Corky II, often referred to as just Corky, is a female
captive
Captive or Captives may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Captive'' (1980 film), a sci-fi film, starring Cameron Mitchell and David Ladd
* ''Captive'' (1986 film), a British-French film starring Oliver Reed
* ''Captive'' (1991 ...
orca
The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...
from the
A5 Pod
A5 Pod is a name given to a group of orcas (''Orcinus orca'') found off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the northern resident population of orcas - a name given to the fish-eating orcas found in coastal waters ranging from mid- ...
of
northern resident orcas
Northern resident orcas, also known as northern resident killer whales (NRKW), are one of four separate, non-interbreeding communities of the exclusively fish-eating ecotype of orca in the northeast portion of the North Pacific Ocean. They live pr ...
. At approximately the age of four, Corky was captured from
Pender Harbour
Pender Harbour is a harbour community on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast, on the east side of Malaspina Strait. The harbour itself is an intricate amalgam of bays and coves that encroach inland for five kilometres and provide over 60 kilometres ...
off the coast of
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
on December 11, 1969.
She has lived at
SeaWorld San Diego
SeaWorld San Diego is an animal theme park, oceanarium, outside aquarium and marine mammal park, in San Diego, California, United States, inside Mission Bay Park. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.
SeaWorld San Diego ...
in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...
since 1987. As of 2022, she is the oldest and longest kept captive orca.
Early life
Corky was born in 1965. Her mother, designated A23, nicknamed "Stripe", died in 2000. Corky, along with a young unnamed male and a young female later named Patches, were sold to
Marineland of the Pacific
Marineland of the Pacific was a public oceanarium and tourist attraction located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula coast in Los Angeles County, California. Architect William Pereira designed the main structure. It was also known as Hanna-Barbera's ...
, in
Palos Verdes
The Palos Verdes Peninsula (''Palos Verdes'', Spanish for "Green Sticks") is a landform and a geographic sub-region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, within southwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. Located in the S ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. As of 2022, Corky is the only surviving captured orca from her family group. She is designated A16.
Captivity
Corky II received her name after the park's original orca, Corky I, died in December 1970. Corky was kept with a male named
Orky II, also caught in Pender Harbour the year before her own capture. The pair remained together at the park for the next seventeen years and mated. Corky became the first orca to produce offspring in captivity and on February 28, 1977, she gave birth to the first captive calf. However, the infant male failed to nurse and died of
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
after just eleven days. Corky and Orky had six more calves but none survived, the oldest, named Kiva, lived just forty-six days. Corky and Orky also appeared in the 1977 film ''
Tentacles
In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work mainl ...
''.
In 1987, Corky was sold to
SeaWorld
SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (one park will be ...
and was moved with Orky to the park in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
, California. There, she mated with Icelandic male orcas, and both calves died within days of their birth. Orky later bred with other females at SeaWorld and sired two female calves,
Orkid and
Kayla, who died in 2019. Corky never became pregnant again. In 1988, Orky died three days after the birth of his first daughter. He was the oldest and largest captive orca at the time of his death.
As of 2022, Corky remains at SeaWorld San Diego and lives with eight other orcas.
Incident
In 1989 the dominant female orca,
Kandu V
Orcas, or killer whales, are large predatory cetaceans that were first captured live and displayed in exhibitions in the 1960s. They soon became popular attractions at public aquariums and aquatic theme parks due to their intelligence, train ...
, charged at Corky but ruptured an artery in her own jaw during the fight. After a 45-minute hemorrhage, Kandu V died. Her eleven month old daughter, Orkid, was placed with Corky, who acted as a
surrogate mother
Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to delivery/labour for another person or people, who will become the child's parent(s) after birth. People may seek a surrogacy arrangement when pregnan ...
.
Controversy
Corky is the subject of various campaigns by
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...
activists demanding her retirement and release. In 2017, a Canadian orca research organization created a banner from more than 17,000 pieces of artwork that stretched 1.5 miles as a means to promote her freedom. A proposed 40 acre sea sanctuary located off
Hanson Island
Hanson Island is an island in the Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, located west of Harbledown Island and south of the Plumper Islands. The westernmost part of Johnstone Strait is to the south of the island ...
in British Columbia has been proposed for her relocation, but SeaWorld remains resistant, arguing Corky would not survive.
See also
*
List of individual cetaceans
Cetaceans are the animals commonly known as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. This list includes individuals from real life or fiction, where fictional individuals are indicated by their source. It is arranged roughly taxonomically.
Baleen wha ...
Further reading
* Ford, John K.B.; Ellis, Graeme M.; & Balcomb, Kenneth C. (2000). ''Killer Whales'' (2nd ed.). UBC Press. .
* Hoyt, Erich. (1990). ''Orca: The Whale Called Killer'' (3rd ed.). London: Robert Hale Limited. .
* Morton, Alexandra. (2002). ''Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us'' New York: Ballantine Publishing Group. .
* Patryla, Jim. (2005). ''A Photographic Journey Back To Marineland of the Pacific'' Lulu Publishing. .
References
{{reflist
1965 animal births
Individual orcas