#seaworld ohio
Gender:Male
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of Florida
Date of Capture: Born June 17, 1995
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: Loro Parque Tenerife, Spain
On June 17, 1995 captive born female Kalina gave birth to her second calf at just 9 years old at SeaWorld Orlando. The calf was a male named Keto sired by the Icelandic male Kotar.
However, Keto only stayed at the Orlando park for little more than 3 years before being transferred to the San Diego park in 1999 where he met his older brother, Keet. In April of 2000, Keto was moved again to the park in Aurora, Ohio with his brother Keet and another male named Sumar.
Keto was moved once again in February of 2001 to the San Antonio park where he grew very close to the female named Kayla, and would reportedly fight with a male named Kyuquot over her. He was reunited with his brother Keet in 2004, but in February of 2006, Keto and 3 other young whales were transferred to Loro Parque in Spain. The four were sent on a breeding loan and therefore are owned by SeaWorld; though they were scrutinized for the move, as Keto, Kohana, Tekoa, and Skyla are all related.
The combination of these relatively young whales also presented a problem in terms of social structure, as the group lacked a dominant matriarch and still does. This has led to aggression issues between the whales, and sometimes aggression towards trainers. However, Keto had already been displaying issues with trainers before his move to Loro Parque.
In September of 1998 he pushed his trainer around the pool, open mouthed, and swam into another trainer open mouthed in both March of 1999 and August 2002, as well as snapping at his trainer during a training session in December 1999. Keto’s aggression seemed to escalate, however, on December 24, 2009.
During a 10:30am training session for the Christmas Special, 29 year old trainer Alexis Martínez was struck and killed by Keto. At first, it was said that Alexis had drowned due to being unconscious and held underwater for several minutes. The autopsy revealed that Alexis’ death was actually more violent, and went on to state that he suffered multiple cuts and bruises, the collapse of both lungs, fractures to the ribs and sternum, a lacerated liver, severely damaged vital organs, and puncture marks consistent with the teeth of an Orca.
The autopsy concluded that the immediate cause of death was drowning due to fluid in the lungs, but that the fundamental cause was “mechanical asphyxiation due to compression and crushing of the thoracic abdomen with injuries to the vital organs”, meaning that Keto had to have slammed into Alexis with enough force to cause Alexis’ chest to cave in.
Eerily enough, Alexis’ death occurred exactly two months prior to the death of senior SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau who was killed on February 24, 2010 by the Icelandic male Tilikum. Being a SeaWorld trainer, Dawn’s death seemed to get much more publicity than Alexis’ death, and the incident between Alexis and Keto was quickly swept under the rug for the most part.
In October 2010, Kohana gave birth to the first calf to be conceived at Loro Parque. The calf, known as Adán, was sired by Keto who is Kohana’s uncle. Kohana rejected Adán due to her never learning proper mothering skills, requiring staff to bottle feed Adán instead.
In 2012, Kohana gave birth to hers and Keto’s second calf, a female named Victoria, or Vicky for short. Once again, Kohana rejected her calf, forcing staff to separate the pair and bottle feed her. Unfortunately, Vicky died at just 10 months old.
Today, Keto is 19 years old and currently resides at Loro Parque.
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Gender:Male
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of Texas
Date of Capture: Born February 2, 1993
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: SeaWorld of California
On February 2, 1993, captive born female Kalina gave birth to her first calf at just 8 years old at the SeaWorld San Antonio park. The calf was a male, later known as Keet, sired by the Icelandic male, Kotar. Keet’s birth marked him as the very first second generation calf to be born in captivity.
However, just 18 months after his birth, Kalina became pregnant with her second calf. To support her pregnancy, Kalina was moved to the Orlando park in 1994, leaving Keet alone at the Texas park. After Kalina’s move, Keet apparently became depressed until befriending the other resident whales at the park, including Haida II, Katerina, and Kyuquot.
In November 1999, Keet was moved to the San Diego park where he met many other whales, including his younger brother Keto. He remained here for about 6 months until being moved in April 2000 to the now defunct park in Aurora, Ohio with Keto and another male named Sumar, where they stayed until Sumar and Keet were moved back to the San Diego park in February 2001.
During his second stay at the San Diego park, Keet impregnated the Icelandic female Kasatka, but was moved back to the San Antonio park in April 2004. In December of 2004, Kasatka gave birth to Keet’s first calf, a female later named Kalia.
The following year, Keet sired his second calf with a female named Kayla at the San Antonio park. Unfortunately, Kayla rejected the calf, a female later named Halyn, resulting in staff having to separate the pair and bottle-feed Halyn.
When she was older, Halyn was introduced to Keet and the two got along well and kept each other company; Halyn would even perform in shows with Keet. Unfortunately, Halyn died in June 2008 and in February 2012, Keet was moved back to the San Diego park for a third time. Keet is also believed to have been the sire of a female named Unna’s stillbirth in 2006, as well as Kayla’s miscarriage in 2007.
Today, Keet is 22 years old and still resides at the San Diego park. He became a grandsire in 2014 when Kalia gave birth to her first calf, a female named Amaya.
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Gender:Female
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of Texas
Date of Capture: Born on November 26, 1988
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: SeaWorld of Florida
On November 26, 1988, Icelandic female Kenau gave birth to her second calf, a female sired by the Northern Resident male Orky II, at SeaWorld San Antonio.
In 1991 at only three years old, Kayla was transferred to the Aurora park with another young female named Katerina. Kayla’s mother, Kenau, died that same year on August 6 after being moved to the Orlando park in January and suffering a miscarriage.
Katerina and Kayla preformed at the Ohio park alone until 1994 when an adult female named Winnie took Katerina’s place, while Katerina was transferred to the San Antonio park where she remained until her death in 1999.
Kayla and Winnie were moved to the park in 1999 just after Katerina’s death, where they met the dominant female Haida II who ended up sharing dominance with Winnie. It was only until after both Winnie and Haida II died that Kayla took over the role as dominant female. When a male named Keet arrived in 2004, Kayla grew close to him and soon became pregnant by him.
On October 9, 2005, she gave birth to her first calf, a female named Halyn, at the San Antonio park. Unfortunately, due to being separated from her mother at such a young age, Kayla never learned how to care for or raise a calf, and rejected Halyn immediately, reportedly even becoming aggressive towards her. The two were forced to be separated, and Halyn was hand reared by SeaWorld staff. Halyn spent a lot of time in the company of her father, but she suddenly died in June 2008.
Kayla had been transferred to the Orlando park in 2006 where staff apparently hoped that she would learn mothering skills from the older, more experienced females but she suffered a miscarriage sometime in 2007. Since then, despite attempts to impregnate Kayla, she has been unable to conceive another calf.
Apart from her short history as a mother, Kayla has also bee involved in a number of incidents with trainers. She often refuses separations and has come out at trainers on several occasions. In October 2006, Kayla lunged at a male trainer, making contact and throwing him several feet.
In 2013, a video surfaced of a family’s visit to SeaWorld in 1995 while Kayla and Winnie were still together at the Aurora park. In the video, the whales do not seem to be cooperating with trainers. Around the 2-minute mark, Kayla can be seen attempting to propel herself onto the slide out to get closer to the crowd, but does not have enough momentum. She slides back into the pool before propelling herself onto the slide out and over a barrier wall with her head within reach of small children in the audience, who reach out to touch her. A staff member quickly moves to clear the area before Kayla slides back into the water and returns to trainer control.
Today, Kayla is 26 years old and resides at the Orlando park.
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Gender:Male
Pod: N/A (Mother was Taima)
Place of Capture: Captive born
Date of Capture: Born May 14, 1998
Age at Capture: Captive born
On May 14, 1998, captive born female Taima gave birth to her first calf, a male named Sumar, sired by Tilikum at SeaWorld Orlando.
However, months after his birth, Taima began to attack Sumar and act unusually aggressive towards him. As a result, the two were permanently separated. Other females at the park, Katina and Kalina, reportedly cared for him until he was transferred to the San Diego park in March 1999.
Corky II, who by this time had already experienced the death of all 7 of her calves, became a surrogate mother to Sumar and was very close with him. Orkid, a captive born female, also befriended him and assisted in his care.
When the female named Bjossa arrived from the Vancouver Aquarium for medical treatment, she too seemed to take interest in Sumar. During his time at the San Diego park, he also befriended Ulises, Splash, Keet, Keto, and Nakai.
In April of 2000, Sumar was sent to the park in Aurora, Ohio with Keet and Keto. All 3 whales were sent back to the San Diego park in February 2001 when the Ohio park closed permanently.
Sumar was reportedly a very reliable performer and never showed aggression towards his trainers. He was used often for waterworks.
Unfortunately, Sumar died suddenly on September 7, 2010 due to Acute Intestinal/Mesenteric Volvulus.
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