Keet - orca

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• Sex: Male
• Place of birth: SeaWorld of Texas
• Date of birth: February 2, 1993
• Age at capture: Captive born
• Current location: SeaWorld of California

History

On February 2, 1993, captive born female Kalina gave birth to her first calf at just 8 years old at the SeaWorld San Antonio park. The calf was a male, later known as Keet, sired by the Icelandic male, Kotar. Keet’s birth marked him as the very first second generation calf to be born in captivity.

However, just 18 months after his birth, Kalina became pregnant with her second calf. To support her pregnancy, Kalina was moved to the Orlando park in 1994, leaving Keet alone at the Texas park. After Kalina’s move, Keet apparently became depressed until befriending the other resident whales at the park, including Haida II, Katerina, and Kyuquot.

In November 1999, Keet was moved to the San Diego park where he met many other whales, including his younger brother Keto. He remained here for about 6 months until being moved in April 2000 to the now defunct park in Aurora, Ohio with Keto and another male named Sumar, where they stayed until Sumar and Keet were moved back to the San Diego park in February 2001.

During his second stay at the San Diego park, Keet impregnated the Icelandic female Kasatka, but was moved back to the San Antonio park in April 2004. In December of 2004, Kasatka gave birth to Keet’s first calf, a female later named Kalia.

The following year, Keet sired his second calf with a female named Kayla at the San Antonio park. Unfortunately, Kayla rejected the calf, a female later named Halyn, resulting in staff having to separate the pair and bottle-feed Halyn.

When she was older, Halyn was introduced to Keet and the two got along well and kept each other company; Halyn would even perform in shows with Keet. Unfortunately, Halyn died in June 2008 and in February 2012, Keet was moved back to the San Diego park for a third time. Keet is also believed to have been the sire of a female named Unna’s stillbirth in 2006, as well as Kayla’s miscarriage in 2007.

Today, Keet still resides at the San Diego park. He became a grandsire in 2014 when Kalia gave birth to her first calf, a female named Amaya.

See also

• List of living captive orcas
• List of deceased captive orcas
• Lists of captive animals