Recent Orca timeline

December 24, 2009:  Trainer Alexis Martinez is killed at Loro Parque in Tenerife in the Canary Islands by Keto, a captive-born 16 year-old male orca that had been transferred from SeaWorld, along with three other juvenile orcas (Tekoa, Kohana, Skyla) in 2006.

February 24, 2010: Trainer Dawn Brancheau is killed by Tilikum, a wild-caught 27 year-old male orca at SeaWorld Orlando.

April 27, 2010:  Congressional oversight hearing on the educational value of public display of marine mammals held by the House Subcommittee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife.  This hearing was held to review and evaluate the educational value of keeping marine mammals in captivity.

June 6, 2010:  Taima, a captive born 20 year-old female orca at SeaWorld Orlando dies while giving birth to a full-term stillborn calf.  Taima’s calf was fathered by Tilikum, the orca that killed trainer Dawn Brancheau in February.

June 23, 2010:  a female orca named Morgan is found alone in the Wadden Sea in the Netherlands and taken into captivity by the Harderwijk Dolfinarium, where she remains.  Morgan is the first orca found alive in Dutch coastal waters for more than 60 years.

August 23, 2010: OSHA, the US government Occupational Health and Safety Administration, cites and fines SeaWorld $75,000 for willfully exposing its employees to hazards and risk of injury and death in its orca programs.

September 7, 2010:  Sumar, a 12 year-old captive-born male orca dies unexpectedly at SeaWorld San Diego.  Sumar’s mother was Taima.

October 5, 2010:  Kalina, a 25 year-old captive-born female orca dies unexpectedly at SeaWorld Orlando.

October 9, 2010:  Katina, a 34 year-old orca captured from the wild in Iceland in 1978, gives birth to a male calf sired by Tilikum at SeaWorld Orlando.  The calf has been named Makaio.

October 13, 2010: Kohana, an eight year-old captive-born female orca, gave birth to a male calf at Loro Parque’s "Orca Ocean" exhibit. Kohana has yet to establish a "maternal bond" with her calf, recently named Adan, forcing trainers to attempt to hand-rear him. As Kohana was separated from her mother at three years of age, she may never have had the chance to learn about maternal care and has spent the last five years of her life surrounded by the three other juvenile orcas at Loro Parque. To this date, only one other captive orca has ever been hand-raised: Halyn, born to Kayla and Keet at Sea World Texas in 2005, who died of acute encephalitis at 2.8 years of age.

August 2010:  Lolita, a female southern resident orca that was captured from the Pacific Northwest (Penn Cove, Washington) in 1970, marks her 40th year in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium.

December 2010:  Corky, a female orca captured from the northern resident A5 pod in British Columbia in 1969 marks her 41st year in captivity at SeaWorld San Diego.

January 14, 2011: Nami, a 28 year-old female orca captured off the coast of Taiji, Japan in 1985, dies at the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium in Japan.  A necropsy found that she had 491 stones weighing 81.4 kilograms (179.5 lbs) stuck in her stomach. She spent 24 years at the Taiji Whale Museum before being transferred to the Nagoya aquarium in June 2010.

February 3, 2011:  SeaWorld announces it will debut an all-new killer whale show in the Spring and Summer at its three locations, called “One Ocean”.  The show will not involve trainers conducting in-water work with the orcas that will be performing.

February 26th, 2011: SeaWorld announces the reopening of the ‘Dine with Shamu’ show at SeaWorld San Antonio, just a year after the accident that took Ms. Brancheau’s life in the same attraction in Orlando.  The company also announced that limited waterwork with the orcas would begin over the next few months.

April 22, 2011:  After over a year of isolation, Tilikum returns to performances at SeaWorld. SeaWorld also debuted its new orca show, One Ocean, as a replacement for its Believe show at its Orlando location.

May 25, 2011:  SeaWorld files suit against Marineland of Canada to end their breeding loan agreement and bring Ikaika, a 9-year old male orca, back home to SeaWorld over concerns about his physical and psychological health.  The court finds in favour of SeaWorld.

August 3, 2011: Netherlands court decides not to allow the immediate transfer of Morgan to the Loro Parque zoo in Tenerife, requested further research be undertaken.

September 12, 2011: Reports surface that various safety measures, instituted and in development by SeaWorld since September of 2010, are untenable and running into complications which may make them unrealistic for trainer protection at SeaWorld locations.

September 19, 2011: Administrative law judge to hear case of SeaWorld versus OSHA (the United States government’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration).  SeaWorld is intending to present evidence of safety measures that it has instituted since the citation and fine issued by OSHA in August 2010 and addressing safety violations and hazards relating to its orca attractions and disputing OSHA’s findings. The hearing will be open to the public.