Kasatka (1976 – August 15, 2017) was a wild caught female
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 taxon, extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black ...
who 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 ...
.
Life
Kasatka was captured off the southeastern coast of
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
on October 26, 1978 with another young female whale named Kahana. Both were estimated to be around 2 years old. The two whales were housed in a sea pen in Grindavík before being shipped to SeaWorld later that year.
Kasatka showed occasional aggression to humans. In 1993, she tried to bite trainer Ken Peters during a show, and again in 1999.
On November 30, 2006, Kasatka grabbed Peters again and dragged him underwater twice during their show. Peters survived with minor injuries.
After suffering incurable
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 severity ...
from 2008 to 2017, Kasatka was
euthanized
Animal euthanasia ( euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditi ...
at age 40 on August 15, 2017.
Offspring
Kasatka was the matriarch of the San Diego Orca SeaWorld family.
She was the first captive cetacean to successively receive
artificial insemination
Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatme ...
, according to
John Hargrove, a trainer there.
She bore two daughters and two sons, resulting in six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren by the time of her death:
*Takara (born 1991), female (SeaWorld San Antonio)
**Kohana (born May 3, 2002 - September 14, 2022), female (Loro Parque)
*** Adán (born October 13, 2010), male (Loro Parque)
*** Victoria ("Vicky") (August 3, 2012 – June 16, 2013), female (Loro Parque)
**Trua (November 23, 2005), male (SeaWorld Orlando)
**Sakari (January 7, 2010), female (SeaWorld San Antonio)
**Kamea (December 6, 2013), female (SeaWorld San Antonio)
**Kyara (April 19, 2017 – July 24, 2017), female (SeaWorld San Antonio)
*Nakai (born September 1, 2001 - August 5, 2022), male (Seaworld San Diego); first orca conceived by artificial insemination
*Kalia
(born December 21, 2004), female (SeaWorld San Diego)
**Amaya (born December 2, 2014 – August 19, 2021), female (SeaWorld San Diego)
*Makani (born February 14, 2013), male (SeaWorld San Diego)
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 wh ...
*
List of captive orcas
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 ...
*
Captive killer whales
A number of orcas, also called killer whales, are held in Captivity (animal), captivity by humans for breeding or performance purposes. The practice of capturing and displaying orcas in exhibitions began in the 1960s, and they soon became popular ...
*
Killer whale attacks on humans
Orcas (or killer whales) are large, powerful apex predators. In the wild, there have been no reliably verified fatal attacks on humans. In captivity, there have been several non-fatal and four fatal attacks on humans since the 1970s. Experts are ...
*
Keiko, the star of the 1993 movie ''
Free Willy
''Free Willy'' is a 1993 American family drama film, directed by Simon Wincer, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Jennie Lew Tugend, written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman from a story by Walker and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures ...
''
References
External links
SeaWorld
1976 animal births
2017 animal deaths
Individual orcas
Individual animals in the United States
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