The Petting Pool Orcas
In the late 1970's SeaWorld was busy acquiring young Icelandic orcas. They apparently ran short of facilities and so used the dolphin petting pool at SeaWorld San Diego as a holding area for the "excess" orcas while additional facilities were constructed.
Kandu V was captured in September and Canuck II in October 1977. Canuck II was approximately 2 years old. By December 1977, after brief stays at Hafnarfjordur Aquarium and Dolfinarium Harderwijk, they were transferred to SeaWorld San Diego. They were the first two orcas in the petting pool. When not in the petting pool, they were beginning their training and starting to perform. Kandu V went on to full time performing. Although Canuck II can be seen performing in some photos, he apparently did not do well as a performer so he was relegated to the petting pool.
Kasatka, Katina, Kotar, and Shawn were captured in October 1978. Kotar is believed to be the youngest orca ever captured to survive. He was less than a year old. Kasatka was just over a year old. Katina was about 3 years old. By late October 1978 Kasatka, Kotar, and Shawn arrived at SeaWorld San Diego after a brief stopover at Hafnarfjordur Aquarium. Katina was sent to Marineland Ontario from Hafnarfjordur Aquarium. While at Ontario she was named Kandu VI. She rejoined her former companions at SeaWorld San Diego in June 1979, as Katina.
Russell email 10-25-13: “. . . there were four different Orcas that were rotated through the tank in pairs. Originally they started out with just one but the Dolphins harassed it so much that they quickly put in a second one to calm things down which it did.”
Shawn died in September 1979 of bronchopneumonia. This was her first year of captivity, and she may or may not have been in the petting pool.
Katina was sent to SeaWorld Aurora during spring and summer 1980, returning to SeaWorld San Diego for the rest of the year.
Canuck II died in August of 1981 of chronic kidney disease. [Canuck II lives on in a photoset on Arkive.org's webpage on orcas. Compare that with the cover poster on a VHS tape re-release of the 1977 horror movie "Orca". The pattern of colors on the roof of an orca's mouth is as unique as fingerprints. This movie is indicative of the older public image of orcas that was just in process of changing at that time. Canuck II was the friendliest and gentlest of souls.]
Kasatka, Katina, and Kotar went on to a life of performing and for several years were shipped around among the various SeaWorld facilities.
In 1983, Kotar played “Shamu” in the movie ‘Jaws 3’. He appears in a close-up scene where the actress-trainer is feeding him and talking to him. After a fight with Kanduke at SeaWorld Orlando, he was sent to SeaWorld San Antonio. He remained there until he died in April 1995, when a gate between pools crushed his skull. Kotar was SeaWorld’s chief stud prior to Tilikum. His surviving offspring are: Takara, Keet, and Keto. Takara and Keet seem to have inherited Kotar's memorable qualities. Keto attacked trainer Alexis Martinez at Loro Parque, resulting in his death as detailed in 'Blackfish'. Kotar fathered a calf with Haida II that only survived a few months and was not named. Haida II was with Tilikum at Sealand of the Pacific when trainer Katie Byrne was killed.
Kandu V is shown in ‘Blackfish’ bleeding to death in August 1989. This resulted from a fight with Corky II in which Kandu V broke her jaw, severing an artery. Kandu's young daughter Orkid can be seen frantically swimming in circles around her dying mother. Orkid is later shown pulling trainer Tamarie Tollison into the water in 'Blackfish' and breaks her arm.
Katina is currently the pod matriarch at SeaWorld Orlando. She is first mentioned in ‘Blackfish’ as harassing Tilikum when he arrived at Orlando. Then she is shown crying when her calf Kalina was taken away. Her surviving offspring are: Nalani, Ikaika, and Makaio. She is a grandmother and great-grandmother. Kotar's sons Keet and Keto are among her grandchildren.
Kasatka is currently the pod matriarch at SeaWorld San Diego. Like Katina, she is shown in ‘Blackfish’ crying when her daughter Takara [also Kotar’s daughter] was taken away. Kasatka is also shown repeatedly pulling her trainer, Ken Peters, underwater. Her surviving offspring are Takara, Nakai, Kalia, and Makani. She is a grandmother, and great-grandmother.
Katina and Kasatka having been captured at the same time, have jointly spent the 3rd and 4th longest time in captivity of any orca. Only Corky II (no. 1) and Lolita (no. 2) exceed their time in captivity.
We did not know Kandu V or Shawn at the petting pool. Kandu V had already moved on to performing and Shawn had died. We only know the story directly from our times in the latter half of 1979 through 1980. The rest of the story above has been pieced together from various sources on the internet. Orcas appear to have been in the petting pool between 1978 and 1981.
We would welcome inputs from anyone who has direct knowledge of this history and of course anyone who became friends with Kandu V and Canuck II in those earlier days.
___________
There are various sources of information available on the Petting Pool Orcas. "Death at SeaWorld" discusses each of them although, understandably, Canuck II gets only a single sentence.
Cetacean Cousins has bios and photos for all the Petting Pool Orcas:
http://cetacousin.com/captive/orca/profile/kandu5.html#.
http://cetacousin.com/captive/orca/profile/canuck2.html#.
http://cetacousin.com/captive/orca/profile/kotar.html#.
http://cetacousin.com/captive/orca/profile/katina.html#.
http://cetacousin.com/captive/orca/profile/kasatka.html#.
CetaBase has a collection of photos including Canuck II, Kotar, and Kasatka in the petting pool. The collection also includes photos of dolphins and Josie the pilot whale at the petting pool, as well as other facilities:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cetabase/sets/72157626936566548/
Orca Home has photos of all the Petting Pool Orcas at:
http://www.orcahome.de/kandu5.htm - her later performing years
http://www.orcahome.de/canuck2.htm - mostly in the petting pool, but 1 photo shows him performing
http://www.orcahome.de/kotar.htm - includes some side by side photos showing his head and mouth in nearly identical poses during petting pool days and in 'Jaws 3'. You can see the exact matches in the patterns of his eye patch, at the corner of his mouth, and on the roof of his mouth. These patterns are as unique as fingerprints.
http://www.orcahome.de/kasatka.htm - her later performing years, although there is 1 petting pool photo
http://www.orcahome.de/katina.htm - her later performing years
Orca Home has SeaWorld animal profiles, including for Katina and Kasatka at:
http://www.orcahome.de/swprofiles1.pdf
http://www.orcahome.de/swprofiles2.pdf
Orca Home also has a table of "incidents" between trainers and orcas, including Kotar, Katina, and Kasatka at:
http://www.orcahome.de/incidents.htm
An interview with actress Bess Armstrong from http://www.jaws-3d.com/blog/?p=5218 where she describes her first meeting with Kotar:
In the late 1970's SeaWorld was busy acquiring young Icelandic orcas. They apparently ran short of facilities and so used the dolphin petting pool at SeaWorld San Diego as a holding area for the "excess" orcas while additional facilities were constructed.
Kandu V was captured in September and Canuck II in October 1977. Canuck II was approximately 2 years old. By December 1977, after brief stays at Hafnarfjordur Aquarium and Dolfinarium Harderwijk, they were transferred to SeaWorld San Diego. They were the first two orcas in the petting pool. When not in the petting pool, they were beginning their training and starting to perform. Kandu V went on to full time performing. Although Canuck II can be seen performing in some photos, he apparently did not do well as a performer so he was relegated to the petting pool.
Kasatka, Katina, Kotar, and Shawn were captured in October 1978. Kotar is believed to be the youngest orca ever captured to survive. He was less than a year old. Kasatka was just over a year old. Katina was about 3 years old. By late October 1978 Kasatka, Kotar, and Shawn arrived at SeaWorld San Diego after a brief stopover at Hafnarfjordur Aquarium. Katina was sent to Marineland Ontario from Hafnarfjordur Aquarium. While at Ontario she was named Kandu VI. She rejoined her former companions at SeaWorld San Diego in June 1979, as Katina.
Russell email 10-25-13: “. . . there were four different Orcas that were rotated through the tank in pairs. Originally they started out with just one but the Dolphins harassed it so much that they quickly put in a second one to calm things down which it did.”
Shawn died in September 1979 of bronchopneumonia. This was her first year of captivity, and she may or may not have been in the petting pool.
Katina was sent to SeaWorld Aurora during spring and summer 1980, returning to SeaWorld San Diego for the rest of the year.
Canuck II died in August of 1981 of chronic kidney disease. [Canuck II lives on in a photoset on Arkive.org's webpage on orcas. Compare that with the cover poster on a VHS tape re-release of the 1977 horror movie "Orca". The pattern of colors on the roof of an orca's mouth is as unique as fingerprints. This movie is indicative of the older public image of orcas that was just in process of changing at that time. Canuck II was the friendliest and gentlest of souls.]
Kasatka, Katina, and Kotar went on to a life of performing and for several years were shipped around among the various SeaWorld facilities.
In 1983, Kotar played “Shamu” in the movie ‘Jaws 3’. He appears in a close-up scene where the actress-trainer is feeding him and talking to him. After a fight with Kanduke at SeaWorld Orlando, he was sent to SeaWorld San Antonio. He remained there until he died in April 1995, when a gate between pools crushed his skull. Kotar was SeaWorld’s chief stud prior to Tilikum. His surviving offspring are: Takara, Keet, and Keto. Takara and Keet seem to have inherited Kotar's memorable qualities. Keto attacked trainer Alexis Martinez at Loro Parque, resulting in his death as detailed in 'Blackfish'. Kotar fathered a calf with Haida II that only survived a few months and was not named. Haida II was with Tilikum at Sealand of the Pacific when trainer Katie Byrne was killed.
Kandu V is shown in ‘Blackfish’ bleeding to death in August 1989. This resulted from a fight with Corky II in which Kandu V broke her jaw, severing an artery. Kandu's young daughter Orkid can be seen frantically swimming in circles around her dying mother. Orkid is later shown pulling trainer Tamarie Tollison into the water in 'Blackfish' and breaks her arm.
Katina is currently the pod matriarch at SeaWorld Orlando. She is first mentioned in ‘Blackfish’ as harassing Tilikum when he arrived at Orlando. Then she is shown crying when her calf Kalina was taken away. Her surviving offspring are: Nalani, Ikaika, and Makaio. She is a grandmother and great-grandmother. Kotar's sons Keet and Keto are among her grandchildren.
Kasatka is currently the pod matriarch at SeaWorld San Diego. Like Katina, she is shown in ‘Blackfish’ crying when her daughter Takara [also Kotar’s daughter] was taken away. Kasatka is also shown repeatedly pulling her trainer, Ken Peters, underwater. Her surviving offspring are Takara, Nakai, Kalia, and Makani. She is a grandmother, and great-grandmother.
Katina and Kasatka having been captured at the same time, have jointly spent the 3rd and 4th longest time in captivity of any orca. Only Corky II (no. 1) and Lolita (no. 2) exceed their time in captivity.
We did not know Kandu V or Shawn at the petting pool. Kandu V had already moved on to performing and Shawn had died. We only know the story directly from our times in the latter half of 1979 through 1980. The rest of the story above has been pieced together from various sources on the internet. Orcas appear to have been in the petting pool between 1978 and 1981.
We would welcome inputs from anyone who has direct knowledge of this history and of course anyone who became friends with Kandu V and Canuck II in those earlier days.
___________
There are various sources of information available on the Petting Pool Orcas. "Death at SeaWorld" discusses each of them although, understandably, Canuck II gets only a single sentence.
Cetacean Cousins has bios and photos for all the Petting Pool Orcas:
http://cetacousin.com/captive/orca/profile/kandu5.html#.
http://cetacousin.com/captive/orca/profile/canuck2.html#.
http://cetacousin.com/captive/orca/profile/kotar.html#.
http://cetacousin.com/captive/orca/profile/katina.html#.
http://cetacousin.com/captive/orca/profile/kasatka.html#.
CetaBase has a collection of photos including Canuck II, Kotar, and Kasatka in the petting pool. The collection also includes photos of dolphins and Josie the pilot whale at the petting pool, as well as other facilities:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cetabase/sets/72157626936566548/
Orca Home has photos of all the Petting Pool Orcas at:
http://www.orcahome.de/kandu5.htm - her later performing years
http://www.orcahome.de/canuck2.htm - mostly in the petting pool, but 1 photo shows him performing
http://www.orcahome.de/kotar.htm - includes some side by side photos showing his head and mouth in nearly identical poses during petting pool days and in 'Jaws 3'. You can see the exact matches in the patterns of his eye patch, at the corner of his mouth, and on the roof of his mouth. These patterns are as unique as fingerprints.
http://www.orcahome.de/kasatka.htm - her later performing years, although there is 1 petting pool photo
http://www.orcahome.de/katina.htm - her later performing years
Orca Home has SeaWorld animal profiles, including for Katina and Kasatka at:
http://www.orcahome.de/swprofiles1.pdf
http://www.orcahome.de/swprofiles2.pdf
Orca Home also has a table of "incidents" between trainers and orcas, including Kotar, Katina, and Kasatka at:
http://www.orcahome.de/incidents.htm
An interview with actress Bess Armstrong from http://www.jaws-3d.com/blog/?p=5218 where she describes her first meeting with Kotar:
La toujours délicieuse Bess Armstrong fête ses 59 ans. Je sais, moi aussi j’ai du mal à y croire… Pour l’occasion, j’ai décidé de reproduire ici quelques passages de son interview pour le magazine Marquee datant de l’ été 1983. La plupart de ces informations sont inédites… « The chance to work with whales and dolphins was my initial reason for wanting to do Jaws 3D. I met those whales the first day, and it was love at first sight. I get very gloppy on the subject, I’d heard silly rumours about humans and killer whales, so I spent a lot of time with the trainers. We had a few drinks, and then I asked them about their run-ins with the animals. Then I felt I knew the worst. » Bess Armstrong continue sur sa lancée: « My first whale friend, Kotar, was 6 months old and 16 feet long, and he weighed four thousand pounds. » Un beau bébé qui, visiblement, aimait beaucoup les caresses: « I just stuck my arm in his mouth and scratched. I’m afraid of horses, but for some reason I’m not afraid of whales. » et faire des blagues: « Nobody told me Kotar could release his front gate. When I dove down 25 feet to see if I could touch the bottom of the pool, there he was. I came back up and everyone was laughing! I just grabbed Kotar’s fin and jumped on. I’ll remember that moment for the rest of my life. God save me from a real job! »
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The Orca Project has necropsy reports for Canuck II, Kandu V, Shawn and others, saved at: http://www.scribd.com/collections/3531412/Necropsy-autopsy-Reports-of-Deceased-SeaWorld-Captive-Killer-Whales-Orcinus-orca.
___________
Following is an educated guess based on some generic orca growth data and actual measurements extrapolated back to 1980. Most of the hard measurement data exists from much later than their petting pool days. Males grow faster and ultimately much larger than females. Canuck II's case is more difficult. His weight was down to 2,150 lb. at his death in 1981. How far back into 1980 he may have been wasting away due to his kidney disease is unknown. By the time of his death at about 17 years of age, Kotar was 21 ft. (6.4 m) long and weighed 9,000 lb. (4,082 kg).
Canuck II Katina Kotar Kasatka
Age: ~5 yrs. ~5 yrs. < 3 yrs. > 3 yrs.
Length: 14 ft. (4.3 m) 14 ft. (4.3 m) 11 ft. (3.4 m) 11 ft. (3.4 m)
Weight: 3,100 lb. (1,406 kg) 3,500 lb. (1,588 kg) 2,300 lb. (1,043 kg) 2,700 lb. (1,225 kg)
___________
Following is an educated guess based on some generic orca growth data and actual measurements extrapolated back to 1980. Most of the hard measurement data exists from much later than their petting pool days. Males grow faster and ultimately much larger than females. Canuck II's case is more difficult. His weight was down to 2,150 lb. at his death in 1981. How far back into 1980 he may have been wasting away due to his kidney disease is unknown. By the time of his death at about 17 years of age, Kotar was 21 ft. (6.4 m) long and weighed 9,000 lb. (4,082 kg).
Canuck II Katina Kotar Kasatka
Age: ~5 yrs. ~5 yrs. < 3 yrs. > 3 yrs.
Length: 14 ft. (4.3 m) 14 ft. (4.3 m) 11 ft. (3.4 m) 11 ft. (3.4 m)
Weight: 3,100 lb. (1,406 kg) 3,500 lb. (1,588 kg) 2,300 lb. (1,043 kg) 2,700 lb. (1,225 kg)