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Corky (II) is a female orca (also known as a killer whale) from the A5 Pod in British Columbia, Canada. She currently lives at SeaWorld in San Diego, California. Corky (II) received her name after the park's original Corky died in December of 1970. Of the other animals captured on that day, only Corky still survives.
Early Life & Capture
Corky is presumed to have been born sometime in 1964. Her mother has the official designation of A23, though she is also known by the nickname 'Stripe.' She was captured, along with several other orcas, on December 11, 1969 in Pender Harbor, British Columbia, Canada.
Of the orcas captured, six were sold to aquariums. Corky, along with a young unnamed male and a young female later named Patches, were sold to Marineland of the Pacific, in Palos Verdes, California.
Currently Corky is considering suing the whole of neo-geo.com because he's just faggot enough to do so.
Life at Marineland
Corky was placed in a small pool with an adult male, Orky (II) also caught in Pender Harbor the year before her own capture. The two orcas remained together at the park for the next seventeen years.
During her time at Marineland, Corky became the first orca to become pregnant and give birth in captivity. With her first calf, nobody even knew she was pregnant. On February 28, 1977, the first calf to be born alive in captivity was born at Marineland to Corky and Orky. The calf was a male and died after sixteen days.
Corky went on to give birth six more times while at Marineland. Kiva, the longest surviving calf, lived only a total of 47 days. There are several reasons as to why Corky's calves didn't survive. The first might be that she was captured too young to have learned how to properly take care of a calf. Though, even after she went through training to teach her how to nurse, the calves continued to die. Another reason the calves died so young could be attributed to the shape of Marineland's pools - small circles. Corky had to continually push her calves away from the walls and could not properly present her mammaries to the calves so that they could nurse.
Her time at Marineland ended in January of 1987, after the park was sold to SeaWorld. Corky, then pregnant for the seventh time, was moved with Orky a few hours south, to the park in San Diego. There, at Sea World, Corky suffered a miscarriage.
Life at SeaWorld
Corky and Orky were placed with the other orcas at Sea World, in a system of pools much larger than those they had lived in at Marineland. Orky was desired primarily for Sea World's new successful breeding program, and while at Sea World he sired two female calves, both of which are still alive today.
Corky, on the other hand, never became pregnant again. Sadly, just three days after the birth of his first daughter, Orky died. His daughter, Orkid, remains at the park today.
In 1989, the dominant orca at the park, Kandu (V), attempted to rake Corky - a way orcas show dominance by forcefully scratching at another with their teeth. Kandu struck Corky just before a show. Shortly after the show began, it was apparent that something was very wrong. Kandu began exhaling large amounts of blood. Kandu died shortly after and was discovered to have fractured her upper jaw.
Orkid, orphaned at only 11 months old, was placed with Corky, and the two remain together at the park to this day.
Today, Corky lives with 6 other whales (Kasatka, Ulises, Orkid, Sumar, Nakai and Kalia). Corky is one of the gentlest whales in captivity; when a trainer enters the water with a whale for the first time, the whale is always Corky. She loves to mother everyone, and in fact has adopted and partially raised quite a few whales since her move to SeaWorld. Orkid, of course, as well as Splash, Sumar and others. Corky gets along with all of the whales, except for Ulises, who for unknown reasons will try to rake her when they're together.
Corky is easily identified thanks to her tall, straight fin; her pointed eyepatches, and most distinguishing, her big size for a female. She also seems to love swimming upsidedown in the tanks.
Corky Today
Corky is now approximately 40 years old - about middle age for an orca. She has lived in captivity for almost 36 years - longer than any other orca in history. She suffers from cataracts in her right eye, though it does not seem to impair her daily activities. She still performs regularly in shows, under the stage name 'Shamu.'
Various organizations over the years have campaigned to release Corky. Many wanted to see her returned to her mother, A23 (Stripe). Unfortunately, Stripe died in 2000. Corky has several family members she has never met,( wich she can only find in the wild) including one deceased brother, A27 (Okisollo), a living sister, A43 (Ripple) who now has calves of her own, and a younger brother A60 (Fife). On October 9th 2005, Corky became a great-auntie for the first time when Kayla gave birth to Corky's cousin's grandchild Halyn. Orcalab in British Columbia is currently trying to help Corky be rehabilitated.
Further reading
- Ford, John K.B.; Ellis, Graeme M.; & Balcomb, Kenneth C. (2000). Killer Whales (2nd ed.). UBC Press. ISBN 0-7748-0800-4.
- Hoyt, Erich. (1990). Orca: The Whale Called Killer (3rd ed.). London: Robert Hale Limited. ISBN 0-920656-25-0.
- Morton, Alexandra. (2002). Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us New York: Ballantine Publishing Group. ISBN 0-345-43794-2.