Katina

Katina (pronounced kah-TEE-nah), also known as Kandu VI (KAN-doo), was an approximately 49-year-old female Icelandic killer whale who lived at SeaWorld Orlando. She was the matriarch of the Orlando pod. Katina was captured on October 17th, 1978 near Skaftárós, Iceland at approximately 2 years old.^[1] Katina is well known as the most successful breeding female orca in captivity. She is the mother of Kalina, the first killer whale successfully born and raised in captivity, as well as Katerina, Taku, Unna, Ikaika, Nalani and Makaio as well as the Grandmother of Keet, Keto, Tuar, Skyla, Trua, and Nalani due to inbreeding. The Great Grandmother of Kalia, Halyn, Adan, Victoria and Ula and The Great Great Grandmother of Amaya. She is the second-oldest killer whale in human care, surpassed only by Corky II.

Capture and Early Life[]

Katina was born in the waters of the North Atlantic sometime around 1976. On October 17th, 1978, Katina was captured in the Meðallandsbugt bight, near Skaftárós, Iceland along with two other killer whales, Kakela and an unnamed male. Like other orcas captured at that time, Katina was very young, estimated to only be around 2 years of age. The three young whales were moved to a sea pen in Grindavik harbor where they met Kotar, Kahana, and Kasatka. ^[1] About a week after their arrival, Kakela, Kahana, Kotar, and Kasatka were loaded onto a plane and sent to America.

After the other whales left, Katina and the unnamed male were likely moved to the Hafnarfjörður Aquarium. SeaWorld took interest in purchasing Katina, but at some point in November, she was moved to Marineland of Canada. ^[2] It's possible that Katina met several unnamed whales who were captured in November, but she may have been moved out before they arrived.

At Marineland Canada, Katina met two Bigg's Killer Whales, Kanduke and Nootka, and a Southern Resident from L Pod, Kandu II. Here, Katina was originally named Kandu VI. She, with the other three whales, performed in shows and got along well. They lived together for about nine months.

Life at SeaWorld[]

In the spring of 1979, SeaWorld purchased Katina. On June 21st, 1979, Katina was moved to SeaWorld Ohio. Here, her name was changed from Kandu to Katina, though SeaWorld continued using Kandu as her stage name for many years. At SeaWorld Ohio, she met two other wild-caught Icelandic females, Kandu V and Kenau. At the end of the summer season, the three were moved to SeaWorld San Diego, where Katina rejoined Kasatka and Kotar. Between 1979 and 1984, Katina was moved 10 times between SeaWorld Ohio and SeaWorld San Diego. She and Kasatka were moved to Ohio in the spring to perform during the park's operating season, and would be moved back to SeaWorld San Diego in the fall. However, in the summer of 1984, Katina was discovered pregnant. The father was Winston, a Southern Resident from L Pod who had been moved to San Diego from Windsor Safari Park in England. At the end of the summer season, Katina and Kasatka were moved to SeaWorld Orlando. ^[2]

SeaWorld Orlando[]

Katina and Kasatka arrived at SeaWorld Orlando on November 23rd, 1984. Katina was reunited with Kahana and Kotar, and met Kona II, another wild-caught Icelandic female. Katina and Kona II became very close, and would often do waterworks together. In April of the following year, Kasatka was moved back to SeaWorld Ohio. Later that year, on September 26th, Katina gave birth to her first calf. The baby, named Kalina, was the first killer whale calf to be born and successfully thrive in human care.^[3] Many other calves had been born in captivity prior to this, but none of them had survived past the first couple weeks. Katina and her new daughter made international headlines.

Although Kalina was her first calf, Katina was a good mother and shared a very close bond with her daughter. Kona II taught Katina how to nurse and often assisted in caring for Kalina. The three frequently spent time together, and Kalina grew close with Kona II. When Katina wasn't around, Kalina was usually kept with Kona II.

In January of 1987, Kanduke was transferred to SeaWorld Orlando. Shortly after his arrival, he sired Katina's second calf. Later that year, Kona II, who was also pregnant, passed away. A month later, another Icelandic female, Gudrun, was moved to SeaWorld Orlando. Katina was very aggressive with her when she arrived, and when the two females were in the main pool, Katina began to ram Gudrun. When Gudrun tried to retaliate by raking her, Katina smacked her tail against Gudrun's lower jaw. The noise was reportedly so loud that it echoed through the stadium. Two of Gudrun's teeth were driven into the bone, and she was never able to properly close her mouth again.

On November 4th, 1988, Katina gave birth to her second daughter, Katerina. Kalina helped raise Katerina and was taught how to care for a calf. On February 12th, 1990, Kalina was sent to SeaWorld Ohio, separating her from her Katina. Katina reportedly reacted very strongly to this separation, spending the night alone in the corner of the pool, shivering and crying out for her daughter.^[4] Only a year later in April of 1991, Katerina was also separated from Katina and moved to SeaWorld Ohio.

In January of 1992, an Icelandic male named Tilikum was moved to SeaWorld Orlando from a park in Canada. Tilikum was a very submissive whale, and Katina acted very dominantly towards him. Not long after, however, Katina became pregnant with his calf. On September 9th, 1993, Katina gave birth to her first son, Taku. Taku would be Tilikum's first calf at SeaWorld. Taku and Katina were very close.

On October 29th, 1994, Katina was reunited with her daughter Kalina. The two were not as close as they had been before the separation, but Kalina still spent a lot of time with her mother. Nine months after her arrival, Kalina gave birth to her second calf, Keto. On May 5th, 1999, Katerina passed away at SeaWorld San Antonio from bacterial pneumonia.

On December 27th, 1996, Katina gave birth to her fourth calf, a female named Unna. While Unna would assist Katina in those years, Unna was eventually moved to Texas in 2002. Katina would mate for a third time with Tilikum and give birth to her fifth calf, Ikaika, in August 2002. Ikaika shared a close bond with Katina and his brother Taku. The three were very close as a group and performed together.

In 2004, Takara and her daughter Kohana were moved to Orlando. Taku would eventually meet Takara and sire his first calf with her. Takara gave birth to his first calf, Trua, on November 23rd, 2005. Around that time, Taku also mated with Katina, his mother.^[5] Katina gave birth to a female named Nalani on September 18th, 2006, who became the first inbred orca to survive in captivity. Despite this, Nalani was healthy and developed normally. When Nalani was about a week old, Taku and Ikaika were introduced to her. After the introduction, Katina became disinterested in Nalani and even began to displace her.^[5] Ikaika also attempted to mate with the calf. Taku and Ikaika were separated from her a few days later, but Katina's behavior didn't change. The following November, Taku was moved to SeaWorld San Antonio, and Ikaika was moved to Marineland of Canada. Afterward, Katina's maternal instincts towards Nalani improved. That same month, a female named Kayla arrived at the park. Nalani and Katina were eventually introduced to Kalina and Kayla, and the four lived together as a group.

Later Years[]

Until the ban, Katina was very advanced in waterwork behaviors and was one of the main whales used for performances.^[5] However, an incident in 2010 would result in a ban for waterworks indefinitely. This was a big change for all the whales at SeaWorld. That same year, in June, Taima and her stillborn calf passed away. After Taima’s passing, Katina became the full matriarch of the Orlando pod. In October, Katina’s first calf, Kalina, also passed away. Five days later, on October 9th, Katina gave birth to her final calf, Makaio. She was just as attentive and caring towards him as she had been to her other calves. Katina was mostly grouped with Nalani and Makaio for the following years, but could still be seen with Malia, Trua, and Kayla.

In 2016, SeaWorld ended its killer whale breeding program. At first, much didn’t change for the whales, since the younger males had yet to reach sexual maturity. However, the males and females eventually spent more time apart, including Katina and Makaio. None of the whales reacted well to this change. Katina would often try and reach Makaio by attempting to slide over the barriers and vocalize through the gates. Similar behaviors were seen from the rest of the whales as well. For the next few years, the pod was reunited when the females weren’t cycling.

On March 17th, 2018, Katina sustained an injury to the base of her dorsal fin due to interactions with another orca.^[6] SeaWorld veterinarians responded immediately to treat the wound. At the time of her injury, she was seen closely interacting with Trua, but it’s unknown who exactly caused the injury. Cold-laser therapy and medical honey were used to treat the wound and prevent infection.^[6] Katina was separated in the back pools with Nalani and Makaio while she healed and showed no signs of discomfort. A few months later, her wound had fully healed, though the scar can still be seen today.

On January 28th, 2019, Kayla passed away. After her passing, the males and females were only grouped a few more times, but have remained separated since October 2022. In early 2024, after construction of a new show-pool background was completed, Katina was not seen in any shows for weeks.^[7] She had been struggling from an undisclosed illness and remained isolated in the medical pool. In late March, she was reunited with Malia and Nalani, and by early April, she returned to shows, eventually regaining her full strength and personality. Some suspect that the illness is a chronic bacterial or respiratory infection. Skin lesions and discoloration are often seen on Katina’s jaw and eye patches,^[8] which first began to appear in 2020,^[9] but SeaWorld has not confirmed the cause. Katina now spends all of her time with Nalani and Malia, but remains closest with her daughter Nalani.

Personality[]

Katina's most obvious personality trait is her seemingly endless energy during presentations, as well as her athleticism. She is SeaWorld Orlando's "highest flier" in terms of breach height. It's not uncommon for her body to launch a staggering ~20 feet out of the water when completing center belly breaches or perimeter breaches. Another behavior that Katina seems to enjoy is the "speed swim," in which she swims the entire perimeter of the show pool at peak speed, her dorsal fin creating a cyclone of water. Katina's enthusiasm during sessions or presentations can be noted by her tendency to approach trainers with her mouth open and/or her tongue sticking out. Prior to the phasing out of waterworks and close-contact interactions, Katina found mouth tactile to be particularly reinforcing, so this may be why. Despite her excitability, Katina can also be a very assertive, self-assured animal. According to trainers, she is quick to correct problematic behaviors during sessions and presentations, even going as far as to redirect Nalani back into the show pool mid-presentation.

Appearence[]

Katina is very recognizable by the healed scar on her dorsal fin. She’s also shorter in length compared to the others, but has a noticebaley rounder head and body shape. She has a white mark on the tip of her rostrum as well as a round mark on her chin that’s whiter than the rest. Her pectoral fins are also small in relation to her body.

Behavioral Incidents[]

• On October 29th 1989 at Seaworld Orlando, Katina mouthed a trainers waist.
• On April 2nd 1992 at Seaworld Orlando, Katina bumped a trainers hip.
• On August 3rd 1993, Katina pushed a trainers body. It is possible that Katina's pregnancy led to this incident.
• On February 24th 1994, Katina bumped a trainers hand.
• On February 9th 1995, Katina pushed a trainer.

Trivia[]

• Katina's name means "pure" in Greek.
• Katina's nicknames are "Tina" (pronounced TEE-nuh), "Kat", and "Momma."
• Katina's birthday is celebrated annually on June 1st.
• While in captivity, Katina has lived with at least 37 different whales from 3 different ecotypes.
• When she was younger, Katina lived with various smaller dolphin species such as bottlenose dolphins, pacific white sided dolphins, false killer whales, pilot whales, and belugas off and on over the years. From 2017 to 2019, she lived with pilot whales in Shamu Stadium, although they were never kept directly together.

Transfer History[]

Galleries[]

• Photos of Katina
• Videos of Katina

References[]