Shamu (unknown – August 16, 1971) was a captive orca that appeared in shows 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 the mid/late 1960s. She was the fourth orca ever captured, and the second female. She was caught in October 1965 and died in August 1971, after about six years of captivity. After her death, the name Shamu continued to be used in SeaWorld "Shamu" shows for different orcas in different SeaWorld parks.

Early life

Shamu was the first known intentional live capture of a healthy orca as the three previous captures (

Wanda Wanda is a female given name of Poland, Polish origin. It probably derives from the tribal name of the Wends.Campbell, Mike"Meaning, Origin, and History of the Name Wanda."''Behind the Name.'' Accessed on August 12, 2010. The name has long been po ...

Moby Doll Moby Doll was the first orca (killer whale) to survive in captivity for more than two days, and the second to be displayed in a public aquarium exhibit. The availability, for the first time, of a killer whale that could be studied at close quarte ...

and

Namu Namu or NAMU may refer to: *The North American Monetary Union *Namu, British Columbia, a town in Canada *Namu Atoll, an atoll in the Pacific Ocean *Namu doll, a type of Pullip doll *Yang Erche Namu, a Chinese singer and writer of Mosuo ethnicity ...

) had been more opportunistic. The very young, 14-foot (4.25m), 2000 lb (900 kg) Southern resident orca was captured by Ted Griffin off Penn Cove,

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

in October 1965 to be a companion for the male orca

at Griffin's

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

public aquarium. Her name means ‘Friend of Namu’ (alternatively 'She-Namu'). Shamu was sold to SeaWorld in San Diego in December 1965.

Captivity

Shamu was retired from performing after an incident on April 19, 1971, in which she bit the legs and hips of Annette Eckis, a SeaWorld employee who was told to ride her as part of a filmed publicity event, and refused to release the woman until other workers came to the rescue and pried the whale's jaws apart with a pole.Eckis v. Sea World Corp. iv. No. 14458. Court of Appeals of California, Fourth Appellate District, Division One. November 19, 1976. 4 Cal. App. 3d 1br>justia.com link
The employee had been asked to ride Shamu while wearing a bikini, and had not known that the orca had previously attacked people who wore ordinary bathing suits and was only conditioned to perform with trainers wearing wetsuits. Shamu had also been showing signs of erratic behavior and of being upset just before the incident. Shamu died about four months later, on August 16, 1971.

References

External links

"Era of the Orca Cowboys" article by Daniel Francis and Gil Hewlett in ''The Tyee'' webzine, May 16, 2008
{{Authority control Individual orcas 1971 animal deaths SeaWorld San Diego Southern resident orcas

Early life

Captivity

See also

References

External links