On January 21st, 2015, SeaWorld announced on their Facebook page that they were holding a vote for the name of the baby. On December 18th, 2014, it was revealed that Kalia's calf was a female. At the time of her birth 10 other whales lived at SeaWorld San Diego: her mother, her grandmother, who happened to be the matriarch of the San Diego pod, her uncles, her father Ulises, her grand-father Keet, her great-uncle Ikaika, as well as Shouka, Orkid, and Corky II, 3 older females who were close with Kasatka and her family. Within a few minutes Kalia's calf was safely swimming between her mother, her grandmother, and her uncle Makani, and she was nursing just a few hours after that. Although the calf hit the wall of the tank almost immediately after emerging from her mother, she was not injured. Kasatka immediately rushed to escort her new grand-daughter to the surface for her first breathe of air, and Kalia followed her just seconds later. After over 2 hours of labor, at 12:34 pm, the calf was born. Makani and Kalia's older brother Nakai were also there. Kasatka, Kalia's mother, was present during her labor and diligently stayed by her daughter's side. Trainers first noticed that the calf's flukes had emerged at 10:20 am. Finally, on December 2nd, 2014, on a cold, stormy morning just weeks before her 10th birthday, Kalia went into labor. As Kalia had been already pregnant for about 17 months, trainers suspected that the birth was imminent. On November 30th trainers noticed that Kalia's body temperature had dropped by 1 degree. It is unknown if Amaya was conceived naturally or not. SeaWorld artificially inseminated Kalia once with sperm from Ulises, although the pair mated naturally many times before and after that. Finally on April 29th, 2014, SeaWorld confirmed that Kalia was indeed pregnant. Video footage was even released of Kalia's ultrasounds in mid-April of 2014. For months before Amaya's birth there were rumors that her mother Kalia was pregnant with her first calf. The time that she spent with her mother and Makani would soon prepare her to care for her own calf. Kalia was present for his birth and she often spent time with him. She inspired millions of guests to appreciate and learn more about this amazing species,” the statement said.Īmaya was the youngest of 10 whales at the San Diego park and spent time with her mother Kalia and father Ulises, according to its website.In early 2013, Amaya's uncle and Kalia's younger brother Makani was born. “This is a very difficult time for those who knew and loved Amaya. SeaWorld said the specialists who cared for Amaya were heartbroken. Her death was sudden and unexpected,” it said. Despite her care team’s efforts, Amaya’s condition continued to decline rapidly. “Amaya began showing signs of illness on August 18, and animal care specialists and veterinarians began treating her immediately. The 6-year-old female orca named Amaya died Thursday and the cause of death will not be known until results of a post-mortem examination are complete, which could take weeks, SeaWorld’s statement said. SAN DIEGO (AP) - A killer whale died unexpectedly at SeaWorld San Diego and the reason was not immediately known, the aquarium and theme park said Friday. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.

Amaya orca