Kasatka

Kasatka performing "The Shamu Adventure". The stage at Shamu Stadium has since been redesigned to accommodate the new "One Ocean" show.

Kasatka is a female orca who lives at SeaWorld San Diego and the mother of Takara,^[1] Nakai,^[2] Kalia.^[3] and Makani. She was captured off the coast of Iceland on October 26, 1978, at the age of one year. Her name probably comes from the Russian word Kasatka (Russian: Касатка), a generic name for orcas. She is 17.7 feet (5.4 m) long and weighs 5,950 pounds (2,700 kg).^[4]

Kasatka became a grandmother for the first time when her daughter Takara gave birth to her first calf, a female born May 3, 2002, named Kohana. Takara gave birth a second time, on November 23, 2005, to a male named Trua in SeaWorld Orlando. Kasatka was separated from Takara on April 24, 2004, where she was moved to SeaWorld Orlando. Takara has since given birth in 2010, to a female calf named Sakari. Takara had another daughter in 2013, named Kamea. Kalia gave birth to Kasatka's fifth grandchild and fourth granddaughter, Amaya, on December 2, 2014 at 12:34 pm.

Kasatka has shown aggression to humans. In 1993 Kasatka tried to bite a trainer during a show, and again in 1999.^[5] On November 30, 2006, Kasatka grabbed the same trainer from the 1999 incident, Ken Peters, and dragged him underwater twice during their show.^[6] The trainer survived with minor injuries.^[7]

Kasatka gave birth to her fourth calf, a male, on February 14, 2013.^[8] He was later named Makani. "At birth Makani (Hawaiian for "Wind") measured about 6.5 feet and weighed in between 300 and 350 pounds. His father is Kshamenk, via artficial insemination."^[9] Her daughter Kalia gave birth to her first calf, Amaya, on December 2, 2014 at 12:34 pm.

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