Sea World Down to 3 Whales as Knootka Dies

One of Sea World’s three adult killer whales died Tuesday after a four-month battle with a rare fungal infection, the aquatic theme park announced.

According to Jim Antrim, Sea World’s senior curator of marine mammals, Knootka, an 8,500-pound killer whale in her mid- to late 20s, stopped breathing in the park’s breeding and research pool at 4:50 p.m.

In December, Knootka became the first whale to receive itraconazole, an experimental drug approved for human use in Europe. Last week she contracted a secondary bacterial infection and became anemic.

Her death leaves the private marine park with a stable of three performing whales--two adult females and Baby Shamu.

“It appears Knootka was overwhelmed with the infections,” said Jim McBain, Sea World staff veterinarian. “Even with the help of the medications she received, her immune system was unable to respond to the challenge of the fungus and bacteria.”

“It’s never fun to lose an old friend,” said Antrim, who added that instead of replacing Knootka with an adult whale, Sea World will focus its attention on its breeding program. In 4 1/2 years, he said, four calves have been born in the four Sea World parks.

Knootka is the third killer whale to die at Sea World in 18 months. In August, 1988, just three days after the birth of Baby Shamu, the baby’s father, Orky, died of natural causes brought on by old age, the park said. At about 30, Orky was the oldest killer whale in captivity at the time.

In August, 1989, Baby Shamu’s mother, 14-year-old Kandu, died in a freak injury caused when she attempted to dominate another female whale, Corky, during a performance. Since then, Corky has become a surrogate mother to Baby Shamu, also known as Orkid.

In part, Sea World officials blame Knootka’s age for her frailty, noting that scientific literature puts a killer whale’s life expectancy at 25 to 35 years.

“Age was certainly a factor in Knootka’s death,” McBain said.

But Scott Trimingham, president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a nonprofit marine mammal advocacy group, disagreed.

“Killer whales keep dying of old age earlier and earlier at Sea World, and (park administrators) keep moving the life expectancy of whales down to suit their needs,” he said, adding that whales in captivity lack adequate exercise and stimulation and eat an unvaried diet. “You put these killer whales in a tank and they start to deteriorate. It would have been healthier in the wild.”

Trimingham says killer whales can live to be 60 in the open sea.

Sea World veterinarians dispute the belief that captivity is bad for marine mammals. In fact, McBain has said that if fungal infections of the type Knootka contracted are more common in marine parks it is because in the wild, a sickly animal would die of a bacterial infection long before it could develop the slower-acting fungal infection.

Knootka, who had been at Sea World since 1986, hailed from the waters surrounding British Columbia. Before she was purchased by the San Diego park, she was at Marine Land in Niagara Falls, N. Y.

During the first months of her illness, Knootka had convalesced in a pool of her own, while Corky and Orkid swam in a pool nearby. Veterinarians said the fungal infection posed no danger to the other whales, but Knootka was kept separate from the thriving 1,100-pound baby because she had no experience caring for young whales.

Recently, however, Knootka had been reunited with Kasatka, a 14-year-old, 4,000-pound female killer whale that was transferred to San Diego from a Sea World park in San Antonio. Kasatka, who had spent two years with Knootka here before being moved to Texas for a breeding program, became “good friends” with Knootka before her death, McBain said.

Antrim said a necropsy would be performed on Knootka’s body Tuesday evening to determine the effectiveness of the medications she received. Her skeletal remains will be preserved for educational purposes, he said.