Killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando dies while giving birth

ORLANDO, Fla. — A killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando has died from complications that arose while she was giving birth, officials said.

The park said Taima, a 20-year-old orca born at
SeaWorld Orlando in 1990, died late Sunday afternoon, about 20 hours
after going into labor Saturday evening.

The calf was stillborn.

“Everyone is very saddened by the loss … Everyone is reeling,” said Dr. Chris Dold, vice president of veterinary services for Orlando-based SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. “Ty was a member of the family.”

Taima was one of eight killer whales at SeaWorld Orlando. She had successfully given birth to three calves.

Dold said Taima’s calf was in an unusual position in
the birth canal. The orca also experienced a condition in which the
placenta was delivered before the calf. Park veterinarians tried to
help her, SeaWorld said, but the complications proved too severe.

The calf’s father was Tilikum, the 6-ton orca who drowned trainer Dawn Brancheau earlier this year.

Dold said SeaWorld has not had a mother killer whale die while giving birth in more than 25 years. The company, which operates SeaWorld marine parks in Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio, Texas, says it has recorded 26 successful killer whale births since its first in 1985.

Losses of the fetus are more common, although Dold said the rate of killer whale stillbirths is significantly lower in SeaWorld‘s parks than it is in the wild. The park considers a birth successful when the calf is a year old.

“There are lots of these kinds of complications that
can occur … We know they happen in the wild, we know they happen in
collections,” Dold said. “We know they happen everywhere.”

SeaWorld says it will not know the definitive
cause of Taima’s death until a full investigation is completed, which
may take up to six weeks.

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