What happened to Shamu the whale?

In 1971, at just 9 years old, Shamu died at SeaWorld from a uterine infection and blood poisoning. In the ocean, she could have lived for up to 80 years. Even in death, SeaWorld continued exploiting Shamu—the company trademarked her name, using it to sell even more tickets to abusive orca shows.



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The original Shamu died in 1971, but the name was trademarked by SeaWorld, and has been given to different orcas over the years.

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As of September 20, 2023 there are: At least 176 orcas have died in captivity, not including 30 miscarried or still-born calves. SeaWorld holds 18 orcas in its three parks in the United States.

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SeaWorld deprived Shamu of food to make her learn useless tricks and forced her to perform for audiences for years. In 1971, at just 9 years old, Shamu died at SeaWorld from a uterine infection and blood poisoning. In the ocean, she could have lived for up to 80 years.

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SeaWorld San Diego's theatrical Shamu show, One Ocean, will end Sunday and will be replaced this summer with a new Orca Encounter designed to showcase the killer whales' natural behaviors in the wild.

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Currently, SeaWorld houses 19 killer whales in its three parks.
  • Eight killer whales live at SeaWorld San Diego: Corky, Ulises, Orkid, Ikaika, Kalia, Keet, Shouka, and Makani.
  • Five killer whales live at SeaWorld Orlando: Makaio, Malia, Trua, Katina, and Nalani.


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The study reports that the average life expectancy for SeaWorld's orca is 41.6 years of age, as compared to studies of two wild whale populations, reported as 29.0 and 42.3 years of age respectively.

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“Most of our orcas were born at SeaWorld, and those that were born in the wild have been in our parks for the majority of their lives,” he wrote. “If we release them into the ocean, they will likely die. In fact, no orca or dolphin born under human care has ever survived release into the wild.

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SeaWorld apparently did not see it that way, and the killer whale shows have continued as before, only now the trainers do not perform any water work with the orcas. This of course saves trainers from being attacked but does nothing to relieve orcas from the frustrations and anxieties of incarceration.

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As of 2021, SeaWorld has ended its use of orcas in its shows and breeding program. In 2016, SeaWorld announced that it would no longer breed orcas in captivity and that its current orcas would be its last.

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At approximately the age of four, Corky was captured from Pender Harbour off the coast of British Columbia on December 11, 1969. She has lived at SeaWorld San Diego in San Diego, California since 1987. As of 2023, she is the oldest and longest kept captive orca.

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