Kasatka

:"For the Russian helicopter, see Kamov Ka-60."

Kasatka is a female Orca, or killer whale, who lives at SeaWorld San Diego in California. 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 "Kosatka" ( _ru. Косатка), a generic name for Orcas. She is now about 30 years old; she is currently 5 m (17 feet) long and weighs around 2.4 tonnes (5,400 pounds).

Kasatka and her grandchildren

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. He was born in SeaWorld Orlando in Florida. Kasatka was separated from Takara and Kohana on April 24, 2004, when they were moved to SeaWorld Orlando.

Ken Peters' incident with Kasatka

On November 30, 2006, Kasatka was involved in an incident where she grabbed a trainer, Ken ("Pete") Peters, 39, and dragged him underwater during their show, "Believe". The trainer escaped with his life and was later in good condition despite being underwater for a "brief" amount of time; see [http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/29/killer.whale/index.html The Ken Peters Incident] . It was later confirmed in March 2007 that "Pete" would never again swim with Kasatka after the incident he had with her.

This is not the first time that Kasatka has shown signs of aggression. "SeaWorld officials reported in 1999 that Kasatka tried to bite a trainer during a show, but he was unhurt. She tried to bite another trainer in 1993."cite web |url= http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20061130-9999-7m30shamu.html|title= Killer whale bites trainer, takes him to tank bottom|author= Repard, Pauline|date= 2006-11-30|publisher= "SignOnSanDiego.com"]

References

External links

* [http://www.counterpunch.org/hribal12142006.html "When Animals Resist their Exploitation"] by Jason Hribal