Kalina (whale)

Kalina is a female Orca (killer whale) born on September 26, 1985 at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida. Although twenty captive Orca calves had been born in the past, she was the first to survive more than few days. Kalina's mother is an Icelandic female named Katina, and her father, Winston (also known as Ramu III) was a Pacific Southern Resident, making Kalina an Atlantic/Pacific hybrid -- a unique situation that would not have occurred in the wild.

Kalina first appeared in shows at SeaWorld Orlando in 1987, and was billed back then as "Baby Shamu". She was always with her mother.

Family members/breed

*Mother: Katina
*Father: Winston*
*Sisters (half): Katerina*, 1986 stillborn calf from Winston* and Kandu V*, Unna, Baby Shamu II*, Nalani
*Brothers (half): Taku*, Ikaika
*Sons: Keet, Keto, Tuar
*Daughters: 1997 stillborn calf with Tilikum and Skyla
*Granddaughters: Kalia, Halyn*
*Nephews: Trua
*Possible Relatives: Betty*, Ocean-Sun(L-25), K-7 Lummi, Lolita, Tsunami (L-23)*, K-11 Georgia, Hugo*, Cordy (L14)*, L49*, Skagit (K-13), Spock (K-20), Scoter (K-25), Deadhead (K-27), Cali (K-34), Comet (K-38), Lil Nooka*, Jumbo*, Chappy*, Clovis*, and Ramu IV*
*Breed: 50% Southern resident, 50% Icelandic

(Asterisk indicates a deceased relative)

Kalina's moves

On February 12, 1990, Kalina was transferred from SeaWorld's Orlando park to SeaWorld Ohio. She was moved again in October of that year to SeaWorld San Diego in California, and again on May 30, 1991 to SeaWorld San Antonio in Texas. In October 1994, Kalina was moved back to SeaWorld Orlando, where she currently lives.

Kalina's calves

Kalina gave birth to her first calf, a male named Keet, on February 2, 1993 at Sea World San Antonio. Kalina was only seven and a half years old at the time of Keet's birth -- an extremely young age for an Orca to become a mother. Kalina became pregnant again shortly after Keet's birth, and was moved back to SeaWorld Orlando in October 1994, where she gave birth to her second calf, another male, Keto on June 17, 1995. She gave birth to another male, Tuar, on June 22, 1999. Kalina bore her fourth calf and first successful daughter, on February 9, 2004, named Skyla.

Kalina currently

Kalina became the first captive-born Orca grandmother with the birth of Keet's daughter, Kalia, on December 21, 2004 and again with the birth of Halyn on October 9, 2005. Kalina is an extremely gentle whale and does water work with trainers. She is very intelligent and learns quickly. Kalina is used a lot in shows because she cooperates well and learns behaviors easily. She currently lives at SeaWorld Orlando with eight other killer whales, including her mother and a half sister. Kalina measures 17 feet, 9 inches and weighs approximately 6,300 pounds. She along with her mother are very loving and sweet-natured orcas, and are both used as "starter whales" for new trainers. She has never shown any signs of aggression towards her trainers or other orcas. Currently, Kalina can be seen swimming with Taima, a female orca, and Malia, Taima's calf and the youngest orca at Orlando. Obviously, Kalina was separated from Katina, her mother, because they no longer share the mother-daughter bond. However, Kalina has assisted Taima by becoming a better mother and being less aggressive towards other orcas.

References