Keto - orca: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:50, 18 May 2023

Sex: Male

Place of birth: Born at SeaWorld of Florida

Date of birth: June 17, 1995

Captive at: Loro Parque Tenerife, Spain

On June 17, 1995, a female orca named Kalina, who was born in captivity, gave birth to her second calf at SeaWorld Orlando. Remarkably, Kalina was only 9 years old at the time. The newborn calf was a male named Keto, fathered by a male orca from Iceland called Kotar.

Keto spent a little over 3 years at the Orlando park before being relocated to SeaWorld San Diego in 1999. There, he was reunited with his older brother, Keet. In April 2000, Keto and Keet were moved once again, this time to a park in Aurora, Ohio, along with another male orca named Sumar.

In February 2001, Keto was transferred to SeaWorld San Antonio, where he formed a close bond with a female orca named Kayla. He was known to engage in conflicts with a male named Kyuquot over Kayla's attention. In 2004, Keto was reunited with his brother Keet. However, in February 2006, Keto, along with three other young orcas named Kohana, Tekoa, and Skyla, were sent on a breeding loan to Loro Parque in Spain. Although they were owned by SeaWorld, the decision to move them together drew criticism due to their familial relationship.

The group of young orcas at Loro Parque faced challenges in terms of social structure, as they lacked a dominant matriarch. This resulted in aggression issues among the whales and occasional aggression towards trainers. Notably, Keto had already displayed aggressive behavior towards trainers before his transfer to Loro Parque.

In September 1998, he pushed his trainer around the pool and made contact with another trainer in March 1999 and August 2002. In December 1999, he snapped at his trainer during a training session. However, Keto's aggression seemed to escalate on December 24, 2009.

During a morning training session for the Christmas Special, Keto struck and killed his 29-year-old trainer, Alexis Martínez. Initially, it was reported that Alexis had drowned after being rendered unconscious and held underwater for several minutes. However, the subsequent autopsy revealed a more violent cause of death. Alexis had suffered multiple cuts and bruises, collapsed lungs, rib and sternum fractures, a lacerated liver, severe damage to vital organs, and puncture marks consistent with orca teeth.

The autopsy determined that drowning caused by fluid in the lungs was the immediate cause of death. However, the underlying cause was attributed to "mechanical asphyxiation due to compression and crushing of the thoracic abdomen with injuries to vital organs." This indicated that Keto had slammed into Alexis with enough force to cause his chest to cave in.

In October 2010, Kohana, who was part of the orca group at Loro Parque, gave birth to the first calf conceived at the park. The calf, named Adán, was fathered by Keto, who also happened to be Kohana's uncle. Unfortunately, Kohana rejected Adán, likely due to her lack of learned mothering skills. As a result, the park staff had to bottle-feed and care for Adán.

In 2012, Kohana gave birth to hers and Keto’s second calf, a female named Victoria, or Vicky for short. Once again, Kohana rejected her calf, forcing staff to separate the pair and bottle feed her. Vicky died at just 10 months old.

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Captive at: Loro Parque Tenerife, Spain
-On June 17, 1995 captive born female Kalina gave birth to her second calf at just 9 years old at SeaWorld Orlando. The calf was a male named Keto sired by the Icelandic male Kotar.
+On June 17, 1995, a female orca named [[Kalina - orca|Kalina]], who was born in captivity, gave birth to her second calf at SeaWorld Orlando. Remarkably, Kalina was only 9 years old at the time. The newborn calf was a male named Keto, fathered by a male orca from Iceland called [[Kotar - orca|Kotar]].
-However, Keto only stayed at the Orlando park for little more than 3 years before being transferred to the San Diego park in 1999 where he met his older brother, Keet. In April of 2000, Keto was moved again to the park in Aurora, Ohio with his brother Keet and another male named Sumar.
+Keto spent a little over 3 years at the Orlando park before being relocated to SeaWorld San Diego in 1999. There, he was reunited with his older brother, [[Keet - orca|Keet]]. In April 2000, Keto and [[Keet - orca|Keet]] were moved once again, this time to a park in Aurora, Ohio, along with another male orca named [[Sumar - orca|Sumar]].
-Keto was moved once again in February of 2001 to the San Antonio park where he grew very close to the female named Kayla, and would reportedly fight with a male named Kyuquot over her. He was reunited with his brother Keet in 2004, but in February of 2006, Keto and 3 other young whales were transferred to Loro Parque in Spain. The four were sent on a breeding loan and therefore are owned by SeaWorld; though they were scrutinized for the move, as Keto, Kohana, Tekoa, and Skyla are all related.
+In February 2001, Keto was transferred to SeaWorld San Antonio, where he formed a close bond with a female orca named [[Kayla - orca|Kayla]]. He was known to engage in conflicts with a male named [[Kyuquot - orca|Kyuquot]] over Kayla's attention. In 2004, Keto was reunited with his brother [[Keet - orca|Keet]]. However, in February 2006, Keto, along with three other young orcas named Kohana, Tekoa, and Skyla, were sent on a breeding loan to Loro Parque in Spain. Although they were owned by SeaWorld, the decision to move them together drew criticism due to their familial relationship.
-The combination of these relatively young whales also presented a problem in terms of social structure, as the group lacked a dominant matriarch and still does. This has led to aggression issues between the whales, and sometimes aggression towards trainers. However, Keto had already been displaying issues with trainers before his move to Loro Parque.
+The group of young orcas at [[Loro Parque]] faced challenges in terms of social structure, as they lacked a dominant matriarch. This resulted in aggression issues among the whales and occasional aggression towards trainers. Notably, Keto had already displayed aggressive behavior towards trainers before his transfer to Loro Parque.
-In September of 1998 he pushed his trainer around the pool, open mouthed, and swam into another trainer open mouthed in both March of 1999 and August 2002, as well as snapping at his trainer during a training session in December 1999. Keto’s aggression seemed to escalate, however, on December 24, 2009.
+In September 1998, he pushed his trainer around the pool and made contact with another trainer in March 1999 and August 2002. In December 1999, he snapped at his trainer during a training session. However, Keto's aggression seemed to escalate on December 24, 2009.
-During a 10:30am training session for the Christmas Special, 29 year old trainer Alexis Martínez was struck and killed by Keto. At first, it was said that Alexis had drowned due to being unconscious and held underwater for several minutes. The autopsy revealed that Alexis’ death was actually more violent, and went on to state that he suffered multiple cuts and bruises, the collapse of both lungs, fractures to the ribs and sternum, a lacerated liver, severely damaged vital organs, and puncture marks consistent with the teeth of an orca.
+During a morning training session for the Christmas Special, Keto struck and killed his 29-year-old trainer, Alexis Martínez. Initially, it was reported that Alexis had drowned after being rendered unconscious and held underwater for several minutes. However, the subsequent autopsy revealed a more violent cause of death. Alexis had suffered multiple cuts and bruises, collapsed lungs, rib and sternum fractures, a lacerated liver, severe damage to vital organs, and puncture marks consistent with orca teeth.
-The autopsy concluded that the immediate cause of death was drowning due to fluid in the lungs, but that the fundamental cause was “mechanical asphyxiation due to compression and crushing of the thoracic abdomen with injuries to the vital organs”, meaning that Keto had to have slammed into Alexis with enough force to cause Alexis’ chest to cave in.
+The autopsy determined that drowning caused by fluid in the lungs was the immediate cause of death. However, the underlying cause was attributed to "mechanical asphyxiation due to compression and crushing of the thoracic abdomen with injuries to vital organs." This indicated that Keto had slammed into Alexis with enough force to cause his chest to cave in.
-Eerily enough, Alexis’ death occurred exactly two months prior to the death of senior SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau who was killed on February 24, 2010 by the Icelandic male Tilikum. Being a SeaWorld trainer, Dawn’s death seemed to get much more publicity than Alexis’ death, and the incident between Alexis and Keto was quickly swept under the rug for the most part.
+In October 2010, Kohana, who was part of the orca group at Loro Parque, gave birth to the first calf conceived at the park. The calf, named [[Adan - orca|Adán]], was fathered by Keto, who also happened to be Kohana's uncle. Unfortunately, Kohana rejected Adán, likely due to her lack of learned mothering skills. As a result, the park staff had to bottle-feed and care for Adán.
-In October 2010, Kohana gave birth to the first calf to be conceived at Loro Parque. The calf, known as Adán, was sired by Keto who is Kohana’s uncle. Kohana rejected Adán due to her never learning proper mothering skills, requiring staff to bottle feed Adán instead.
+In 2012, Kohana gave birth to hers and Keto’s second calf, a female named Victoria, or Vicky for short. Once again, Kohana rejected her calf, forcing staff to separate the pair and bottle feed her. Vicky died at just 10 months old.
-In 2012, Kohana gave birth to hers and Keto’s second calf, a female named Victoria, or Vicky for short. Once again, Kohana rejected her calf, forcing staff to separate the pair and bottle feed her. Unfortunately, Vicky died at just 10 months old.