#seaworld san diego
Gender:Male
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of California
Date of Capture: Born February 14, 2013
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: SeaWorld of California
On February 14, 2013, the Icelandic female Kasatka gave birth to her fourth calf at SeaWorld San Diego; a male named Makani sired by the Argentinian male Kshamenk via Artificial Insemination.
Makani’s older sister, Kalia, was there to assist with his birth. He turned out to be a rather playful and energetic calf, copying the other whales during shows.
By five months of age, he already began playing on the slide out, a common behavior displayed by him. There are numerous videos that have been uploaded to YouTube of Makani purposefully beaching himself on the slideout and often just lying still.
In December 2014, Kalia gave birth to her first calf named Amaya. Makani and Amaya seem to get along well and Makani can often be seen with Kalia and Amaya.
Today, Makani is 2 years old and still lives with his mother at SeaWorld of California.
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Gender:Female
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of California
Date of Capture: Born December 21, 2004
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: SeaWorld of California
On December 21, 2004, the Icelandic female Kasatka gave birth to her third calf at SeaWorld San Diego; a female named Kalia sired by the captive bred male Keet. Though, Kalia is also sometimes known as “Great Grandbaby Shamu”, as Keet is the son of the first successfully bred Orca in captivity - Kalina who was also known as the “Original Baby Shamu”.
Being the daughter of the dominant female at the San Diego park, Kalia also seems to be rather dominant herself as she would often displace some of the other whales. However, after her younger brother Makani was born, Kalia seemed to calm down slightly, becoming a mother figure to Makani and helping to care for him.
One of Kalia’s favorite activities seems to be hunting the birds that often linger around the poolside, searching for scraps of fish.
However, Kalia has been shown to display rather troubling behavior sometimes. A video posted to YouTube by a park guest showed Kalia apparently “throwing a fit” - repeatedly thrashing herself upon the concrete slide out. Near the end, she begins thrashing so violently that she is forced to go back into the water. The original video has been taken down, so the upload date is unknown; though there have been others who have reposted the video on their own accounts.
Sometime in 2013, Kalia was artificially inseminated when she was just 8 years old. On December 2, 2014, she gave birth to her first calf; a female later named Amaya who’s sire is reported to be the Icelandic male Ulises, but has yet to be confirmed. At first, concerns arose over her interest in her calf, as Kasatka was originally seen looking after Amaya - though Kalia was later videoed and photographed nursing and swimming alongside Amaya.
In September 2014, nearing the end of Kalia’s pregnancy, she was videoed by a park regular apparently becoming stuck in a closing gate. SeaWorld responded to the backlash with a statement saying that Kalia often plays with the gates and nudges them open on her own.
Though it was a different type of gate, the Icelandic male Kotar, who was Kalia’s grandsire, also knew how to open the gates when he lived at the Texas park. This resulted in Kotar’s death on April 1, 1995 when a gate came down on him, crushing his skull and effectively killing him.
Today, Kalia is 10 years old and still resides at the San Diego park with her daughter, Amaya.
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Gender:Male
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of Florida
Date of Capture: Born August 25, 2002
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: SeaWorld of California
On August 25, 2002, Icelandic female Katina gave birth to her fifth calf at SeaWorld Orlando; a male known as Ikaika, sired by the Icelandic male Tilikum. When Ikaika was born, he became very quick friends with his older brother, Taku. He also became a favorite along park guests, as he was very interested in interacting in the underwater viewing area.
In September 2006, Katina gave birth to her sixth calf, a female named Nalani. However, Katina had mated with her son, Taku, which produced Nalani. About 9 days after her birth, Katina began showing less interest in her new calf and seemed to focus her interest on her sons, Taku and Ikaika. All three whales appeared to show some levels of aggression towards Nalani.
In Ikaika’s case, his aggression was often of a sexual nature in which he would attempt to mate with newborn Nalani. SeaWorld decided it best to place them on Valium in order to calm them down, as well as separate Taku and Ikaika from their mother. However, Nalani was less that 2 weeks old, and Valium is not recommended for pregnant or nursing females, as it can cause birth defects and interfere with the development of a nursing neonate. It was only after both Taku and Ikaika were moved to separate parks that Katina began properly caring for Nalani as she had with her other calves.
While Taku was sent to the Texas park, Ikaika was sent to Marineland Ontario in Canada on a “breeding loan” in November 2006, despite his being only 4 years old at the time. Male Orca are known to reach sexual maturity somewhere around 15 years old. When he arrived, he met three female Orca - Kiska, Nootka V, and Kiska’s calf Athena.
Unfortunately, Nootka V died in 2008 and Athena followed in 2009, leaving just Kiska and Ikaika at the park. Kiska reportedly became depressed after the death of her tankmate and calf, though Ikaika was still young and playful, bothering Kiska in an attempt to engage her in play, but Kiska was not interested. While he was with her, Ikaika was known to bite/rake Kiska, and so the pair had to be separated until Kiska recovered.
However, in November 2011, SeaWorld expressed concern over the quality of care Ikaika was receiving at Marineland, and requested that he be sent back to their park. When Marineland refused, SeaWorld took them to court in an attempt to regain custody; claiming that Marineland was not meeting their veterinary care, husbandry care, or training obligations while Ikaika was in their facility. SeaWorld won the case and Ikaika was returned to their care and transferred to the San Diego park that same month. Upon his arrival at the park, Ikaika was raked and attacked at first, but eventually befriended Corky II, Ulises, and Orkid.
Today, Ikaika is 12 years old and remains at the San Diego park where he performs daily.
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Gender:Female
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of California
Date of Capture: Born on May 3, 2002
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: Loro Parque Tenerife, Spain
On May 3, 2002, captive born female Takara gave birth to her first calf at SeaWorld San Diego, a female named Kohana sired by the Icelandic male Tilikum via Artificial Insemination. Kohana would become the second captive Orca ever to be born through AI.
Takara and Kohana became inseparable. At first Kohana was shy, compared to her mother who would often spend time interacting with guests through the underwater viewing, but became more open and playful around the time she was a year old. In 2004, when Kohana was 2 years old, she and Takara were both moved to the Orlando park where Kohana met some of her half-siblings.
However, in February 2006 when Kohana was just 3 years old, she was moved to Loro Parque in Spain with three other closely-related young whales known as Skyla, Keto, and Tekoa. Being the oldest female at the park, Kohana often shows dominance over the others, but with a lack of an experienced matriarch, the social structure at Loro Parque is unstable and often results in aggression between the whales.
In October 2010, Kohana gave birth to her first calf at just 8 years old, a male named Adán sired by Keto, who is also Kohana’s uncle. Unfortunately, due to being separated from her mother at such a young age, Kohana never learned necessary maternal skills and rejected Adán immediately, paying no mind to her new calf. This resulted in staff having to bottle-feed Adán, despite the abysmal failure of hand-raised captive calves in the past. Soon enough, Adán was introduced to the other whales and reintroduced to his mother. They all get along, but Kohana plays no maternal role to him.
In August 2012, Kohana gave birth to her second calf, a female named Victoria - Vicky for short - also sired by her uncle Keto. Once again, Kohana rejected Vicky immediately, and reportedly became aggressive towards her, forcing staff to separate the pair and hand-raise Vicky as well. For a short while, Vicky was reportedly doing well, but took a turn for the worse and died in June 2013 at just 11 months old.
Today, Kohana is 13 years old and still resides at Loro Parque, acting as the dominant female despite her inexperience.
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Gender:Male
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of California
Date of Capture: Born on September 1, 2001
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: SeaWorld of California
On September 1, 2001, Icelandic female Kasatka gave birth to her second calf at SeaWorld San Diego, a male named Nakai sired by the Icelandic male Tilikum via Artificial Insemination. Nakai was the first calf successfully conceived and born through AI.
Though Kasatka was a good mother, Nakai was never afraid to stray from her side. He could often be seen interacting with park guests through the underwater viewing area, but does not seem to be as interested now that he is older.
On September 27, 2012, photos surfaced of Nakai with a “dinner-plate sized” chunk of flesh missing from his chin. The injury, which appeared to have exposed the lower jaw bone, was reportedly sustained sometime during a night show on September 20. SeaWorld contends that Nakai “came in contact with a portion of the pool” but did not give any other details, and have not spoken anymore on the matter since its occurrence.
In November of the same year, the USDA launched an investigation that concluded that Nakai’s injury appeared to have been caused by his jaw scraping the recessed track that holds watertight gates between two of the pools at Shamu Stadium, which they say was consistent with what SeaWorld park officials had told them.
Today, Nakai is 13 years old and his injury looks to have healed well.
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(NOTE: Last two links contain sensitive images of Nakai’s injury. Please proceed with caution.)
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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:Female
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at Marineland Antibes, France
Date of Capture: Born on February 25, 1993
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: SeaWorld of California
On February 25, 1993, Icelandic female Sharkan gave birth to her first calf at Marineland Antibes, a female named Shouka, sired by the Icelandic male Kim II. While Sharkan was a good mother to her daughter, Shouka spent most of her time with her father, Kim II, and the two became very close.
However, staff at Marineland became concerned that the two might mate and produce a calf, so the decision was made to move Shouka to Six Flags Great Adventure in 2002 but was moved again in 2004 to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California.
Shouka was mostly kept alone at this park, apart from two Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins named Cupid and Merlin. The Argentinian male, Kshamenk, was supposed to join her in 2002, but the Argentinian government denied the move.
Shouka was a good performer but was also very dominant at Marineland, which has stayed with her and caused her to be separated from both Merlin and Cupid. This, however, presented a legal issue, as Orcas are required to be housed with at least one other Orca or cetacean species. After trying to send her to Marineland Ontario to be a companion to the Icelandic female Kiska, Six Flags decided to send her instead to SeaWorld San Diego on a breeding loan in August 2012.
In July, just a month before her move, Shouka was recorded by a park guest lunging repeatedly at a trainer. This resulted in her trainer being lifted into the air and thrown back through an open door that leads to the back of the stage. This was the first incident Shouka had been recorded being involved in, and the rest of the show was cancelled immediately afterwards.
When Shouka arrived at SeaWorld in August, she met many of the whales, including Corky II and the captive born male Keet, who has apparently attempted mating with Shouka various times. The two seem to get along well and can often be seen together.
Today, Shouka is 22 years old but does not have any calves of her own.
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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 California
Date of Capture: Born July 9, 1991
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: SeaWorld of Texas
On July 7, 1991, Icelandic female Kasatka gave birth to her first calf, a female named Takara and sired by the Icelandic male, Kotar.
Kasatka proved to be a very good mother, forming a close bond with her calf and teaching her how to be a mother following the birth of Kasatka’s second calf, Nakai, in 2001.
In 2002, Takara gave birth to a calf of her own, a female named Kohana who was sired by Tilikum via artificial insemination. Thanks to being kept with her mother, Takara was able to properly care for Kohana. However, Takara and Kohana were both moved to the Orlando park together in 2004.
According to former trainer John Hargrove in the 2013 documentary Blackfish, separating Takara from her mother, Kasatka, caused a great deal of distress for Kasatka, whom apparently called out repeatedly in a desperate attempt to locate her daughter.
When Takara and Kohana arrived in Orlando, they seemed to get along well with the other whales. An adult, captive born male named Taku seemed to take a liking to Takara and she soon became pregnant with his first calf, a male named Trua born in 2005. However, the following year, Kohana was transferred to Loro Parque in Spain when she was just 3 years old, while Takara and Trua remained at the Orlando park.
Soon enough, Takara and Trua were introduced to the adult Icelandic male Tilikum. The three seemed to get along well, as Takara was soon expecting her third calf but was moved to the Texas park in 2009. Trua was kept at the Orlando park and serves as a companion to his grandsire, Tilikum.
In 2010, Takara gave birth to her third calf, a female named Sakari, at the Texas park. The two fit in well, and soon enough, the captive born male Kyuquot began showing interest in Takara. She reportedly became pregnant again in 2011, but either suffered a miscarriage or a false pregnancy, as a sonogram failed to show any fetus, nor did she pass one.
Though in 2013, Takara gave birth to her fourth calf, another female named Kamea, sired by the Argentinian male Kshamenk via artificial insemination. Takara has also been involved in a few incidents with trainers, such as coming out at trainers and accidentally knocking a trainer off the slide out with her flukes.
Today, Takara is 23 years old, and remains at the Texas park with her two youngest calves, Sakari and Kamea.
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Gender:Female
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of California
Date of Capture: Born September 23, 1988
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: SeaWorld of California
On September 23, 1988, Icelandic female Kandu V gave birth to her second calf; a female sired by the Northern Resident male Orky II. Unfortunately, Orky II died just 3 days after his daughter’s birth, so the calf was named Orkid - meaning “Orky’s kid”.
However, after Orkid’s birth, there was a great deal of tension between Kandu V and another female named Corky II, who had previously given birth to 7 calves, none being able to live more than two months. As a result, Corky II attempted to steal Orkid away from Kandu V on various occasions.
This led to a deadly incident between the two females on August 21, 1989 when Orkid was just 11 months old. Corky II and Orkid were performing a show while Kandu V was in one of the back pools. When Kandu V was let out of the back pool, she immediately swam into the show tank, ramming Corky II.
Corky II reportedly suffered a gash on her stomach, but Kandu V ended up fracturing her jaw, which cut major arteries in her nasal passages, causing her to bleed out over a period of about 45 minutes while Orkid stayed by her mother’s side.
After Kandu V’s death, Corky II and Orkid formed a strong bond, with Corky II acting as a surrogate mother to the orphaned calf. Orkid seemed to befriend many of the new whales this way, as Corky II cared for a number of younger whales. One other whale Orkid became close with was a young male named Splash; a male transferred to SeaWorld in 1992 from Marineland Ontario in order to receive better care for his epilepsy and seizures. When he suffered a seizure and ran head first into a gate in 1995, Orkid was one of the whales who helped him to the surface and into the medical pool for treatment.
Orkid was also very close with another male, Sumar, who was born in 1998 to Taima at the Orlando park. Taima was rather aggressive towards her calves, resulting in her being separated from them as well as Sumar’s move to the San Diego park in 1999 when he was just a year old. Soon after, Corky II became a surrogate mother to him, and Orkid befriended the young whale. Unfortunately, Splash died in 2005 due to a perforated stomach, as well as Sumar in 2010 due to a twisted intestine.
Much like her mother, Orkid also became somewhat of an aggressive whale, having been involved in 17 recorded incidents starting from the time she was just a year old. According to her SeaWorld profile, Orkid has been recorded bumping, mouthing, pushing, jaw popping, and pulling trainers underwater on multiple occasions.
One of the most notable instances was on August 7, 2002. A female trainer named Tamaree was sitting by the edge of a back pool interacting with both Orkid and Splash. In a video taken by a park guest, Tamaree can be seen talking to the whales and repeatedly placing her foot on Orkid’s rostrum and taking it off without another trainer present, which is against safety policies. Before long, Orkid can be seen seizing Tamaree’s foot before pulling her into the water.
According to former trainer John Hargrove in the 2013 documentary Blackfish, another trainer came along, taking a chain off the gate to give the precursor to Orkid that the older and more dominant female Kasatka was coming in. Orkid and Splash then released Tamaree who escaped the incident with nothing more than a broken arm.
Some aggressive incidents have also occurred as a result of trainers preforming artificial insemination procedures on her. Orkid seems to dislike AI procedures, and caused minor injuries to a trainer in 2007 after swiping her head and making contact with him, knocking him over a wall. Orkid has mated naturally with males before, and has been AI’ed numerous times, but so far has failed to become pregnant.
Today, Orkid remains at the San Diego park and preforms shows regularly. She is 26 years old.
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(WARNING:The last two links contain mildly graphic footage that may upset some viewers; view at your own risk.)
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Gender:Female
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of California
Date of Capture: Born December 2, 2014
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: SeaWorld of California
On December 2, 2014, captive born female Kalia gave birth to her first calf; a female later named Amaya and possibly sired by the Icelandic male Ulises - though DNA testing is still required in order to confirm if Ulises is the father.
Due to Kalia having only been 9 years old when her pregnancy was announced, some controversy and intense criticism ensued and some began questioning what kind of a mother she would be at this age, as well as why SeaWorld had been Artificially Inseminating such a young whale.
However, Kalia is still housed with her mother, Kasatka, who has helped Kalia become a good mother to her calf.
Today, Amaya is less than a year old and can often be seen with her uncle, Makani, or off on her own exploring other areas of the tanks.
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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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