Corky II (Corky) Birth date: Estimated to be in 1965 History of Corky
Corky II was born in the wild, around the year 1965. She is the longest orca kept in captivity and is also the second oldest (Lolita is the first). Her mother is thought be the now deceased A23/Stripe. Currently...
Corky has met new orcas over the years and she has also lost several close friends. Though she has lived at SeaWorld California for a long time, she is not the dominant orca. She seems content to have a more motherly position in the pod. She gets along with every orca at the park except for Ulises. At first, she and the bull were okay with each other, but Ulises began picking on Corky, so they are very rarely seen together. She likes to have time toherself and it's not unusual to see her alone in a pool. Corky is known as the 'Trainer of trainers' and is often the first orca a new trainer will get in the water with. Corky is used a lot in the shows, but she always gives it her best, which has earned her the nickname "The Rock". Her other nicknames are: "Cork" and "Corkster". Corky is showing signs of old age for she has kidney trouble (she takes daily medication for this) and little to no eyesight in her left eye. Many anti-captivity groups want to free Corky, to let her go back to the wild. But I believe that it is too late. Corky is old now and she may not survive in the wild. What if the same happens to her as it did to our beloved Keiko? She has been in captivity for years. Will she remember how to survive? Will her old pod accept a whale they do not know?? How will the orcas she is now living with react? Will it be too much? We just don't know. How to tell who she is...
Corky is the largest female orca in captivity. Her length is 19.7 ft. and her weight is 8,255 lbs. Her tall dorsal fin is straight and neither bends nor flops, reaching around 4 ft. Gray saddle patch has a hook in the front. Her eye patches are oval shaped with a hook over her left eye. On the right side, it's the same, but with another scooping hook at the bottom as well. Her teeth are pretty much all worn down. The teeth of her lower jaw were filed down at MarineLand of the Pacific to prevent her from biting anyone. It's useful information as we can tell who she is when her mouth is open. A notch is missing from her left fluke. A chunk is missing from her left flank. | Kasatka Birth date: 1976 (estimated)
Birthplace: unknown Current Age: 34 (estimated) Kasatka means darling and killer whale in Russian. Offspring: Takara, Nakai and Kalia. Often misspelled 'Katsaka', 'Kitsaka' or 'Kasaka'. History of Kasatka...
In October 26, 1978, Kasatka was captured at Ingolfshofn, Iceland along with six other orcas. They were Katina, Kotar, Kahana, Betty and a young male and young female who weren't named. She was only around 2 years old at capture. Kotar, Kasatka, Kahana and the unnamed female were bought by SeaWorld, Katina was bought by MarineLand Canada (she was sold to SeaWorld the year after), Betty was sold to MarineLand Antibes, France, and the young male died only four months after the capture of a heart attack at Saedyrasafnid Aquarium. Kasatka was transferred to SeaWorld California. She lived with Katina, her supposed cousin because of their similar appearances, at SeaWorld Ohio from 1982 to 1984. When the park was closed during the winter months they lived at SeaWorld California. She and Katina got along well though they both were dominant whales.
In November of 1984, Katina was found to be pregnant and she was sent to SeaWorld Florida, while Kasatka went to SeaWorld California. From 1985 to 1987, Kasatka now performed with Kahana at both SeaWorld California and SeaWorld Ohio. In October 1987, Kasatka was sent to SeaWorld Florida. There she reunited with Katina and Kotar and met Kalina (Katina's daughter) and Kanduke. Kasatka had not stayed at SeaWorld Florida long before SeaWorld Texas opened and she was sent there. Kotar soon joined her after a fight with Kanduke. She helped Kenau in her labor, acting as "Auntie" to the young female calf, Kayla, who was born in November of 1988. Her last move was back to SeaWorld California on February 14, 1990, and she has lived there ever since. Kasatka has been to all of the SeaWorld parks. Once at SeaWorld California, Kasatka was discovered pregnant to Kotar. They had mated before the move and it is said to have happened though a gate! A little after 12pm, she gave birth on July 9, 1991, to a daughter later named Takara. Since Kasatka was the dominant orca, Takara often had every thing her way and was spoiled. On June 12, 1999, Kasatka had an incident with a trainer, Robin. She grabbed his leg between her teeth and dragged him underwater around the pool. He was not harmed, but now only experienced trainers do waterworks with her. She may have done this because she had been separated from Takara for the first time and she was taking her feelings out on the trainer. In the spring of 2000, the trainers artificially inseminated (AI) Kasatka. This was the fist time that AI had been done to an orca. But everything worked out fine and on September 1, 2001, a young male was born at 8:48pm. He was named Nakai. This made Kasatka famous in the captive orca world for having the first successful AI birth. Takara played "Auntie" for her brother's birth. The next year, May 3, 2002, Kasatka became a grandmother when Takara gave birth to Kohana, the first female to be conceived through AI. Takara was also AIed and Kasatka played "Auntie" to Kohana and helped Takara with the birth. In April 2004, Takara and Kohana were transferred to SeaWorld Florida, leaving Kasatka with only her son, Nakai. In 2003, Kasatka was once more pregnant with her third calf. She gave birth on December 21, 2004 to another daughter. The calf was named Kalia. This made Kasatka famous in orca history again. She is the first female orca to have a fourth-generation calf. Kalia's father was later discovered to be Keet and he is the first third-generation captive-born male orca to father a calf. Kasatka is a great mother. She is very protective of her calves. Now, since she has Kalia, she doesn't spend that much time with Nakai, but the trainers make sure that he doesn't feel left out. It seemed that Kasatka did not like Splash* as she chased him away when he got too close to her. She gets along with the other orcas now and she liked Keet a lot when he was still at the park. She loves to hunt seagulls. Kasatka had actually caught a lot, by baiting them with her food and using other devices. When she catches one, she swims around the pool with it in her mouth, playing with it. After a while she does it and sometimes shares with the other orcas. All of her children have learned this from her. On November 30, 2006, Kasatka grabbed her trainer during a show and pulled him beneath the water. After letting him surface, she repeated this before allowing him to get out of the water. The other trainers used a recall device and spread a net across the pool. The trainer, Ken Peters, was able to exit the pool and was brought to the hospital suffering injuries, the worst of which was a broken foot. Kalia is said to have been vocalizing at the time of the attack and this may have had something to do with it. Currently...
Kasatka shares the dominancy with Orkid. Orkid's mother, Kandu V was the dominant orca before her death, but Kasatka arrived a year after and so has never met her. Orkid gets along very well with Kasatka and she can often be seen with her and Kalia. Because of the November 30, 2006 incident, waterwork is no longer done with Kasatka and it is unsure if they will ever resume waterwork with her.
Her nicknames are Kassy and Kas. How to tell who she is...
Kasatka is 5,950 lbs. and 17.7 ft. long. She has a unique narrow face. Kasatka has three missing teeth on the right side and a black spot and light patch on the tip of her lower jaw. Crescent shaped dorsal leans slightly to the left. There is a notch about a third of the way down her dorsal fin. Her eye patches have a round, broad front with cloudy edges. Her right fluke has a notch it compared to Corky, who has one missing from her left fluke. She has a chunk missing from her right flank.  |
Ulises Birth date: 1976 (estimated)
Birthplace: unknown Current Age: 34 (estimated) Ulises means wrathful in Latin. 'Ulises" is often misspelled 'Ulysses'. History of Ulises...
Ulises was captured in November of 1980 from Iceland. He might have been around 4 years old at the time. First, he was sent to Sædyrasafnid, Iceland. There he met the other orcas later named Bjossa, Vigga and Finna. In 1981, he was kept at Riolen, Spain for a short while, then brought to Barcelona Zoo in 1983. He had no orca companions, only bottlenose dolphins. During the years, Ulises began to mature and grow, thus becoming too big for the single pool. He became more aggressive towards the dolphins and harassed them. Because of the small space and being lonely, Ulises also disobeyed his trainers. They decided to send Ulises somewhere while they expanded the pool for him. On January 30, 1994, Ulises was sent to SeaWorld California on a breeding loan. Barcelona did not have enough money to fix his pool and he has remained at SeaWorld California ever since. With the extra room in his new home and the other orcas, Corky, Orkid, Splash*, Kasatka and Takara, Ulises aggression left him. Ulises was reunited with Bjossa on April 21, 2001, when she was sent to SeaWorld California. But Ulises picked on her, she being smaller than he, though higher on the dominance scale. The same year, Bjossa passed away from a respiratory illness. Ulises also bullies Corky, who is less dominant than he. The two are now kept separated. Other than that, he gets along well with the other orcas. When Takara and Kohana were still at the park, they could all be seen swimming together in the mother/calf position. He was very gentle with Nakai and Kohana when they were still calves. He was often seen with Keet before Keet was moved to SeaWorld Texas and they share many similarities. In fact, some say that Keet is like a clone of Ulises. He also spent a lot of time with Splash* and sometimes Sumar. But he can also relax alone and is often seen on the Shamu Cam, logging (floating at the surface of the water). Ulises has not successfully produced any calves yet, though he has been observed mating with the females at the park. Kasatka seems to like him and the two swim together at times in the mother/calf position. He likes Takara (when she was at the park) and seems to be very sweet on Orkid. But she does not seem to share the same feelings for him and they are hardly ever together. When they are, Orkid sometimes slides out of the water to get a few calm moments away from him. Ulises has also been seen to whine at the gate if Orkid is on the other side. It is said that his gathered semen will be used on Orkid, but we have yet to see if the rumors are correct.
Currently...
Ulises nicknames are: Uli, Big Dog, and Uli-Bear. He is the only mature bull at SeaWorld California. He is very mellow, unlike when he was younger, and is rarely aggressive to any of the trainers or orcas (except Corky, as mentioned above). He is working on his waterwork behaviors and is usually used for the big splash at the end of the show. Ulises is one of the few male orcas that can be used for waterworks although he is not often used for this. He performs daily, with everyone but Corky.
How to tell who he is...
Ulises is 9,465 lbs. and 20.3 ft. which is actually small or average for an Icelandic bull orca. His 6 ft. dorsal fin is curled half way to the right, but as the years pass it has begun to flop more. His eye patches have a jagged look to them. the right is curved and scoop like with two prongs while the left only had one prong. He has a black spot, about 4 inches, on his tongue. There is a bump, it looks like a wart, on his chin, which can be seen well from an underwater view or from the side. Ulises has one blue eye and one brown eye. His flukes curl under and his pectoral fins are nearly 5 ft, long and quite wide, which is a normal trait in male orcas. Though Corky is taller then him, he is much more bulkier and stronger. | Orkid Birth date: September 23, 1988
Birthplace: SeaWorld San Diego, California Current Age: 22 Orkid means Orky’s Kid. Mother: Kandu V Father: Orky II Full and half siblings: Kayla (half). History of Orkid...
A female calf was born to Kandu V and Orky II on September 23, 1988. This made the calf 50% Northern Resident and 50% Icelandic. In the wild, these two types of orcas would have never met. Kandu went into a long labor right before an afternoon show, while the crowd of 3,00 people urged her on. The calf was the second orca to be successfully born in captivity (Kalina was the first). She was named Orkid, in memory of her father. Orky passed away only three days after she was born on September 26, 1988. Orkid was 297 lbs. and 7.5 ft. at her birth. For eleven months, Kandu and her daughter formed a very close bond with each other. On August 21, 1989, Kandu charged at Corky II with her mouth open, ramming into her. The dominant whale at the time, Kandu received at broken jaw from her attack on Corky. A bone fragment was knocked loose and severed an artery. Swimming to one of the back pools, the trainers watched helplessly as Kandu spouted, exhaling blood. Orkid stayed at her mother's side as Kandu passed away 45 minutes later. Corky became Orkid's surrogate mother and they are now very close. Orkid now protects Corky, a lower ranking whale, from the others. Orkid's only living relative is Kayla, who resides at SeaWorld Texas. They share the same father and have never met each other. In the summer of 2002, Orkid and Splash* were involved in an accident with a trainer, Tamaree. Apparently, the trainer was alone and not with someone else like she was supposed to be. She was playing with the orcas and when she placed her feet in the water, Orkid grabbed one of her feet and pulled her under. But Splash and Orkid soon let her go with only a broken arm and the other trainers were able to help her. It took a while before the trainers were able to go in the water with Orkid and Splash again, but everything is normal now. The orcas probably just wanted to play with the trainer, but were too rough. Nether of them had an aggressive record and the trainer was later moved to work at a different area of the park. Orkid is said to be the smartest orca at SeaWorld California, gaining her the nickname "Rocket Scientist". She has learned over 300 signals and she learns quite quickly compared to the other whales. Sometimes it seems that she is able to read her trainers minds because she does what they want her to do before they can even signal anything to her. Orkid takes part in intelligent tests in which she has to identify images on a board that a trainer has shown her before. She loves to perform for the audience and can be considered as a sort of show-off. She is acrobatic and loves the applause. Only experienced trainers can do waterworks with her because, like her friend Kasatka, she doesn't like when they make mistakes. She doesn't interact much at the glass, but she does like looking at herself in a mirror and occasionally comes up to the park guests. Orkid shares the dominancy with Kasatka, though the other female is older than her. They are great friends and can often be seen swimming together, just hanging out. They also share the same sport, hunting birds. They spit out a bit of fish to bait the birds, then sneak up on their prey. She has even been observed on the Shamu Cam playing with a bird that she had caught. On November 15, 2006, Sumar and Orkid were performing together in a show. A trainer began swimming back to the trainers platform, but Orkid grabbed him and took him beneath the water. She responded to the recall though and the trainer was able to exit the pool without much injury. Waterwork will not be done with her for at least a few months.
Currently...
Orkid gets along with all of the orcas at SeaWorld California, where she has lived all her life. She was friends with Splash before her passed away. When Bjossa was at the park, they did not get along. Orkid likes to play with Nakai and they can often be seen swimming in the mother/calf position. When Takara and Kohana were at the park, Orkid used to baby-sit Kohana for Takara. The two females got along well. Since she is very good with calves, she will probably be a good mother. Orkid has been AIed (artificially inseminated) many times, but has not gotten pregnant yet.
How to tell who she is...
Orkid is 19.4 ft. long and weighs around 5,650 lbs.
Her crescent shaped dorsal is straight, but it wobbles a little when she speed swims or slides out. It is tall, about 2.7 ft. Her body is lean and sleek. She has a rounded face, which only adds to her beauty. Eyes patches are oval and rounded and they sweep back into points. |
Sumar Birth date: May 14, 1998
Birthplace: SeaWorld Orlando, Florida. Current Age: 11 Sumar means summer in Icelandic. Mother: Taima Father: Tilikum Full and half siblings: Tekoa (full), Kyuquot, Taku, Unna, Tuar, Nakai, Kohana and Skyla (half). History of Sumar...
Sumar was born at SeaWorld Florida on May 14th, 1998. His mother is Taima and his father is Tilikum. He was 7 ft. and weighed 350 lbs. at birth. Along with his mother and brother, Tekoa, he is the only captive orca with Transient blood. His grandfather, Kanduke was a Transient. When he was only three months old, Taima became very aggressive to Sumar. In November 1998, she chased Sumar and tried to push him out of the pool. Once, Taima attacked him during a show. Tossing him up into the slideout, she slide up after him, pinned him down and began biting him. Taima had to be pulled back by a harness, while the trainers and other orcas rushed to comfort young Sumar. Taima may have done this because she was a first time mother, or because she learned it from her mother, Gudrun*. Gudrun had treated her other daughter, Nyar*, the same way when Nyar was sick and maybe Sumar has something wrong with him as well, or maybe she was simply punishing him. After that, Sumar and Taima were kept separated at all times. In 2002, Taima had another calf name Tekoa, but he received the same treatment as Sumar had. Taima is under birth control so she cannot have another calf. But Taima is known to be very sweet towards her trainers and is not "evil" as some would like to think. March 8, 1999, Sumar was moved to SeaWorld California. The fist orca he met was Corky II and she became his surrogate mother. He soon became friends with Keto, who was sent with him from SeaWorld Florida. On April 15, 2000, Sumar, Keto and Keet were moved to SeaWorld Ohio. The three males did a lot of shows, but it was quite rare to see Sumar. He was the smallest whale there and when he did perform in was under the stage name "Kandu". On February 15, 2001, Keet was moved back to SeaWorld California. Sumar followed on the 18th, but Keto was moved to SeaWorld Texas and Sumar has not seen his friend since. Sumar arrived at SeaWorld California at around 9:30pm after a ten-hour flight. Since then, Sumar had not been moved.
In April of 2001, an orca named Bjossa was transferred from the Vancouver Aquarium to SeaWorld California. Sumar formed a very close bond with her and they were together nearly all the time. Bjossa would even refuse to leave the pool is Sumar was not with her. Sadly, Bjossa died in October. He went back to Corky then, but was depressed for a while. Sumar is quite active and likes to play with Kohana and Nakai. Before Kohana was moved, she would spend a lot of time with him, seeming to idolize her half-brother. Sumar likes to breach and leap in play when he is alone or with another orca. Sumar also likes to slide out and he and Nakai can play for hours, chasing each other over the slideout that joins pools B and C. Sometimes Sumar even plays with his food. He keeps a big fish and swims around with it hanging from his mouth. Sumar likes to play with the brown mattress a.k.a.waffle that the trainers put in the pool. He tries to get up on it and even naps underneath, pushing it around the pool. He is rather protective of it and doesn’t like when the other orcas try to take it away from him. Sumar was involved in the November 15, 2006 incident with Orkid so waterwork was stopped with him for a while, but he is back to normal now. Currently...
Sumar interacts with the parks guests, but not as much as when he was younger. Now he likes to play with the other orcas. He gets along with all of the orcas and can be put with any of them.
It’s thought that Sumar was/is going to be moved to another park, but that seems to be on hold for now. His nicknames are: Summie, Summy, Sum and Sum-sum. How to tell who he is...
Sumar is 16.4 ft. in length and weighs in at around 4,235 lbs. His dorsal fin bends to the left. It is still crescent shaped, which is normal for pre-adolesant males. His eye patches are curved and long like his mother's. They are both triangular in shape and the left has a point of his eye while the right is a bit wider in the middle. The trailing edge of his flukes are straight. |
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