52 Orcas

At the end of 2013 there were 52 orcas living in marine parks all over the world. 52Orcas aims to increase awareness of the international captive killer whale population through a series of graphic representations. Each week in 2014 we will publish a profile for each captive animal, highlighting their unique identity.

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42. Makani 

To his fans, Makani is renowned as a young and mischievous orca with a tendency to interact with guests in the underwater viewing area. He is frequently found spending time socializing with his mother Kasatka and siblings Nakai and Kalia, and especially enjoys ‘fish baiting’ with Kalia. Makani is the product of artificial insemination. SeaWorld sent representatives to Mundo Marino in Argentina to direct the collection of semen from Kshamenk in order to increase their orca gene pool. They then successfully impregnated Kasatka at SeaWorld San Diego making Makani a genetic hybrid. Makani will grow up with his tank mates; meanwhile, Kshamenk lives a solitary life swimming up to 500 turns per hour in a small pool in Argentina.

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06. Freya

Freya is named after the Norse goddess of fertility and love. Despite her namesake, out of five pregnancies, just one calf survived: Valentin, with whom she is very close. She experienced moodiness following each stillborn, which may indicate depression. Freya has a unique appearance, with a dorsal fin that leans to the right, and a white scar on her side from a tumor that was removed. A YouTube video of her attacking a trainer during a 2008 performance has been viewed by over 6 million people. On June 20, 2015 Marineland announced the passing of this matriarch after a long battle with an unknown illness. 

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41. Luna

Luna is a second-generation captive born orca from the Icelandic whales Lovey and Oscar. In the wild, orca society is strongly matriarchal, with sons and daughters remaining with their mother their entire life. As these sons and daughters in turn reproduce, the pod grows, incorporating their children and grandchildren. For some orca, life in captivity is bleak by comparison, devoid of these cherished family ties. Individual whales are often moved to different parks for a variety of reasons, breaking the few family bonds that exist within the captive population. Luna is a sharp example of this aspect of life in captivity, as she is unlikely to ever meet her grandmother, Stella, who lives without her two daughters and grandchildren at a different facility.

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40. Nalani

Orcas living in captivity behave differently than their wild counterparts. In 2005, Katina mated with her son, Taku, which resulted in the inbred animal Nalani. Mating a mother and son poses a great health risk to the offspring of any mammal, since inbred animals have a greater number of rare genetic mutations. Despite being the product of incest, Nalani physically appears quite normal, performs in shows, and is the first inbred captive orca to survive this long. Katina is normally an excellent orca mom, but according to SeaWorld she has been unusually neglectful to her inbred calf, showing little to no interest in Nalini.

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39. Moana

Believed at birth to be female, this new captive born was named Moana and the name was not changed after learning Moana was male. When it comes to performing in the shows, Moana is highly skilled. At the early age of 1, he had already mastered complex behaviors, surpassing his work with trainers. This very smart whale was learning how to perform tricks from his older tank mates. Moana is the third orca to be successfully conceived artificially; Ulises' sperm was inseminated into Wikie making Moana’s DNA 100% Icelandic.

#52Orcas #Moana #orca #killerwhale #Blackfish

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38. Tuar

Tuar is a genetic hybrid orca (25% Southern Resident and 75% Icelandic) born to Kalina (the original Baby Shamu) and Tilikum. While living with his mom in Orlando, Tuar was very close with his half brother Tekoa who Kalina helped raise. Unfortunately the brothers were separated from Kalina in 2004 and transported to SeaWorld Texas, and separated from each other when Tekoa was transported to Spain in 2006. Compared to other captive orcas, Tuar is highly sensitive and difficult to control and feed if there are changes made to his tank (e.g. construction or water levels).  Although considered a great performer, Tuar has shown aggression towards his trainers including biting his trainers and swimming with his mouth open. 

#52Orcas #Tuar #orca #killerwhale #SeaWorld #SeaWorldSanAntonio #Blackfish 

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37. Unna

Unna is the offspring of the two most successfully bred orcas— Katina and Tilikum. Shortly after the birth of her brother Ike, six year-old Unna was taken from her mother and moved from Orlando to SeaWorld Texas in 2002. During her six years with her mom, Unna was present for many of her siblings' births and likely learned some parenting skills from Katina. Unna’s first calf was stillborn; however, based on her interactions with other young whales, Unna is believed to have great maternal potential. In her Texas tank, Unna does show some dominance over other whales and performs some of the most spectacular shows. She is 100% Icelandic and this week marks her 18th birthday. 

#52orcas #Unna #orcas #killerwhale #Cetacean #SeaWorld #Blackfish

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36. Ulises

Ulises has lived in marine parks since his 1980 capture at age three. He is the oldest male orca currently living in captivity, and also represents the only male to have survived this long in confinement. Ulises was housed at three different marine parks before arriving at SeaWorld San Diego in the 1990s. As mentioned in many of our whale biographies, captive breeding programs are paramount to the future success of marine parks in the US. For breeding involving artificial insemination Ulises is the primary source of viable sperm in SeaWorld’s collection. Today, Ulises’ sperm has culminated in the birth of Moana in France, and has been used to impregnate 8-year-old Kalia. At SeaWorld, Ulises is dominant over some of the female orcas, especially the oldest female, Corky. In fact, trainers will not allow Corky and Ulises to be in the same pool unless Kasatka, the ultimate matriarch, is present to keep both whales calm. 

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35. Makaio

SeaWorld parks currently rely on captive breeding programs to maintain their collection of killer whales. This can involve artificially inseminating killer whales with manually collected semen. In the wild, the average female killer whale will give birth to about 5 calves during her entire reproductive lifecycle. By the age of 34, the Icelandic whale Katina had already given birth to 7 calves. Her most recent is Makaio, the youngest orca at SeaWorld Orlando, who was sired by another Icelandic whale, Tilikum. His birth came at a sad time for the Orlando population; less than a week after his oldest sister Kalina died (the original baby Shamu). Today, at only 4 years old, Makaio is showing some independence from his mom, swimming into different pools and spending time with other older females.

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34. Shouka

Shouka was the first orca born in captivity at Marineland of France. While living in France, Shouka’s captive pod grew, and by the age of nine she was swimming with her mother and three siblings (Valentin, Inouk, and Wikie). Orcas are highly evolved social animals who form tight bonds with their families, bonds that endure their entire lives. However, at nine years old, Shouka was moved from her family and relocated to Six Flags in Ohio to live without another orca companion. As highly social animals, holding an orca in solitary confinement is illegal. Shouka’s isolation outraged many activists including the organization Fins and Fluke, who fought hard to get Shouka moved.  After living without another orca for 10 years, Shouka was moved from the Six Flags in Northern CA to SeaWorld San Diego in 2012. It was here that she first met Corky, the oldest of SeaWorld's orcas, who welcomed Shouka to the San Diego group. Today, Shouka still lives in San Diego. She will never see her mother (now deceased) and likely her siblings again.  

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33. Lara

Lara is the second killer whale born in captivity in Japan, the first being her older sister Lovey. Being born to wild captures Bingo (father) and Stella (mother), Lara’s DNA is 100% Icelandic.  In captivity, Lara played a role very similar to that of a wild female orca. For example, Lara assisted her mother and sister during their pregnancies and while giving birth. Her caretakers at Sea World refer to Lara as an outstanding aunt to her niece, Luna, and nephew, Earth. In the wild, this pod of whales would live as a close family their entire lives. In captivity, however, Lara’s mother, father and two siblings were transported to a different marine park.    

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32. Ikaika

The very tight emotional bonds formed between orcas and their mothers persist for their entire lives. Decades of fieldwork have shown that the family bond is paramount to the health and well being of this species of whale. In spite of this knowledge, marine parks will often ship these animals in crates across the country to accommodate breeding loans. When he was but 4 years old, Ike, who was suffering from a bacterial infection, was taken from his siblings and his mother, Katina, and was shipped from SeaWorld Orlando to Marineland of Canada. Ike later became the center of a lawsuit between these two parks, with SeaWorld accusing Marineland of not taking proper care of their orca (Marineland is currently under fire for the mistreatment of their killer whale Kiska). Furthermore, during legal battles between the two marine parks, it became apparent that SeaWorld was routinely dosing Ike with valium to curb his aggressive and sexual behaviors. Today, Ike lives in SeaWorld San Diego and in all likelihood will never see his mother again.

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31. Unknown

In the fall of 2013, a young male orca was captured in the Oktosh Sea off the coast of Russia along with his mother and sister. The method of capture involves dragging the whale out of the water by his tail, loading him onto a truck, and shipping him a long distance. Reports indicate that upon arrival to the Seaside Dolphinarium, the orcas refused to eat the dead fish being offered to them despite the best efforts of the trainers. This all changed when another orca, who had been in the pen for over a year, brought them fish and somehow convinced them to eat. According to the Russian Orcas site, this orca has since been moved to a holding pen in Moscow. In addition to ethical concerns over this capture, there are major ecological concerns since it is unclear how these captures will affect the future generations of the wild population.  

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30. Bingo

Bingo swam for 30 years in captivity entertaining marine park visitors. He was born free in the oceans of Iceland but died in a tank in Japan. Bingo’s trainers knew him as a very calm orca who was highly reliable for waterwork shows. During his three decades of life as a captive orca, Bingo fathered five daughters and two grandchildren, making him the most successful breeder in Japan. Bingo lived at three different aquariums, spending the last three years of his life at Port of Nagoya Aquarium. At the time of his death, Bingo lived with his mate Stella and their two daughters Ran (eight) and Rin (one). This gentle orca will be greatly missed. 

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29. Keto

Few captive orcas have been relocated more than Keto, who has lived at all four SeaWorld parks. In the marine park business, it is routine to move orca whales from one venue to another. This happens for a variety of reasons: making room for a new baby; accommodating breeding loans; or adjusting social dynamics. Born at SeaWorld Orlando, at 4 years old Keto was taken from his mother Kalina and moved to San Diego, California. One year later, Keto was flown to Ohio, and then on to SeaWorld of Texas. A few years later, a now 10-year old Keto was flown to the Canary Islands where he lives and performs today. During transportation, he was routinely fit into a sling, raised by a crane into a tight fitting crate, driven by truck, and loaded onto an aircraft. Keto had a history of showing aggressive tendencies towards his trainers. On Christmas Eve of 2009, Keto’s aggression proved fatal. Keto killed his trainer Alexis Martinez.

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28. Kohana

Kohana was conceived through artificial insemination and was born at SeaWorld San Diego. At only 3 years old, SeaWorld separated Kohana from her mother (Takara) and was shipped via air craft to Loro Parque marine park in Spain, where she lives today. At only 8 years of age, Kohana gave birth to her first calf, but never learning from Takara how to rear a calf, she rejected her first born. The calf was also a product of inbreeding since the father of the calf (Keto) is Kohana’s maternal uncle. Kohana is known for being a very lively orca who enjoys swimming close to the glass and interacting with park guests.

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27. Keet

The second generation of captive born orcas began with Keet. The first ever male born at SeaWorld, he is the “Grandbaby Shamu.” When he was just 1 year old, Keet’s mother, Kalina, was taken from him and moved to a different SeaWorld park. At the time, Keet and Kalina had a tight bond, and after his mother was taken from him he formed a close relationship with another adult female Katerina. Sadly, after she died, Keet was badly abused by the other whales. He was frequently found immobile and shivering. SeaWorld decided it was time to move Keet to a different park. Over the next few years of his life, Keet was moved numerous times between SeaWorld parks. Keet has sired two daughters, Kalia and Halyn. He was very close to Halyn and nurtured her until she died at the young age of 3. His trainers consider Keet to be a gentle giant.