Katina (whale)
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Katina is a female orca, or killer whale, who lives in SeaWorld Orlando, Florida. She was captured from Iceland at about 2 years of age on October 26, 1978. She is the most successful breeding female orca in captivity.
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[edit] Transfers
Upon her capture, Katina was purchased by Marineland in Niagra Falls, Canada. She was shipped to the facility soon after. However, she did not spend much time there. Sometime between April and June of 1979, Katina was bought by SeaWorld. She was sent to their park in San Diego. In 1982, Katina was moved to the park in Aurora, Ohio with another female named Kasatka, with whom she was captured in 1978. For two years the two would perform in the Ohio park during the summer months and then be moved back to San Diego for the winter. Finally, in September or October of 1984, Katina was transferred to the SeaWorld in Orlando. She has remained there ever since.
[edit] Birth of Kalina
It was in early spring of 1984 at SeaWorld San Diego where Katina became pregnant. She had mated with a male named Winston. Soon afterward, she was moved back to Aurora for the summer. While there, the trainers soon realized she was pregnant. Because of this, she was moved to Orlando in the end of the summer season. This is where she would give birth.
On September 26, 1985 Katina went into labor. A few hours later, she bore her very first calf. The infant was a female, who was named Kalina. Although 20 orca calves had been born in captivity before Kalina, none of them had survived. This made Kalina the first orca calf to be successfully born and raised in captivity, which made Katina the first successful mother. The success of the captive orca breeding program began with Katina in 1985.
[edit] Katina's Other Calves and Grandchildren
In early 1987, an adult male named Kanduke arrived in Orlando. He and Katina soon mated. Katina bore her second calf on November 4, 1988. It was another female. She was named Katerina. Katerina was transferred out of Orlando in early 1991 at a very early age. Katina would never see her daughter again. Katerina died on May 5, 1999 in SeaWorld San Antonio at 10.5 years of age.
A male named Tilikum came to SeaWorld in Januay of 1992. It wasn't long before Katina was pregnant again. She gave birth to her first son on September 9, 1993; the calf was named Taku. Just a few months prior to Taku's birth, Katina's first-born calf Kalina gave birth to her first calf, Keet, on February 2, 1993; thus making Katina a grandmother. Keet was born in SeaWorld San Antonio, where Kalina was living at the time.
Katina's next calf came on December 27, 1996. It was a female and she was named Unna. Her fifth calf was a male born on August 25, 2002; he would later be named Ikaika. Both Unna and Ikaika were, as Taku was, fathered by Tilikum.
Recently, Katina gave birth to her sixth calf on September 18, 2006. The calf is female and has yet to be named. .The calf appears to be in good health. The father of the calf is a deceased male orca named Slash* who lived at SeaWorld San Diego. This means that the calf was concived through AI.
Besides Keet, Katina has three other grandchildren (all born to Kalina) and two great-grandchildren. Kalina has three other calves: Keto (male; born 1995), Tuar (male; born 1999), and Skyla (female; born 2004). She has anothert grandchild who is sired by her Taku born to Takara named Trua. Keet, Kalina's oldest calf, has fathered two daughters of his own: Kalia (2004) and Halyn (2005), making Katina the first ever great-grandmother.
[edit] Katina Currently
Katina is about 30 years old and is healthy and doing well. Measuring about 16 feet 4 inches and weighing in at about 5,400 pounds, Katina is on the small side compared to most other females. She is an excellent performer and is very reliable. She is one of their principle whales for performances and is used daily. Katina is generally very sweet-natured and patient and has never been involved in any known incidents with one of her handlers.
Being the matriarch of the whales, Katina is rather dominant. She can somtimes, although rarely, be stubborn and refuse to perform. When this happens, usually all of the other whales will follow suit.
Katina only lives with two of her six calves (Kalina and the new calf of 2006) and one of her grandchildren(Trua). She is always with her calf, but is also with Kalina, Takara, and Trua quite often. A new female named Kayla arrived in Orlando recently from SeaWorld San Antonio. She has been introduced to Katina, and the two have recently been spending time together.
