Kayla (whale)
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Kayla is a (female) orca whale who was born on November 26, 1988 at SeaWorld, San Antonio, Texas, where she currently lives. Kayla's parents were Kenau* and Orky II*. Kayla never met her father Orky II because he died exactly two months prior to her birth.
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[edit] Family Members
- Mother: Kenau*
- Father: Orky II*
- Half-sisters: Kiva*, Orkid, Corky II's calf of 1985
- Half Brother: Spooky*, Corky II's calf of 1977*
- Grandmother: Licka (A8)*
- Aunts: Corky, Havannah (A28), Sonora (A42), Stripe (A23)*
- Uncles: Top Notch (A5*, Foster (A26)*
- Cousions: Kelkpa (A57)*,Surf (A66), Current (A79), Okisollo (A27)*, Ripple (A43), Fife (A60), Midsummer (A69)
- Great-Grandmother: Eve (A9)*
- Great-Great-Grand Mother: A7*
- Daugther: Halyn
- Mate: Keet
[edit] Movements
Kayla only lived with Kenau for the first two and a half years of her life. Kenau was moved to SeaWorld Orlando in January of 1991 and Kayla was moved to SeaWorld Aurora, Ohio in April. Kayla would never see her mother again; Kenau* died on August 6, 1991. Kayla would live in Aurora, Ohio for the next eight years with another young female named Katerina*, who was just three weeks older than her, from 1991 to 1994. After Katerina* was moved out, another much older female named Winnie was moved in.
In November of 1999, Kayla and Winnie were both moved out of the park. They were transferred to SeaWorld San Antonio. Kayla and Winnie joined a female named Haida II* and her son Kyuquot. A young male named Keto arrived in March of 2001. Haida II* died on August 1 of that year, making Winnie the new dominant female.
Winnie died on April 11, 2002. Kayla became the new dominant orca in the stadium and has been so ever since. After the death of Winnie, only three whales were left in the park: Kayla, Kyuquot, and Keto. This did not last very long because a young female by the name of Unna arrived in December of that year. Unna was moved to the park to settle down Kyuquot and Keto, because the two maturing males were constantly fighting over Kayla.
Three new whales named Keet, Tuar, and Tekoa arrived in San Antonio on April 25, 2004; all three ware males.
[edit] Halyn
Kayla gave birth to her first calf on October 9, 2005. The female calf was named Halyn, but unfortunately, Kayla rejected the calf for no known reason and refused to care for her. Halyn was moved to a special animal care facility to be hand raised. Kayla likely rejected her calf because she had never been exposed to a young calf before and didn't know how to deal with it. She had never witnessed an orca birth before and there were no other experienced mothers to help her with Halyn. Halyn previously resided in Animal Care in a different part of the park, and in May she joined her SeaWorld orca family at Shamu Stadium. Halyn's father is Keet. A possible adopted mother for Halyn is the other dominant female, Unna, who suffered a stillbirth in April.
[edit] SeaWorld
Kayla, who is now 18 years old, is the second largest whale in the park (just behind Kyuquot). She measures about 18 feet long and weighs in at approximately 6,000 pounds. Kayla is an extremely gentle and affectionate orca. She loves attention and is very willing to learn and please. She almost always performs as she is asked full heartedly (except when she doesn't feel like it, then none of the other whales want to do it!). She is a very quick learner and an agile whale; Kayla can do many high-agility stunts very well. Trainers do water work with her a lot, which means they enter the water with her on a consistent basis. Kayla gets along well with all of the orcas, but spends most of her time with Keet and/or Unna.
Being the dominant female, Kayla reigns supreme in the tank and she decides what goes. Sometimes, though, she will share the dominance with the other adult female, Unna. Some predict Unna will take over the matriarch position when she is grown, being as Kayla can be submissive to other whales, just as she was to Winnie at SeaWorld Ohio (now closed) Kayla currently lives with five other whales: Kyuquot, Keet, Tuar, Unna, and Kayla's calf, Halyn.
[edit] Kayla's Move to Orlando
On November 18th, 2006 Kayla was transferred to Sea World Orlando leaving behind a mate Keet, and their daughter Halyn who will likely be raised by Unna. Taku however took her place in San Antionio.
[edit] See also
- Shamu
- Keiko (orca), the star of the 1993 movie Free Willy
- SeaWorld
