CLOSE The orca whale featured in the documentary ‘Blackfish’ has died. Angeli Kakade (@angelikakade) has the story. Buzz60 
 
 Killer whale Tilikum, right, watches as SeaWorld Orlando trainers take a break during a training session at the theme park's Shamu Stadium in Orlando, Fla., in this 2011 file photo (Photo: Phelan M. Ebenhack, AP) 
 
 One of SeaWorld's better-known orcas, Tilikum, perhaps best known for killing his trainer in 2010, died early Friday morning. 
 
 SeaWorld said he died surrounded by trainers, care staff and veterinarians. A cause of death is yet to be determined and a necropsy is planned. However, the organization said he had faced "very serious health issues" and veterinarians had been treating him for a "persistent and complicated bacterial lung infection." 
 
 Tilikum, SeaWorld said, was estimated to be 36 years old, a little older than the orcas, commonly known as "killer whales," who live in the region where he originated. He came to SeaWorld in 1991 from Sealand of the Pacific in Canada. 
 
 In February 2010, Tilikum was interacting with his trainer, 40-year-old Dawn Brancheau, at SeaWorld Orlando's Shamu Stadium when he grabbed her by the ponytail and pulled her underwater as a horrified audience looked on. 
 
 A medical examiner determined Brancheau's death was accidental, saying she died of drowning and traumatic injuries. 
 
 The incident sparked a backlash against SeaWorld and inspired the movie "Blackfish," which questioned the ethics of orcas in captivity. 
 
 SeaWorld recognized Brancheau in a blog post about Tilikum, saying the killer whale will be "inextricably connected" to her death. After the incident, SeaWorld continued to allow Tilikum, who weighed 12,000 pounds, to mix and mate with the rest of the orcas. 
 
 "While we all experienced profound sadness about that loss, we continued to offer Tilikum the best care possible, each and every day," the post said. 
 
 SeaWorld's's President and CEO Joel Manby expressed his condolences. 
 
 "Tilikum had, and will continue to have, a special place in the hearts of the SeaWorld family, as well as the millions of people all over the world that he inspired," Manby said. "My heart goes out to our team who cared for him like family." 
 
 The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), one of SeaWorld's critics following the death of Brancheau, tweeted a photo Friday morning that read, "R.I.P. Tilikum. Dead after three decades of misery." 
 
 Tillikum's death means 22 SeaWorld orcas remain at facilities in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego. The company announced the current generation of Orcas would be the last at SeaWorld, which will stop breeding them. The company also said it would tweak the orcas' performances moving forward to more reflect their natural habitat and behaviors. SeaWorld has not housed a whale from the wild in almost 40 years. 
 
 PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange said the end of the program came too late for Tilikum. She said his life was tragic and filled with pain, adding he was bred 21 times with 11 of his children dying before him. 
 
 "SeaWorld needs to release all the remaining animals from its parks – the orcas, beluga whales, bottlenose dolphins, sea lions, walruses, penguins and others — and rehabilitate them back into nature or into coastal sanctuaries where they can spend the rest of their lives in as natural a setting as possible," Lange said in a statement. 
 
 The rest of the whales, SeaWorld said, are behaving normally after Tilikum's death. 
 
 CLOSE 'Blackfish,' a documentary from CNN Films, takes an unflinching look at the killer whale entertainment industry and the damage inflicted on and inflicted by the "stars," through the case of Tilikum, a killer whale responsible for three deaths. 
 
 Follow Sean Rossman on Twitter: @SeanRossman 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2i0ua6q ||||| ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tilikum, an orca that killed a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando in 2010 and was profiled in a documentary that helped sway popular opinion against keeping killer whales in captivity at SeaWorld parks, has died. 
 
 SeaWorld officials said Friday that Tilikum died but did not give a cause of death. In a statement to CBS News, the officials said Tilikum had faced serious health issues including a persistent and complicated bacterial lung infection. He was estimated to be 36 years old. A necropsy will be performed, according to the statement. 
 
 “Tilikum had, and will continue to have, a special place in the hearts of the SeaWorld family, as well as the millions of people all over the world that he inspired,” SeaWorld President and CEO Joel Manby said. “My heart goes out to our team who cared for him like family.” 
 
 Tilikum was SeaWorld’s most prolific male orca, siring 14 calves while he was at SeaWorld Orlando. He arrived at the park about 25 years ago. 
 
 He was noticeable for his size at more than 22 feet and 11,800 pounds. 
 
 Tilikum was born off the waters of Iceland and moved to Sealand of the Pacific in Canada after being captured. While at Sealand in 1992, Tilikum and two female orcas were responsible for the death of a part-time trainer who slipped and fell into their pool and was submerged by them. 
 
 Tilikum was moved to SeaWorld Orlando a short time later, and Sealand later closed. 
 
 In 1999, a naked man who had eluded security and sneaked into SeaWorld at night was found dead the next morning draped over Tilikum in a breeding tank in the back of Shamu Stadium. 
 
 But it was the 2010 death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau by Tilikum after a “Dine with Shamu” show that left the biggest impact on the future of orcas at SeaWorld parks. 
 
 Brancheau was interacting with Tilikum before a live audience at SeaWorld Orlando when he pulled her from a platform by her arm and held her under the water. An autopsy report said Brancheau drowned but also suffered severe trauma, including multiple fractures. 
 
 SeaWorld Entertainment officials announced in March 2016 that the tourist attraction would end its orca breeding program and theatrical shows involving killer whales. The decision came six years after Brancheau’s death and three years after the release of the documentary “Blackfish,” which chronicled Tilikum’s life and Brancheau’s death. 
 
 Gerardo Mora/Getty Images 
 
 The documentary argued that killer whales, when in captivity, become more aggressive toward humans and each other. After the documentary played at the Sundance Film Festival and aired on CNN, several entertainers pulled out of planned performances at SeaWorld parks and animal rights activists increased their demonstrations outside the parks. 
 
 Attendance at SeaWorld parks dipped, the company faced falling profits and Southwest Airlines ended its 25-year relationship with the theme park company. 
 
 In March, SeaWorld’s CEO acknowledged that the public’s attitude had changed about keeping killer whales captive and that the company would end its orca breeding program. 
 
 “We needed to move where society was moving,” Manby said. ||||| Tilikum, the orca at the center of the documentary "Blackfish," has died. 
 
 According to SeaWorld, Tilikum passed away early this morning surrounded by the trainers, care staff and veterinarians. 
 
 While the official cause of death will not be determined until the necropsy is completed, the SeaWorld veterinarians were treating a persistent and complicated bacterial lung infection. 
 
 Tilikum has been at SeaWorld for more than 25 years. 
 
 Even after her death, SeaWorld continued to offer Tilikum the care. 
 
 “Tilikum had, and will continue to have, a special place in the hearts of the SeaWorld family, as well as the millions of people all over the world that he inspired,” said President & CEO of SeaWorld Joel Manby. “My heart goes out to our team who cared for him like family.” 
 
 People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, better known as PETA, has long condemned the capturing of wildlife for show and SeaWorld. The organization sent out about a dozen tweets condemning the whale's health problems. 
 
 Some of those tweets centered around points brought up by "Blackfish," including the fact Tilikum killed several people while in captivity. 
 
 Technically, Tilikum wasn't captured by SeaWorld or born in captivity. And the organization says he's about 36 years old, which is "near the high end of the average life expectancy for male killer whales." 
 
 ORLANDO, Fla. -
– The orca who inspired the documentary Blackfish died Friday at SeaWorld, his home for more than 20 years, reports USA Today. A planned necropsy will give an official cause of death, though Tilikum had been suffering from a bacterial lung infection for some time. SeaWorld says that at an estimated age of 36, he was "near the high end of the average life expectancy for male killer whales," per WFTS. First discovered off Iceland and placed in captivity in Canada, Tilikum was moved to SeaWorld Orlando in the 1990s and sired 14 calves there, a park record. Tilikum was involved in the deaths of three people during his lifetime, including that of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010. That incident, ruled an accident, inspired Blackfish, which pointed out the dangers of holding intelligent orcas in captivity. (The other two deaths: that of a Sealand trainer who fell into a pool occupied by Tilikum and two female orcas in 1992, and that of a naked man who sneaked into SeaWorld and was found dead in Tilikum's tank in 1999.) "Tilikum had, and will continue to have, a special place in the hearts of the SeaWorld family, as well as the millions of people all over the world that he inspired," SeaWorld's CEO says, per CBS News. "My heart goes out to our team who cared for him like family."