007, Tuar bit down on a trainer's leg repeatedly during a performance, but no injury was sustained.

Statistics

Captive born: January 7th, 2010

Mother: Takara

Father: Tilikum (d)

Sex: Female

Age: 13

Weight: 3,100 lbs, 1,406 kilos

Length: 14 ft, 4.2 m

Breed: 100% Icelandic

Full Siblings: Kohana (d)

Maternal Siblings: Trua, Kamea, Kyara (d)

Paternal Siblings: Nyar (d), Unna (d), Skyla (d), Malia, Kyuquot, Taku (d), Sumar (d), Tuar, Tekoa, Nakai (d), Ikaika, Trua, and Makaio

About Sakari

Although conceived in SeaWorld Orlando, Sakari was born in San Antonio, and has lived there all her life. Being the daughter of the matriarch, Sakari has a dominant place in the social order of the park. Sakari means 'sweet one' in Inuit. 

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

Sakari has never been involved in any documented violence or worrying behaviors towards trainers.

Statistics

Captive born: December 6th, 2013

Mother: Takara

Father: Kshamenk

Sex: Female

Age: 9

Weight: 2,000 lbs, 907 kilos

Length: 12 ft, 3.6 m

Breed: 50% Icelandic, 50% Argentinian Transient

Maternal Siblings: Kohana (d), Trua, Sakari, and Kyara (d)

Paternal Siblings: Makani

About Kamea

Kamea is the product of artificial insemination between Takara and a solitary whale named Kshamenk, who resides in Buenos Aires. Kamea is the youngest whale at SeaWorld San Antonio. Kamea was present directly after the birth of her sister, Kyara, who passed away in 2017. Kamea has small birthmarks on her lower jaw, which make her identifiable.

Kamea is a Hawaiian name derived from King Kameamea, a Hawaiian monarch.

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

Kamea, like many young whales, has never been involved in any documented instances of violence or misbehavior toward trainers.

As of January 16th, 2021, the male whales, Makaio and Trua, have been reunited with the females, Katina, Nalani, and Malia, when they had been previously separated to prevent mating. This separation appears to increase the stress of all the animals. All of these whales are somewhat related to each other, so any breeding would be incestuous. Additionally, SeaWorld no longer breeds killer whales, so if any of the whales became pregnant, the backlash would be serious. 

Statistics

Captured: October 26th, 1978

Sex: Female

Age: 46

Weight: 5,400 lbs, 2,449 kilos

Length: 18 ft, 5.4 m

Breed: 100% Icelandic

Calves: Kalina (d), Katerina (d), Taku (d), Unna (d), Ikaika, Nalani, and Makaio

About Katina

Katina is the matriarch of the Orlando park, and throughout her four decade long stint in captivity, has always been a dominating presence. She is also the most successful breeding female to ever live in captivity, having given birth seven times to healthy calves. Today she lives with just two of them, Nalani and Makaio, although she is sometimes separated from Makaio within the park. Katina, in her dominance, tends to rake the adult males she is placed with.

Katina's first calf was Kalina, by Winston in 1985. Kalina was the first killer whale calf to be born in captivity and survive, and she was nicknamed Baby Shamu. Kalina went on to have four calves before dying in 2010. Katina's next calf, by Kanduke, was Katerina, born in 1988. She died when she was eleven years old. In 1993, Katina gave birth to Taku, her first male calf, by Tilikum. Taku died in 2007, but before then he sired a calf with his own mother, Nalani, who I'll mention in a moment. Katina's next calf was Unna, born in 1996, later died in San Antonio at 18 years of age. Katina then had Ikaika with Tilikum, then Nalani with her own son Taku. This type of inbreeding never occurs in the wild. Its unclear whether or not SeaWorld allowed or encouraged this, or whether the animals did it of their own volition. Katina's seventh and final calf is Makaio, born in 2010 by Tilikum once again. 

Katina is a territorial and dominant animal. 

Katina has a large triangular notch at the base of her dorsal fin, which can be used as an identifier. This notch has been formed pretty recently, and its not known how she attained it. Her fin also leans to one side. 

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

Recently, Katina has formed a round lesion on her right eye patch and has shown rake marks, unusual for a dominant female. It's unclear whether she will recover from these injuries or if they will be ongoing. 

Throughout her life, Katina has had repeated instances of mouthing, bumping, and pushing trainers, but none of these have ever resulted in human injury.

Statistics

Captive born: November 23rd, 2005

Mother: Takara

Father: Taku (d)

Sex: Male

Age: 17

Weight: 5,500 lbs, 2,494 kilos

Length: 18 ft, 5.4 m

Breed: 100% Icelandic

Maternal Siblings: Kohana (d), Sakari, Kamea, and Kyara (d)

Paternal Siblings: Nalani

About Trua

Trua is Takara's second calf, and was born at the Orlando park before Takara was moved to San Antonio, when Trua was just five years old. Trua has always enjoyed spending time with the other male animals he's been grouped with over the years, which, these days, is mostly Makaio.

After his mother, Takara, was transported out of Orlando, Trua was placed with Kayla. Kayla frequently raked and bit Trua during shows. She recently passed away in 2019. Recently, Trua was video taped swimming up to the glass viewing area and forcefully slamming his head into the glass in front of visitors. This could easily cause him injury or damage his hearing or teeth. If this behavior is chronic, Trua could easily give himself life threatening injuries. 

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

In the past, there have been video accounts of Trua being nervous around the older male in the Orlando park, Tilikum, but no injury ever occurred. Trua was frequently bitten and raked by Kayla before she died in 2019. Trua has never been involved in any documented violent incidents with trainers. 

Statistics

Captive born: September 18th, 2006

Mother: Katina

Father: Taku (d)

Sex: Female

Age: 16

Weight: 4,200 lbs, 1,905 kilos

Length: 16 ft, 4.8 m

Breed: 100% Icelandic

Maternal Siblings: Kalina (d), Katerina (d), Unna (d), Taku (d), Ikaika, and Makaio

Paternal Siblings: Trua

About Nalani

Nalani is one of the younger females at the Orlando park. Nalani is proven to be at least 25% inbred, which would make her the most inbred captive killer whale in the world. Her father, Taku, was also her brother, as both of them shared Katina as a mother. Inbreeding between mothers and sons has never been documented in wild killer whales. It's not exactly known if Nalani has health issues stemming from her genetics. Nalani's teeth, especially her front 20, are very worn down and drilled. Day to day, Nalani spends most of her time with the other two female whales in Orlando, her mother Katina, and her friend Malia. 

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

When Nalani was a newborn, her older brother, Ikaika, chased and harassed her, attempting to mate with her. This prompted Ikaika's move to SeaWorld San Diego. Nalani has never been involved in any documented incidences of violence toward trainers. 

Statistics

Captive born: March 12th, 2007

Mother: Taima (d)

Father: Tilikum (d)

Sex: Female

Age: 16

Weight: 4,500 lbs, 2,041 kilos

Length: 17 ft, 5.1 m

Breed: 75% Icelandic, 25% Bigg's Transient

Full Siblings: Sumar (d) and Tekoa

Paternal Siblings: Kyuquot, Taku (d), Tuar, Nakai (d), Ikaika, Makaio, Nyar (d), Unna (d), Kohana (d), Skyla (d), and Sakari

About Malia

Malia's mother, Taima, always had a difficult time raising calves, probably due to a lack of role models. Malia was Taima's last live calf, and she seemed to fare best with her, probably because the two were also grouped with Kalina and Katina, experienced mothers. Malia has otherwise shown herself to be very social, being grouped with all the whales in the Orlando park over the years at some point. Malia lost her mother when she was three years old, and was raised by Kayla, and Katina at different times during her life. Malia sometimes appears to be harassed by Katina and Nalani. When separated by sex, this means she's all alone. Malia seems to do well with Makaio and Trua when they are allowed to be together. All in all, the group does best when they are all together. 

Additionally, Malia has a genetic disposition to uterine prolapse, which is what killed her grandmother Gudrun and her mother Taima. Should Malia ever fall pregnant, which is unlikely but not impossible, it could be life threatening for her.

In video tapes taken of her, Malia has shown jaw popping and logging behavior, common in captive whales, and known signs of boredom or frustration.

Malia is suffering from severely poor dentition. She can be identified by a notch in her dorsal fin. 

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

Malia has never been involved in any documented violent incidents toward trainers. 

Statistics

Captive born: October 9th, 2010

Mother: Katina

Father: Tilikum (d)

Sex: Male

Age: 12

Weight: 2,800 lbs, 1,270 kilos

Length: 13 ft, 3.9 m

Breed: 100% Icelandic

Full Siblings: Unna (d), Taku (d), and Ikaika

Maternal Siblings: Kalina (d), Katerina (d), and Nalani

Paternal Siblings: Nyar (d), Kohana (d), Skyla (d), Malia, Sakari, Kyuquot, Sumar (d), Tuar, Tekoa, and Nakai (d)

About Makaio

Makaio is the youngest whale at SeaWorld Orlando, and was Katina's last calf before SeaWorld halted their breeding program. Makaio spends most of his time with the other male at the park, Trua. It seems that he is not allowed to spend much time with his mother, Katina, as the male and female whales are separated from each other in Orlando at different times. He is still young, and he has little bitty pectoral fins. Makaio has begun to undergo dorsal collapse. This being a degenerative phenomenon, it will only become more pronounced as his fin continues to grow.

Aggressive Incidents & other injuries

Makaio, as is the case with many younger animals, has never been involved in any documented incidences of violence towards trainers.