Katina (orca)

Katina (c. 1975) is a female Orca (killer whale) who lives in SeaWorld Orlando in Florida. She was captured off Iceland at approximately three years of age on October 26, 1978. She is the most successful breeding female Orca in captivity.

Upon her capture, Katina was purchased by Marineland in Niagara Falls, Canada, where she was first named Kandu 6. She was shipped to the facility soon after. However, she did not spend much time there. Sometime between April and June 1979, Katina was bought by SeaWorld. She was sent to their park in San Diego. In 1982, Katina was moved to the park in Ohio with another female named Kasatka, with whom she was captured in 1978. For two years, the two would perform in the Ohio park during the summer months and then be moved back to San Diego for the winter. Finally, in September or October 1984, Katina was transferred to the SeaWorld in Orlando. She has remained there ever since.

(Asterisk indicates a deceased relative)

Katina became pregnant in early spring of 1984 at SeaWorld San Diego. She had mated with a male named Winston. Soon afterward, she was moved back to Sea World Ohio in Aurora, Ohio for the summer. While there, the trainers soon realized she was pregnant. Because of this, she was moved to Orlando in the end of the summer season. This is where she gave birth.

On September 26, 1985, Katina went into labor. A few hours later, she bore her first calf—a female, who was named Kalina. Although ten Orca calves had been born in captivity prior to Kalina, none of them had survived past a few weeks. This made Kalina the first Orca calf to be successfully born and raised in captivity, which made Katina the first successful mother. The success of the captive Orca breeding program began with Katina in 1985. Kalina went on to live for 25 years, before she died at SeaWorld Orlando in October 2010.

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