Their Story; Katina.

      My name is Katina, I was born sometime in 1975. In October 1986 I was captured in Iceland and sent to Marineland, Niagara Falls, Canada. I was originally named Kandu 6, but in 1979 I was sent to SeaWorld San Diego and then again in 1982 I was sent to Ohio with another female named Kasatka. For two years we would perform in Ohio in the summer and then when winter came around we'd be moved to San Diego to perform. Finally, in September 1984 I was sent to SeaWorld Orlando where I lived the rest of my life.

     I became pregnant in early 1984 in San Diego, that summer I was sent to Ohio where they realized I was pregnant and then sent me to Orlando where I gave birth to my first girl Kalina. Since many other Orca calves had been born in captivity in the past, and not survived, when I birthed Kalina, I became the most successful and prime whale for breeding. In 1987, I mated with Kanduke and gave birth to my second calf, November 4th, 1988 named Katerina. They took both Kalina and Katerina away from me and sent them to different facilities. 

      When Tilikum showed up in 1992, I became pregnant again and gave birth to my first son Taku in September 1993. My next calf came in December 1996 called Unna. My fifth calf Ikaika came in August 2002. Taku, Unna, and Ikaika all had the same father which was Tillikum. I gave birth to my son Taku's calf in 2006 named Nalani and she performs in shows with me. In 2010 I gave birth to Makaio who is my seventh son.

      Currently, I am living in SeaWorld Orlando with two of my calves, Nalani and Makaio and one of my grandchildren Trua. I am still performing daily and I am SeaWorld's most reliable performance whale. This isn't the life I wanted for myself though, almost all of my children have been taken from me and most of them are passed on. I want to be in the ocean with my family, my pod. Swimming free, not performing.