Kamea

Kamea (pronounced kuh-MEH-ah) was an 11-year-old female hybrid killer whale who lived at SeaWorld San Antonio. She was born there tail-first on December 6th, 2013, at 12:08 AM CST. Her mother was Takara, an Icelandic killer whale, and her father was Kshamenk, an Argentinian killer whale, through artificial insemination, making Kamea 50% Icelandic, 50% Argentinian. Kamea passed away due to an unspecified lung disease on June 18th, 2025 at SeaWorld San Antonio.^[2]

Birth & Early Life[]

In 2011, Takara was artificially inseminated with sperm from an Argentinian killer whale named Kshamenk. Although she became pregnant, she suffered a miscarriage about 8 months later in 2012. Three months later, she was artificially inseminated for a second time and once again became pregnant. On the evening of December 5th, 2013, Takara went into labor. A little over an hour later, Kamea was born tail-first at 12:08 am CST on December 6th. ^[3] Previously, Takara had given birth to three other calves at all SeaWorld parks. So being an already experienced mother, Takara took excellent care of her newborn daughter and formed a strong bond with her. Within a few hours, Kamea began to nurse. A few days later, Kamea was already energetic and a strong swimmer. At the time of Kamea's birth, 5 other whales lived at the park: Takara, Sakari, Unna, Kyuquot, and Tuar. On December 17th, she and her mother were introduced to Sakari and Unna. The introduction went very well and the four were soon living together. Not long after, she met Ky and Tuar. She started to appear in shows as early as 3 months old. By the time she was four months old she was mimicking behaviors during shows, and by 7 months old she was actively participating in behaviors alongside her mother.

Life at SeaWorld San Antonio[]

Growing up, Kamea spent a lot of time with Takara, Sakari, and Unna, although she could be seen with Ky and Tuar as well. She had a strong bond with her trainers and enjoyed learning new behaviors. One thing that stood out about her compared to the other whales at SeaWorld was her big personality. ^[4]In December 2015, Unna passed away after her health continued to deteriorate for the months prior. Kamea would spend occasional time away from her mom to be grouped alone with Sakari, but this would sometimes cause tension between the two. In April 2016, Sakari and Kamea were involved in an incident with each other during a "Dine with Shamu" show. They were separated from Takara, and the two young whales reportedly started fighting, Sakari emerged from the water with blood on her chin.

In March of 2017, SeaWorld announced that Takara was pregnant. Just a few weeks later on April 19th, Takara gave birth to Kyara, the last killer whale born at SeaWorld. ^[5] Kyara’s birth got international attention and many people instantly fell in love with her. Soon Kamea and Sakari were introduced to their new little sister. The four of them were very close and spent a lot of time together. At just a few weeks old, Kyara was already very active and mimicking her mom and sisters. Although things were looking good for the calf at first, Kyara developed pneumonia and had to be separated from her mother and sisters for treatment. She passed away on July 24th, 2017, at just over 3 months old. Although all of the whales were reportedly deeply affected by her loss, they seemed to be recovering by the end of July.

Kamea spent most of her time with her mom Takara and sister Sakari. Occasionally, she would perform in shows with Kyuquot. She was a reliable performer and would put all her energy into behaviors. Her father, Kshamenk, continues to live in Argentina at the Mundo Marino. She was the smallest and youngest whale in the San Antonio pod.

Death[]

On June 19th, 2025, SeaWorld announced that Kamea passed away. According to the Marine Mammal Inventory Report, Kamea had succumbed to an unspecified lung disease on June 18th.

Personality[]

Kamea was a very curious whale. She enjoyed secondary reinforcements, and they were almost as reinforcing to her as food. One of her favorite reinforcements was ice. Every day, when trucks full of ice got delivered to Shamu Stadium, Kamea was known to wait by the edge of the pool and watch as the trucks pulled up to deliver her ice. [1] Just like her mother and older sister, she enjoyed visual stimulation. She also enjoyed surprises. She found it very engaging when trainers jumped out at her or interrupted her during a behavior. Kamea loved to watch and interact with guests. ^[6] Before shows, she would rest at the glass and splash guests that walked past her. SeaWorld described her as “the small whale with the big personality”, and also a whale full of sass.

Appearance[]

Kamea was the smallest whale at SeaWorld San Antonio. Despite the fact that Kamea was half Argentinian, she looked very Icelandic. She had light blue eyes. The front of her right ocular notch (eyepatch) was extremely smooth and had only two tiny "fingers" at the top. There was a small freckle at the front of her eyepatch, at the front and close to the bottom of it. Much like her mother, she had another faint freckle in the center. Her left eyepatch had a small, but still pronounced, "finger" that stretched above her eye. The front of her left eyepatch was very similar to Takara and Kotar’s, but less distinguishable. There was also a tiny freckle about halfway along the top. Both eyepatches tapered to a pointy V-shape at the back, although the left one was more curved. The back of her right eyepatch was slightly smudged. She had a closed saddle patch that was noticeably darker than her mother and sister’s. Both of her subocular notches (mouth chips) were very small and smooth. There was a tiny, faint freckle behind her left mouth chip. Along her mouth she had very little white on her upper jaw. Her shoulder notches were small and pointy, and stuck out over her pectoral fins. There was a light freckle on her anterior ventral field behind her left pectoral fin. The front of her chin was very brown. The edges of her flank and fluke field were very smooth. Due to her age, Kamea’s dorsal fin was still very small and rounded. Her dorsal fin leaned slightly.

Trivia[]

• Kamea is a Hawaiian name that means "precious one" ^[7] or "the one". ^[8]
• Her name was announced by SeaWorld on February 3rd, 2014. ^[9]

Galleries[]

• Photos of Kamea
• Videos of Kamea

Transfer History[]

Kamea was never transferred out of SeaWorld San Antonio.

References[]