My Experiences with Untrained Young Orcas, Sea World, San Diego, 1980
by Robyn Waayers
In the year 1980 I lived with my family on Mission Bay in San Diego. I was fourteen at the time, but had become very interested in marine biology as a potential career goal, and in cetaceans, specifically. I was a home-schooled child and had a combination of more free time than the average fourteen-year-old, and a strong desire to learn more about cetaceans, spending much time reading every available book pertaining to whales and dolphins that I could acquire at the public library or in used bookstores. I also had always been (and continue to be) a person who was drawn to interactions with other species. In those days, an annual pass to Sea World was very inexpensive and an obvious choice as a ticket to seeing whales and dolphins in the flesh. I started visiting Sea World in the late winter of 1980 and continued visiting regularly until early October, when my family moved farther inland and the park was much less accessible to me.
Encouraged by my father, who gave me much good advice as a scientist-in-training, I kept a fairly detailed journal of my visits to the whales and dolphins, and attempted to take photos to supplement my written record-keeping. I also made one audio recording of Kotar the orca.
Over these months, I met a variety of other regular visitors to the cetaceans in the petting pool at Sea World. At the time of this writing, I have lost touch with all of these individuals, but have made contact with others who visited, but whom I did not encounter at that time.
In retrospect, I now understand the circumstances leading up to the placement of the young orcas in the Sea World petting pool, and more about orcas in general. I now know that they were forcibly removed from the waters and their families off the coast of Iceland when they were less than five years old. Based on our understanding of orca intelligence and social structure, this must have been a highly traumatizing event in these whales' lives. Then they were confined in a relatively tiny pool, with virtually no enrichment available to relieve their boredom other than the other cetaceans confined with them (mostly dolphins), and the human visitors, and the occasional float offered them to play with by Sea World staff, or the occasional diver who entered the pool to perform maintenance or other duties.
All of these orcas were untrained and interacting spontaneously with the humans and cetaceans around them. This created a somewhat unique peek at their personalities and hints at their intelligence and social skills that later would be constrained by the necessity to perform when they were moved to the various "Shamu Stadium" environments that they occupied in future years.
A view of the petting pool from the "Sky Tower" showing its general shape and size. It was symmetrically bean-shaped.
Below I will provide a summary of details of my visits to these orcas modified from the journal I kept in 1980.
On April 23, 1980, my brother, Alan Deeley, purchased an annual pass to Sea World and often joined me there. He was 18 years old at the time and attending community college nearby, with an interest in science and math (he later became a mathematics professor). He became highly interactive with the whales, in his own style. He accompanied me on and off until the fall of 1980 when we moved away from the area.
A brief explanation of my attitude towards and attraction to other animal species, leading up to the orca encounters: Over the years of childhood, I befriended cats, horses, and dogs whenever the opportunity to do so presented itself. I grew up with many family cats and bonded strongly with them, and sometimes made special visits to neighbors who owned kittens, simply to be able to bond with them. At the age of ten years, I made many bicycle trips to a Standardbred farm in Delaware to attempt to befriend the horses in the fields at the farm. Slowly I established relationships with several specific individuals, and later was allowed to visit new mothers and foals in the stables after the owner of the farm saw how interested I was in her animals. I have always had an almost magnetic draw to establishing relationships with other species, and this was the state of mind that I was in when I first met the orcas, pilot whales and dolphins at the Sea World petting pool facility. My almost instinctive desire was to get to know the cetaceans and form bonds with them. This proved very easy to do, as the cetaceans in the pool seemed to be extremely open to such overtures, and their transparent friendliness almost immediately quelled (most) fears I might have had about them and their ability to do me physical harm.
Highlights from my journal entries. NOTE: I had paid several visits prior to the first journal entry below. I also paid visits that were not recorded in my journal, as occasionally I would make a reference to a visit a few days prior to a certain entry. This is especially noticeable for much of April and all of May and June. I'm quite certain I visited fairly regularly then, but did not maintain my journal.
by Robyn Waayers
In the year 1980 I lived with my family on Mission Bay in San Diego. I was fourteen at the time, but had become very interested in marine biology as a potential career goal, and in cetaceans, specifically. I was a home-schooled child and had a combination of more free time than the average fourteen-year-old, and a strong desire to learn more about cetaceans, spending much time reading every available book pertaining to whales and dolphins that I could acquire at the public library or in used bookstores. I also had always been (and continue to be) a person who was drawn to interactions with other species. In those days, an annual pass to Sea World was very inexpensive and an obvious choice as a ticket to seeing whales and dolphins in the flesh. I started visiting Sea World in the late winter of 1980 and continued visiting regularly until early October, when my family moved farther inland and the park was much less accessible to me.
Encouraged by my father, who gave me much good advice as a scientist-in-training, I kept a fairly detailed journal of my visits to the whales and dolphins, and attempted to take photos to supplement my written record-keeping. I also made one audio recording of Kotar the orca.
Over these months, I met a variety of other regular visitors to the cetaceans in the petting pool at Sea World. At the time of this writing, I have lost touch with all of these individuals, but have made contact with others who visited, but whom I did not encounter at that time.
In retrospect, I now understand the circumstances leading up to the placement of the young orcas in the Sea World petting pool, and more about orcas in general. I now know that they were forcibly removed from the waters and their families off the coast of Iceland when they were less than five years old. Based on our understanding of orca intelligence and social structure, this must have been a highly traumatizing event in these whales' lives. Then they were confined in a relatively tiny pool, with virtually no enrichment available to relieve their boredom other than the other cetaceans confined with them (mostly dolphins), and the human visitors, and the occasional float offered them to play with by Sea World staff, or the occasional diver who entered the pool to perform maintenance or other duties.
All of these orcas were untrained and interacting spontaneously with the humans and cetaceans around them. This created a somewhat unique peek at their personalities and hints at their intelligence and social skills that later would be constrained by the necessity to perform when they were moved to the various "Shamu Stadium" environments that they occupied in future years.
A view of the petting pool from the "Sky Tower" showing its general shape and size. It was symmetrically bean-shaped.
Below I will provide a summary of details of my visits to these orcas modified from the journal I kept in 1980.
On April 23, 1980, my brother, Alan Deeley, purchased an annual pass to Sea World and often joined me there. He was 18 years old at the time and attending community college nearby, with an interest in science and math (he later became a mathematics professor). He became highly interactive with the whales, in his own style. He accompanied me on and off until the fall of 1980 when we moved away from the area.
A brief explanation of my attitude towards and attraction to other animal species, leading up to the orca encounters: Over the years of childhood, I befriended cats, horses, and dogs whenever the opportunity to do so presented itself. I grew up with many family cats and bonded strongly with them, and sometimes made special visits to neighbors who owned kittens, simply to be able to bond with them. At the age of ten years, I made many bicycle trips to a Standardbred farm in Delaware to attempt to befriend the horses in the fields at the farm. Slowly I established relationships with several specific individuals, and later was allowed to visit new mothers and foals in the stables after the owner of the farm saw how interested I was in her animals. I have always had an almost magnetic draw to establishing relationships with other species, and this was the state of mind that I was in when I first met the orcas, pilot whales and dolphins at the Sea World petting pool facility. My almost instinctive desire was to get to know the cetaceans and form bonds with them. This proved very easy to do, as the cetaceans in the pool seemed to be extremely open to such overtures, and their transparent friendliness almost immediately quelled (most) fears I might have had about them and their ability to do me physical harm.
Highlights from my journal entries. NOTE: I had paid several visits prior to the first journal entry below. I also paid visits that were not recorded in my journal, as occasionally I would make a reference to a visit a few days prior to a certain entry. This is especially noticeable for much of April and all of May and June. I'm quite certain I visited fairly regularly then, but did not maintain my journal.
Friday: March 14, 1980
Two orcas and one pilot whale competed for attention from me, wishing to be rubbed and petted. I had learned by now that the whales and dolphins were not driven to come to food in the form of fish (which were sold in little trays at a booth adjacent to the petting pool). On this day, I saw a "…man put his hand in the water for a killer whale to investigate." That emboldened me to do the same and I "…found that the killer whale is very gentle -- not so ferocious as most people say." Remember, at this point I had read a lot of outdated literature from the 1950s and '60s about orcas which shamelessly portrayed them as "Wolves of the Sea." So I was a little wary. I also observed an orca play with a fish that was offered to it, letting it float in and out of its mouth, and then taking tiny bits out of the fish until it was completely disintegrated. Signs of play behavior or behavior to try to relieve boredom?
An early photo of an orca, presumably Kotar. © R. J. Waayers 1980
Wednesday: March 26, 1980
I was obviously much more emboldened, and rubbed a whale's tongue on this day. The whale opened its mouth and "stuck" its tongue out so I rubbed it. Then, "After a little bit the whale closed his mouth slightly and I got scared and pulled my hand out fast." I sustained a couple scratches from its teeth, but was unfazed, as I continued to rub their tongues on and off for the remainder of my visits, when the opportunity arose. The whales clearly enjoy this, and trainers sometimes used this as a reward.
At the end of this day, the water in the pool was drained, in order to take blood samples from the whales and dolphins. I was told it would be about three feet deep at its lowest. Generally, I was not shy about approaching the Tour Guides who often narrated at a podium with a PA system at the pool. Presumably this is how I gained this information.
Monday: March 31, 1980
I reported that Sea World was extremely crowded this day, and that I did not get to see much of the whales. I mentioned finishing off a roll of film, taking dolphin head shots and pictures of "Shamu" at the whale stadium. At this point I still did not know the names of any of the whales.
Friday: April 25, 1980
I only reported on dolphin activity in the pool this day. The Pacific Bottlenose dolphin Kai was mentioned. My brother Alan had purchased a Gold Pass (annual pass) two days previously. I reported that he didn't seem to like Sea World as much as I had hoped. That changed as time passed, as Alan became very fascinated with the cetaceans in the petting pool and maintained fond memories of them for the rest of his life (Alan passed away from Stage IV melanoma in 2011).
Friday: July 4, 1980
On July 3, new dolphins were placed in the petting pool, including a nine-month old juvenile named Scarlet. Another new addition to the pool was a Medina panel (a type of tuna fishing net used to minimize dolphin mortality when used in purse-seining operations), which bisected the pool into roughly equal halves, across its narrower dimension. Presumably this net was being tested with the captive animals in the pool, but I never gained specific information about it. The holes in its mesh were fairly small (about half an inch wide, as I remember) and the top of the net was level with the water line in the pool. On one side of the new panel were dolphins, and on the other side were Kotar, Kasatka, a pilot whale and several more dolphins. I reported that Kotar spent a fair amount of time pushing at the net and watching the activity on the other side of it, and that Kasatka "…didn't seem to care much about it at all".
Sunday: July 6, 1980
I made a comment about Canuck (a whale in the stadium) "…swimming aimlessly around, calling to no one in particular." But even more interestingly, I commented that this was a behavior that Kotar exhibited sometimes. Suggestive of boredom, loneliness, or frustration, perhaps?
Wednesday: July 9, 1980
Two orcas and one pilot whale competed for attention from me, wishing to be rubbed and petted. I had learned by now that the whales and dolphins were not driven to come to food in the form of fish (which were sold in little trays at a booth adjacent to the petting pool). On this day, I saw a "…man put his hand in the water for a killer whale to investigate." That emboldened me to do the same and I "…found that the killer whale is very gentle -- not so ferocious as most people say." Remember, at this point I had read a lot of outdated literature from the 1950s and '60s about orcas which shamelessly portrayed them as "Wolves of the Sea." So I was a little wary. I also observed an orca play with a fish that was offered to it, letting it float in and out of its mouth, and then taking tiny bits out of the fish until it was completely disintegrated. Signs of play behavior or behavior to try to relieve boredom?
An early photo of an orca, presumably Kotar. © R. J. Waayers 1980
Wednesday: March 26, 1980
I was obviously much more emboldened, and rubbed a whale's tongue on this day. The whale opened its mouth and "stuck" its tongue out so I rubbed it. Then, "After a little bit the whale closed his mouth slightly and I got scared and pulled my hand out fast." I sustained a couple scratches from its teeth, but was unfazed, as I continued to rub their tongues on and off for the remainder of my visits, when the opportunity arose. The whales clearly enjoy this, and trainers sometimes used this as a reward.
At the end of this day, the water in the pool was drained, in order to take blood samples from the whales and dolphins. I was told it would be about three feet deep at its lowest. Generally, I was not shy about approaching the Tour Guides who often narrated at a podium with a PA system at the pool. Presumably this is how I gained this information.
Monday: March 31, 1980
I reported that Sea World was extremely crowded this day, and that I did not get to see much of the whales. I mentioned finishing off a roll of film, taking dolphin head shots and pictures of "Shamu" at the whale stadium. At this point I still did not know the names of any of the whales.
Friday: April 25, 1980
I only reported on dolphin activity in the pool this day. The Pacific Bottlenose dolphin Kai was mentioned. My brother Alan had purchased a Gold Pass (annual pass) two days previously. I reported that he didn't seem to like Sea World as much as I had hoped. That changed as time passed, as Alan became very fascinated with the cetaceans in the petting pool and maintained fond memories of them for the rest of his life (Alan passed away from Stage IV melanoma in 2011).
Friday: July 4, 1980
On July 3, new dolphins were placed in the petting pool, including a nine-month old juvenile named Scarlet. Another new addition to the pool was a Medina panel (a type of tuna fishing net used to minimize dolphin mortality when used in purse-seining operations), which bisected the pool into roughly equal halves, across its narrower dimension. Presumably this net was being tested with the captive animals in the pool, but I never gained specific information about it. The holes in its mesh were fairly small (about half an inch wide, as I remember) and the top of the net was level with the water line in the pool. On one side of the new panel were dolphins, and on the other side were Kotar, Kasatka, a pilot whale and several more dolphins. I reported that Kotar spent a fair amount of time pushing at the net and watching the activity on the other side of it, and that Kasatka "…didn't seem to care much about it at all".
Sunday: July 6, 1980
I made a comment about Canuck (a whale in the stadium) "…swimming aimlessly around, calling to no one in particular." But even more interestingly, I commented that this was a behavior that Kotar exhibited sometimes. Suggestive of boredom, loneliness, or frustration, perhaps?
Wednesday: July 9, 1980
Kotar, making eye contact. © R. J. Waayers 1980
I took quite a few photos this day, especially of Kotar and Kasatka. Kasatka was more difficult to photograph for some reason and I have few images of her now.
While trying to photograph Kasatka, Kotar was begging for a rubdown. I would only intermittently pet Kotar. When I took my hand off of him, he would roll over and make eye contact.
Kotar (in front) and Kasatka (behind). © R. J. Waayers 1980
Saturday: July 12, 1980
I visited the petting pool as early as possible in the morning. It was quite crowded. I brought a tape recorder and a small microphone to try to make a recording of his vocalizations. The results were actually fairly decent, considering the simplicity of the recording equipment. I have since transferred the recording to a digital format from its original cassette format, and posted it online.
Regarding Kotar and the recording session, at first he was calm and approached Alan and I for a rubdown. He was not vocalizing, though, so I moved to another area of the pool. Kotar followed, but seemed to be ill at ease with the microphone. Alan attempted to rub him down, and at this point Kotar was vocalizing ("various squeaks, squawks and puttering noises") but he was still uncomfortable about the microphone's presence, and at one point he floated by the ledge, "…his body quivering and twitching…" still looking for a "normal" rubdown! Kotar swam around the pool, slapping the water with his pectoral flipper, splashing us as we followed. He watched us closely all the while. He also squirted water at me twice, the second time when I moved the mic near his head in the vicinity of the podium. He seemed happiest when he would roll over belly upwards being rubbed by Alan, and make sounds just underwater. The sharp puttering sounds were made in air with his ventral side down.
Sunday: July 13, 1980
On this day at the petting pool, Kotar behaved slightly differently with me, as compared to two other regulars who were there that day (named Matthew and Little John). For the others, who had been visiting the animals in the pool longer than me, Kotar would roll over on his back and ask to be rubbed on his ventral side, between his flippers. At one point Kotar, while swimming past my arm in the water, began to roll over as if to interact with me as he did with the other two, but seemed to change his mind at the last moment and swim on. Mistaken identity?
For me, he assumed his more typical ventral-side-down position. At one point, he did roll over part-way for me though, and made eye contact. He also vocalized while being petted (I was speaking to him, so it was a "dialogue").
Kasatka was very friendly and affectionate with the other two regulars, and was indifferent to me, I noticed.
Later in the day, I noticed the two orcas spyhopping in the vicinity of the Medina net, and looking as if they were contemplating jumping over, but not doing so in the end.
Monday: July 14, 1980
Kotar became more extravagant in his enjoyment of attention on this day, and more trusting of me. Initially, he allowed me to rub him down in the typical ventral-side-down position, and then he rolled over. I splashed his tummy and chest, and then he let me rub his tummy and chin. Soon after, he slid out on the lower ledge on his side and could be "cuddled" a bit, and stroked the length of his body. He also enjoyed having the bases of his pectoral flippers rubbed. He almost continuously kept eye contact during this period. I tended to keep up a constant chatter with him, and he would vocalize back periodically, under water. A little later, Kotar unhesitatingly slid out on the lower ledge for more rubbing and "dialoguing". When Kasatka and the pilot whale took notice of the high level of attention that Kotar was receiving, they swam over and began to push and shove against me and against Kotar also. Then Kotar began to shift his gaze to them, and they pushed a bit harder for attention.
At this time, my frequency of visitation was high, as the dates of my journal show, and this was probably reinforcing Kotar's, as well as the other whales' comfort levels around me.
Monday: July 21, 1980
The whales were tending to splash quite a bit today. Kotar rolled over on his side and splashed water with his pectoral flippers. I splashed back. This clearly was a game for him (and me, obviously!). He always made eye contact when doing this. He also squirted water at me. The whales seem to share with humans the concept that splashing and squirting water equates with fun and enjoyment (just as people tend to do). And of course all this was fairly spontaneous behavior on the whale's part, as they had little to no formal training at this stage, as far as I know.
Kasatka did quite a bit of lobtailing, only in the vicinity of where people were standing around the edge of the pool. At one point she swam quietly around the pool, and then only lobtailed as she passed me!
As I would interpret it, the splashing that is a back-and-forth exchange between whale and human has a more positive, playful feel to it, and the lobtailing seemed to be more of a one-sided behavior, because if I or anyone else tried to splash back, typically the whale would have swum out of easy reach. Some have suggested that lobtailing in the wild may be either just a way of making a loud noise, or possibly a sign of aggression.
Also on this day, the pilot whale wriggled over the net to the other side opposite the orcas. She seemed (to me) to be encouraging the orcas to follow, but they didn't follow her.
Tuesday: July 22, 1980
The orcas showed a new behavior this day, and exhibited some coordinated play with me.
Initially Kasatka would slide out on the lower ledge about seven feet away from me, and then look at me. After I walked over to her, she would flip herself off the ledge and swim back the way I came from. Then she would swim up to the podium area and stay stationary, looking in my direction. As soon as I would arrive up there, she would swim back in the direction that I came from again.
Later, Kotar and Kasatka did this behavior together, one whale sliding out of the ledge on one side of me, and the other whale doing the same on my other side. Then they would switch positions. They always made eye contact during this play.
Another behavior I described on this day was Kotar's play with his fish. Kotar would occasionally toss his fish through the air. I had observed this on a recent prior visit, also. He also would squirt water under water at me at close range, with a fish in his mouth. The fish would shoot out consistently on the third squirt. Alan and I came to call this (and its variants) "The Fish Game". Usually following this, he would fling the fish around the pool several times (a behavior that Scarlet the young dolphin also was seen doing), and eventually he would eat the fish.
The whales seemed very skilled at inventing games to relieve boredom.
Sunday: July 27, 1980
Kotar was very unresponsive on this day. He allowed one rather long rubdown by me. And he did bring a fish over for a short play session. He was friendlier towards Alan, although not as much as was normal for him. Other than that, he was disinterested in human interaction. Kasatka was also fairly unresponsive, although she allowed me to splash her gently and seemed to enjoy it.
Kotar also stayed in one position much of the time, just to the right of the narrowest part of the pool, looking towards the podium area and on the opposite side from it. The Medina tuna net had been removed at this point (temporarily, it turned out). Kotar allowed people who appeared to be one-time visitors ("tourists") to pet him more than usual, although he was passive about the interaction.
The petting pool. Alan is visible, wearing an orange T-shirt and reaching towards an orca. © R. J. Waayers 1980
Monday: July 28, 1980
Kotar was more lively and friendly on this day, and played several types of games. This was the first day that I described what Alan and I called "The Push Game", which involved a human pushing fairly forcefully downward on a whale's or dolphin's rostrum, then the cetacean would propel itself upward into the hands of the human, who would push down more vigorously. This could go back and forth for a little while.
I also reported that Kasatka was friendlier than on the previous day, although she also snapped repeatedly. My description of her snapping explained that she never touched my hand with her teeth during this action, but seemed to be sending a message instead: "Leave me alone."
I also noticed that when Kotar exhaled he expelled some phlegm and rather stale-smelling air. So he had a cold. That, in my mind, explained his less responsive and passive behavior of the day before.
Sunday: August 3, 1980
Kotar continued to blow phlegm on this day. He was fairly non-interactive with me, although he did at one point play a very vigorous version of the "Push Game". Every time he swam upward, he would shoot quite far up out of the water, almost vertically. He also sometimes just pushed hard against my hand, vocalizing at the same time.
He did not interact with Alan at all on this day.
Kotar was very unresponsive on this day. He allowed one rather long rubdown by me. And he did bring a fish over for a short play session. He was friendlier towards Alan, although not as much as was normal for him. Other than that, he was disinterested in human interaction. Kasatka was also fairly unresponsive, although she allowed me to splash her gently and seemed to enjoy it.
Kotar also stayed in one position much of the time, just to the right of the narrowest part of the pool, looking towards the podium area and on the opposite side from it. The Medina tuna net had been removed at this point (temporarily, it turned out). Kotar allowed people who appeared to be one-time visitors ("tourists") to pet him more than usual, although he was passive about the interaction.
The petting pool. Alan is visible, wearing an orange T-shirt and reaching towards an orca. © R. J. Waayers 1980
Monday: July 28, 1980
Kotar was more lively and friendly on this day, and played several types of games. This was the first day that I described what Alan and I called "The Push Game", which involved a human pushing fairly forcefully downward on a whale's or dolphin's rostrum, then the cetacean would propel itself upward into the hands of the human, who would push down more vigorously. This could go back and forth for a little while.
I also reported that Kasatka was friendlier than on the previous day, although she also snapped repeatedly. My description of her snapping explained that she never touched my hand with her teeth during this action, but seemed to be sending a message instead: "Leave me alone."
I also noticed that when Kotar exhaled he expelled some phlegm and rather stale-smelling air. So he had a cold. That, in my mind, explained his less responsive and passive behavior of the day before.
Sunday: August 3, 1980
Kotar continued to blow phlegm on this day. He was fairly non-interactive with me, although he did at one point play a very vigorous version of the "Push Game". Every time he swam upward, he would shoot quite far up out of the water, almost vertically. He also sometimes just pushed hard against my hand, vocalizing at the same time.
He did not interact with Alan at all on this day.
Sunday: August 17, 1980
A new Medina panel was installed in the pool. This new one extended about three feet above the surface of the pool, unlike the previous one, whose top was level with the surface of the water. The whales did not seem particularly bothered by it.
I also described some interesting interspecies interaction between the pilot whale (who at this point I identified as Yvonne) and Kotar. I had been seeing this interaction for a while, apparently, but had not described it until this date. I described how when Kotar was stretched out on the lower ledge, sometimes the pilot whale would swim over very forcefully and attempt to sort of ram Kotar off of it. Usually they would both end up on the ledge together, and would proceed to splash water at each other with their flippers, making eye contact with each other as they did so.
Kasatka was especially friendly to me on this day. It is clear from my journal, and my memories, that Kasatka and I did not have the same mellow relationship that Kotar and I did. In my recollection, she was always the more moody whale, and not as predictably affectionate as Kotar.
But on this day Kasatka brought me a fish, and played "The Fish Game" (the squirting-underwater game described previously). I was flattered as this was a rare sort of event between Kasatka and myself. She also allowed me to rub her down quite extensively, including her tail flukes.
At this point, I had a strong impression that the orcas were far more controlled and aware of their behaviors with people than the pilot whale or the dolphins. "They know just what hurts and what doesn't for a human, and are very careful not to bite or crush hands, arms, etc." I described the pilot whale as very rough, and constantly wanting to take one's hand in her mouth. I remember being a bit frightened of her at times, actually. I wrote: "Yesterday she squashed my fingers really hard and I still have a blue-ish color ground into my knuckles by her teeth!" I also described the dolphins as frequently being quite rough, and not as prone to controlling themselves as the orcas, sometimes hitting quite hard with their rostrums, and snapping at irregular times.
Kotar, unidentified dolphin and diver. © R. J. Waayers 1980
Tuesday: August 19, 1980
Kotar and Kasatka apparently were quite focused on the Medina net, and Kotar was vocalizing quite a bit. Then, when they noticed me, they both swam over for rubdowns, staying close to each other, Kotar continuing to be vocal, but now aiming his vocalizations at me. Kasatka swam a little faster, though, and reach me first. The two stayed close to each other and both enjoyed prolonged rubdowns. This was the longest rubdown that I had remembered being able to give Kasatka.
Wednesday: August 20, 1980
Kotar played "The Fish Game" quite a bit on this day. He brought approximately six fishes to me in the space of about an hour. The last fish he attempted to toss to me through the air. At first, he made a couple tosses in the direction opposite me, and quite a bit of water accompanied each toss. Then he tried throwing it towards me, but made such a gentle attempt, seemingly to avoid tossing too much water with the fish, that it only traveled a couple inches. I interpreted this as a deliberate attempt to minimize splashing when the goal was to toss the fish (and not play a splash game).
Kasatka also brought me a fish at one point, but the crowds were thick, and the people around me immediately tried to snatch the fish when it entered the water.
I also observed another interesting interspecies interaction involving Kasatka and the pilot whale. A small boy was attempting to feed a fish to the pilot whale, but Kasatka wanted it and tried to position herself in front of the boy, displacing the pilot whale. The boy was very determined to get that fish to the pilot whale, and ultimately succeeded in slipping it to her past Kasatka. When Kasatka realized what had occurred, she chased the pilot whale all around the pool, with no harm done to either in the end!
The whales were clearly quite competitive with each other, but ultimately kept the rules of the game civil.
Thursday: August 21, 1980
On this day, two visitors who were unfamiliar to me gained Kotar's almost undivided attention. One was a young man wearing a Greenpeace hat, and the other a young woman with a dolphin pendant. Kotar slid out on the lower ledge many times for extended rubdowns for them, and was very vocal. He was fairly unresponsive to me at this point. The whale's seemed to vary in their moods regarding whom they wished to be social with on any given occasion.
Saturday: August 23, 1980
Kotar allowed a gentle rubdown of his mouth on this day, and then became very fixated on this sort of treatment, opening his mouth each time he approached me, on and off for about an hour-and-a-half. The whales were all on one side of the net, and dolphins-only on the other side. After a while with the whales, I visited the dolphins for a bit, and then noticed Kotar hanging suspended in the water next to the net, occasionally giving it a push with his rostrum. After visiting with Kotar for a bit, he seemed placated after being "abandoned" in favor of the dolphins.
More evidence of a certain competitiveness amongst the cetaceans in the pool.
Later that day, I paid a second visit to the petting pool, and the whales' side was essentially completely packed with people taking up every bit of space along the edge. So I played with the dolphins on their side again. The whales both positioned themselves at the net, and pushed and shoved at it periodically. I put my fingers through the net for them, as there was still no room on the other side for me. Kotar's strategy at that point was to push very hard at the net as if to push through it, while Kasatka pulled on my fingers…gently but firmly. Their agitation level increased, and finally I was able to squeeze into a spot on their side and interact with them in a more "normal" manner. to edit.
A new Medina panel was installed in the pool. This new one extended about three feet above the surface of the pool, unlike the previous one, whose top was level with the surface of the water. The whales did not seem particularly bothered by it.
I also described some interesting interspecies interaction between the pilot whale (who at this point I identified as Yvonne) and Kotar. I had been seeing this interaction for a while, apparently, but had not described it until this date. I described how when Kotar was stretched out on the lower ledge, sometimes the pilot whale would swim over very forcefully and attempt to sort of ram Kotar off of it. Usually they would both end up on the ledge together, and would proceed to splash water at each other with their flippers, making eye contact with each other as they did so.
Kasatka was especially friendly to me on this day. It is clear from my journal, and my memories, that Kasatka and I did not have the same mellow relationship that Kotar and I did. In my recollection, she was always the more moody whale, and not as predictably affectionate as Kotar.
But on this day Kasatka brought me a fish, and played "The Fish Game" (the squirting-underwater game described previously). I was flattered as this was a rare sort of event between Kasatka and myself. She also allowed me to rub her down quite extensively, including her tail flukes.
At this point, I had a strong impression that the orcas were far more controlled and aware of their behaviors with people than the pilot whale or the dolphins. "They know just what hurts and what doesn't for a human, and are very careful not to bite or crush hands, arms, etc." I described the pilot whale as very rough, and constantly wanting to take one's hand in her mouth. I remember being a bit frightened of her at times, actually. I wrote: "Yesterday she squashed my fingers really hard and I still have a blue-ish color ground into my knuckles by her teeth!" I also described the dolphins as frequently being quite rough, and not as prone to controlling themselves as the orcas, sometimes hitting quite hard with their rostrums, and snapping at irregular times.
Kotar, unidentified dolphin and diver. © R. J. Waayers 1980
Tuesday: August 19, 1980
Kotar and Kasatka apparently were quite focused on the Medina net, and Kotar was vocalizing quite a bit. Then, when they noticed me, they both swam over for rubdowns, staying close to each other, Kotar continuing to be vocal, but now aiming his vocalizations at me. Kasatka swam a little faster, though, and reach me first. The two stayed close to each other and both enjoyed prolonged rubdowns. This was the longest rubdown that I had remembered being able to give Kasatka.
Wednesday: August 20, 1980
Kotar played "The Fish Game" quite a bit on this day. He brought approximately six fishes to me in the space of about an hour. The last fish he attempted to toss to me through the air. At first, he made a couple tosses in the direction opposite me, and quite a bit of water accompanied each toss. Then he tried throwing it towards me, but made such a gentle attempt, seemingly to avoid tossing too much water with the fish, that it only traveled a couple inches. I interpreted this as a deliberate attempt to minimize splashing when the goal was to toss the fish (and not play a splash game).
Kasatka also brought me a fish at one point, but the crowds were thick, and the people around me immediately tried to snatch the fish when it entered the water.
I also observed another interesting interspecies interaction involving Kasatka and the pilot whale. A small boy was attempting to feed a fish to the pilot whale, but Kasatka wanted it and tried to position herself in front of the boy, displacing the pilot whale. The boy was very determined to get that fish to the pilot whale, and ultimately succeeded in slipping it to her past Kasatka. When Kasatka realized what had occurred, she chased the pilot whale all around the pool, with no harm done to either in the end!
The whales were clearly quite competitive with each other, but ultimately kept the rules of the game civil.
Thursday: August 21, 1980
On this day, two visitors who were unfamiliar to me gained Kotar's almost undivided attention. One was a young man wearing a Greenpeace hat, and the other a young woman with a dolphin pendant. Kotar slid out on the lower ledge many times for extended rubdowns for them, and was very vocal. He was fairly unresponsive to me at this point. The whale's seemed to vary in their moods regarding whom they wished to be social with on any given occasion.
Saturday: August 23, 1980
Kotar allowed a gentle rubdown of his mouth on this day, and then became very fixated on this sort of treatment, opening his mouth each time he approached me, on and off for about an hour-and-a-half. The whales were all on one side of the net, and dolphins-only on the other side. After a while with the whales, I visited the dolphins for a bit, and then noticed Kotar hanging suspended in the water next to the net, occasionally giving it a push with his rostrum. After visiting with Kotar for a bit, he seemed placated after being "abandoned" in favor of the dolphins.
More evidence of a certain competitiveness amongst the cetaceans in the pool.
Later that day, I paid a second visit to the petting pool, and the whales' side was essentially completely packed with people taking up every bit of space along the edge. So I played with the dolphins on their side again. The whales both positioned themselves at the net, and pushed and shoved at it periodically. I put my fingers through the net for them, as there was still no room on the other side for me. Kotar's strategy at that point was to push very hard at the net as if to push through it, while Kasatka pulled on my fingers…gently but firmly. Their agitation level increased, and finally I was able to squeeze into a spot on their side and interact with them in a more "normal" manner. to edit.
Saturday: August 30, 1980
Alan and I learned from one of the Tour Guides on this day that Scarlet, the young dolphin, had been born in the petting pool, but was removed as the young orcas attempted to treat her as "food." This was supposedly October of 1979. As the story went, Sea World staff lifted Scarlet by hand out of the water for her protection while waiting for the equipment to arrive at the pool which would be used to transfer her elsewhere.
I never observed the orcas interacting aggressively with any dolphin during my period of visitation, but of course Scarlet was older at that point.
At this time of the year, the park stayed open until a little after dark. Alan and I visited the petting pool in the time just following dusk. The orcas seemed more excited than usual. Kasatka swam rapidly over to us right after we positioned ourselves by the edge of the pool, and grabbed my arm (gently)…only for a few seconds. Kotar wanted to pull on my fingers and/or hand. It was extremely crowded with people and Kotar was squirming about actively, attempting to pull on me, and I became worried about my fingers becoming entangled in (as I described them in my journal) "…those dreaded teeth!" I said in my journal that this had actually occurred once before (tooth/finger entanglement), and I was still rather wary, although the whales had never done me any harm, as described earlier.
I also described another game that had been played on and off with the whales and dolphins, "The Squirt Game". This involved squeezing ones palms together rapidly under water, to shoot a small amount of water at a whale's or dolphin's mouth. I described this evening attempting to play the squirt game with Kotar, and his insistence on pulling on my thumb instead.
Kotar, on a crowded day. © R. J. Waayers 1980
Saturday: September 6, 1980
I paid a visit to the petting pool around 6:30 pm, and it was still quite crowded. Kotar was very affectionate and if I walked away from him, he would squeal and follow. Kasatka wanted to play the fish game quite a bit.
At one point I had my arm in the water, wearing a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Kotar carefully grasped the sleeve in his mouth and pulled. He had a very solid grip and would not immediately let go, and I commented in my journal that I "…wondered if my shirt wouldn't get all ripped up." It didn't, and he finally did let go.
Wednesday: October 1, 1980
On a couple prior occasions, at this point in the year, Sea World staff had left some large round plastic buoys in the petting pool in the early morning, clearly as enrichment for the dolphins and whales. Usually these buoys would be removed either before the public was let into the park, or very soon after.
On this day, the buoys were left in the pool until 11:00 am; quite late. This allowed for play to occur with the whales and dolphins, involving the buoys.
There were two buoys, a larger pink one (on the whales' side), and a smaller, heavier white one (on the dolphin-only side).
When I first arrived at the pool, the pink one was on the ground outside the pool, presumably tossed there by a pool-occupant. Initially I didn't touch it as I assumed that it would be quickly removed by park staff, but as more people began to arrive at the pool, and the buoy was untouched, I decided to toss it into the pool. The whales liked "Throw-and-Catch", and would intercept the thrown buoy, then allow me to have it and toss it to them again (over and over). Other people caught on quickly and were playing the same game. The whales became rather rowdy with their toy, and if someone was slow to retrieve the buoy after a whale would clearly communicate "Now you pick it up and toss it to me" the whale would hit the buoy hard out of the pool at the slow person!
Just before the buoys were put away, Kasatka was jumping part way out of the water and landing on a buoy, causing it to be forced under water, after which it would come surging back up forcefully. She continued this behavior, and clearly enjoyed it.
This was the last formal day that I recorded a journal entry, but there was another incident at the pool involving Kotar which I had not written up at the time, but which was very interesting and memorable, and which presaged later Kotar-behavior.
Late Summer or early Fall 1980
One day Kotar swam rapidly towards the ledge and emerged so far out of the pool that his flippers were perched on the highest point of the outer tiled pool edge. It looked like he was going to end up on the concrete outside the pool, but he didn't. Then, after the startled people who were present (including me) got over this shock, including a Tour Guide with a tour, we approached Kotar and he squirted some water that he had hidden in his mouth at the closest people. It seemed to be a planned bit of mischief and I thought it was one of the most intriguing of his behaviors, showing quite a degree of forethought, and knowledge of expected human behavior.
Conclusions: Many mammals, as well as birds, are highly intelligent and social. Intelligent and social organisms tend to share commonalities regarding social behavior that is 1) recognized and 2) deemed desirable or at least acceptable by others. Orcas and other cetaceans, which are highly intelligent and highly social 1) Recognize intelligence and social patterns in humans, and 2) Desire to engage in social interactions with humans, as well as fellow cetaceans, especially when deprived of the normal social environment that the orcas would experience in a wild state.
The young orcas in the Sea World petting pool were deprived of their natural interactions with their parent(s), siblings, and other pod-members. They made the best of their situations in the petting pool by interacting with their fellow cetaceans, and any humans who reached out to form bonds with them.
They quickly learned what kind of interactions were deemed acceptable by the humans that they interacted with, and were highly creative when devising entertainment activities, whether they be solo-activities, or social activities with others.
They were highly controlled regarding their behaviors with humans, being extremely careful not to "break the rules" that governed accepted social interactions, although what the whales considered acceptable and what humans (and even particular humans) considered acceptable varied somewhat. Generally, if the whales determined that a behavior on their part (like, for example, biting or rough mouthing behavior) was not accepted by a human, typically the whale would modify its behavior in this area to meet the expectations of a given human.
The orcas also appeared to readily recognize and remember different people in their environment, just as the people quickly learned to recognize individual orcas.
Appendix 1: Sequence of development of human-orca physical interactions, using my personal observations as a template. This sequence covers my entire interaction period of several months.
1. Rubdowns of head and face of orca, while orca was ventral-side-down, head resting on lower ledge of petting pool.
2. Tongue or mouth rubdowns. This occurred fairly early in the relationship, surprisingly.
3. Full-length rubdowns with orca stretched out on the lower ledge of the pool.
4. Physical pulling of fingers, hands, etc. by orca, as if to invite a human into the pool.
Appendix 2: Summary of different "games" devised, typically jointly, by humans and orcas.
1. "The Fish Game": Orca squirted water forcefully out of the mouth, periodically ejecting a fish concealed in the mouth.
2. "Fish Dismantling": Slow picking apart of a fish into many tiny fragments. Less of a social interaction and more of a solo-activity.
3. "Fish Tossing": Gentle tossing of a fish from one place to another by mouth. Sometimes the fish was passed here and there in the pool, with no apparent target, and sometimes the fish was tossed at a human.
4. "The Squirt Game": Orca would shoot a small amount of water from its mouth under water. Human would forcefully squeeze palms together to squirt water back at orca's mouth. This would proceed back and forth.
5. "The Push Game": An orca would ascend head first out of the water, and be pushed fairly forcefully downward by a human. Then the orca would rise up again out of the water, to be pushed downward again by a human, repeated over and over.
6. "Splash Games": Orca splashes water at a human with its pectoral flippers. Flipper splashing occurred from cetacean to cetacean as well.
7. "Above-water Squirt Game": An orca squirts water from its mouth through the air at a human.
8. "The Follow-Me Game": Orca slides out on ledge or in other way "invites" a human to physically interact, but then moves to a new location repeatedly, each time before physical interaction can take place.
9. "Throw-and-Catch": Back and forth passage of an object (for example, a buoy) between orca and human.
Appendix 3: Additional photographs taken by myself, and the audio recording of Kotar's vocalizations made on July 12 1980:
Orca Photographs, Sea World, San Diego, California, 1980-1981:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39935474@N03/sets/72157622419876750/
Kotar Vocalizations, July 12, 1980:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39935474@N03/4002419111/
About the Author:
The year following my frequent visits to the orcas at Sea World, I started taking classes at a local community college, and continued my higher education efforts until receiving a Master's degree in Biology from San Diego State University in 1996. Ultimately, I did not focus on marine biology as a student, but switched my interest to ecology and bird behavior. I had a strong interest in animal behavior in graduate school, and took a general upper division Animal Behavior course, as well as a graduate-level Behavioral Ecology course at San Diego State University. I also taught a lower division Animal Behavior course at Palomar College over three semesters. As of this writing (2013), I have been teaching biology at three San Diego County community colleges for over 15 years, with an emphasis on human anatomy and physiology classes. My primary avocation is Coleoptera (beetle) study.
Alan and I learned from one of the Tour Guides on this day that Scarlet, the young dolphin, had been born in the petting pool, but was removed as the young orcas attempted to treat her as "food." This was supposedly October of 1979. As the story went, Sea World staff lifted Scarlet by hand out of the water for her protection while waiting for the equipment to arrive at the pool which would be used to transfer her elsewhere.
I never observed the orcas interacting aggressively with any dolphin during my period of visitation, but of course Scarlet was older at that point.
At this time of the year, the park stayed open until a little after dark. Alan and I visited the petting pool in the time just following dusk. The orcas seemed more excited than usual. Kasatka swam rapidly over to us right after we positioned ourselves by the edge of the pool, and grabbed my arm (gently)…only for a few seconds. Kotar wanted to pull on my fingers and/or hand. It was extremely crowded with people and Kotar was squirming about actively, attempting to pull on me, and I became worried about my fingers becoming entangled in (as I described them in my journal) "…those dreaded teeth!" I said in my journal that this had actually occurred once before (tooth/finger entanglement), and I was still rather wary, although the whales had never done me any harm, as described earlier.
I also described another game that had been played on and off with the whales and dolphins, "The Squirt Game". This involved squeezing ones palms together rapidly under water, to shoot a small amount of water at a whale's or dolphin's mouth. I described this evening attempting to play the squirt game with Kotar, and his insistence on pulling on my thumb instead.
Kotar, on a crowded day. © R. J. Waayers 1980
Saturday: September 6, 1980
I paid a visit to the petting pool around 6:30 pm, and it was still quite crowded. Kotar was very affectionate and if I walked away from him, he would squeal and follow. Kasatka wanted to play the fish game quite a bit.
At one point I had my arm in the water, wearing a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Kotar carefully grasped the sleeve in his mouth and pulled. He had a very solid grip and would not immediately let go, and I commented in my journal that I "…wondered if my shirt wouldn't get all ripped up." It didn't, and he finally did let go.
Wednesday: October 1, 1980
On a couple prior occasions, at this point in the year, Sea World staff had left some large round plastic buoys in the petting pool in the early morning, clearly as enrichment for the dolphins and whales. Usually these buoys would be removed either before the public was let into the park, or very soon after.
On this day, the buoys were left in the pool until 11:00 am; quite late. This allowed for play to occur with the whales and dolphins, involving the buoys.
There were two buoys, a larger pink one (on the whales' side), and a smaller, heavier white one (on the dolphin-only side).
When I first arrived at the pool, the pink one was on the ground outside the pool, presumably tossed there by a pool-occupant. Initially I didn't touch it as I assumed that it would be quickly removed by park staff, but as more people began to arrive at the pool, and the buoy was untouched, I decided to toss it into the pool. The whales liked "Throw-and-Catch", and would intercept the thrown buoy, then allow me to have it and toss it to them again (over and over). Other people caught on quickly and were playing the same game. The whales became rather rowdy with their toy, and if someone was slow to retrieve the buoy after a whale would clearly communicate "Now you pick it up and toss it to me" the whale would hit the buoy hard out of the pool at the slow person!
Just before the buoys were put away, Kasatka was jumping part way out of the water and landing on a buoy, causing it to be forced under water, after which it would come surging back up forcefully. She continued this behavior, and clearly enjoyed it.
This was the last formal day that I recorded a journal entry, but there was another incident at the pool involving Kotar which I had not written up at the time, but which was very interesting and memorable, and which presaged later Kotar-behavior.
Late Summer or early Fall 1980
One day Kotar swam rapidly towards the ledge and emerged so far out of the pool that his flippers were perched on the highest point of the outer tiled pool edge. It looked like he was going to end up on the concrete outside the pool, but he didn't. Then, after the startled people who were present (including me) got over this shock, including a Tour Guide with a tour, we approached Kotar and he squirted some water that he had hidden in his mouth at the closest people. It seemed to be a planned bit of mischief and I thought it was one of the most intriguing of his behaviors, showing quite a degree of forethought, and knowledge of expected human behavior.
Conclusions: Many mammals, as well as birds, are highly intelligent and social. Intelligent and social organisms tend to share commonalities regarding social behavior that is 1) recognized and 2) deemed desirable or at least acceptable by others. Orcas and other cetaceans, which are highly intelligent and highly social 1) Recognize intelligence and social patterns in humans, and 2) Desire to engage in social interactions with humans, as well as fellow cetaceans, especially when deprived of the normal social environment that the orcas would experience in a wild state.
The young orcas in the Sea World petting pool were deprived of their natural interactions with their parent(s), siblings, and other pod-members. They made the best of their situations in the petting pool by interacting with their fellow cetaceans, and any humans who reached out to form bonds with them.
They quickly learned what kind of interactions were deemed acceptable by the humans that they interacted with, and were highly creative when devising entertainment activities, whether they be solo-activities, or social activities with others.
They were highly controlled regarding their behaviors with humans, being extremely careful not to "break the rules" that governed accepted social interactions, although what the whales considered acceptable and what humans (and even particular humans) considered acceptable varied somewhat. Generally, if the whales determined that a behavior on their part (like, for example, biting or rough mouthing behavior) was not accepted by a human, typically the whale would modify its behavior in this area to meet the expectations of a given human.
The orcas also appeared to readily recognize and remember different people in their environment, just as the people quickly learned to recognize individual orcas.
Appendix 1: Sequence of development of human-orca physical interactions, using my personal observations as a template. This sequence covers my entire interaction period of several months.
1. Rubdowns of head and face of orca, while orca was ventral-side-down, head resting on lower ledge of petting pool.
2. Tongue or mouth rubdowns. This occurred fairly early in the relationship, surprisingly.
3. Full-length rubdowns with orca stretched out on the lower ledge of the pool.
4. Physical pulling of fingers, hands, etc. by orca, as if to invite a human into the pool.
Appendix 2: Summary of different "games" devised, typically jointly, by humans and orcas.
1. "The Fish Game": Orca squirted water forcefully out of the mouth, periodically ejecting a fish concealed in the mouth.
2. "Fish Dismantling": Slow picking apart of a fish into many tiny fragments. Less of a social interaction and more of a solo-activity.
3. "Fish Tossing": Gentle tossing of a fish from one place to another by mouth. Sometimes the fish was passed here and there in the pool, with no apparent target, and sometimes the fish was tossed at a human.
4. "The Squirt Game": Orca would shoot a small amount of water from its mouth under water. Human would forcefully squeeze palms together to squirt water back at orca's mouth. This would proceed back and forth.
5. "The Push Game": An orca would ascend head first out of the water, and be pushed fairly forcefully downward by a human. Then the orca would rise up again out of the water, to be pushed downward again by a human, repeated over and over.
6. "Splash Games": Orca splashes water at a human with its pectoral flippers. Flipper splashing occurred from cetacean to cetacean as well.
7. "Above-water Squirt Game": An orca squirts water from its mouth through the air at a human.
8. "The Follow-Me Game": Orca slides out on ledge or in other way "invites" a human to physically interact, but then moves to a new location repeatedly, each time before physical interaction can take place.
9. "Throw-and-Catch": Back and forth passage of an object (for example, a buoy) between orca and human.
Appendix 3: Additional photographs taken by myself, and the audio recording of Kotar's vocalizations made on July 12 1980:
Orca Photographs, Sea World, San Diego, California, 1980-1981:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39935474@N03/sets/72157622419876750/
Kotar Vocalizations, July 12, 1980:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39935474@N03/4002419111/
About the Author:
The year following my frequent visits to the orcas at Sea World, I started taking classes at a local community college, and continued my higher education efforts until receiving a Master's degree in Biology from San Diego State University in 1996. Ultimately, I did not focus on marine biology as a student, but switched my interest to ecology and bird behavior. I had a strong interest in animal behavior in graduate school, and took a general upper division Animal Behavior course, as well as a graduate-level Behavioral Ecology course at San Diego State University. I also taught a lower division Animal Behavior course at Palomar College over three semesters. As of this writing (2013), I have been teaching biology at three San Diego County community colleges for over 15 years, with an emphasis on human anatomy and physiology classes. My primary avocation is Coleoptera (beetle) study.