Katina (orca) - Birth of Kalina

Birth of Kalina

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.