Cody

Cody. Photo provided by Eric Dylan.

科迪 or Cody (pronounced KOW-dee), also known as 胖豆丁 or Pàngdòudīng *(PAANG-doh-ding)*, is a 2-year-old male Russian transient killer whale who lives at Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park. He was born there tail-first on September 10th, 2021, at 1:16 AM CST. His mother is Cookie, and father is Pànghǔ. He had to be separated from his mother shortly after his birth and hand-raised, but has since reunited with her. While information about his birth was leaked on October 9th, 2021, his existence was not officially confirmed until May 31st, 2022, when Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park announced his birth to the public.

## Birth and Early Life

   In April of 2020, blood tests showed that Cookie's progesterone was high, suggesting that she may be pregnant. Her progesterone continued to rise, and in November of that year, ultrasounds confirmed that Cookie was indeed pregnant.

Late into the evening of September 9th, 2021, Cookie went into labor. About three hours later, at 1:16 AM CST, her son was born. The calf, later named Cody, was born tail-first in the show pool of the orca habitat.  At birth, he weighed 513 lbs and was 8.2 ft long.  At the time of Cody's birth, four other whales lived at Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park: his mother and father, an adolescent male named Sean, and a young female named Dora. Almost immediately after being born, Cody swam into the acrylic glass of the show pool. He then reportedly surfaced and began to swim erratically before Cookie started to swim with him.  Although Cookie showed maternal care towards him,  Cody was not able to nurse properly, and shortly after his birth he was separated from his mother. Following the separation, Cookie would reportedly look at him through the fence and vocalize for him.

Although Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park tried to hide his existence from the public at first, information about his birth leaked to the public less than a month later,  and at least some guests saw the calf before he was officially announced.

   At some point between his birth and January of 2022, Cody grew underweight, and he eventually developed a "peanut head".  By late May, however, he had gained quite a bit of weight, and appeared to be healthy.

Cody spent most of the first few months of his life in the medical pool. By late May, however, he had started to spend more time in the other pools. At some point he also started to regularly swim with trainers, both in SCUBA gear and in just wetsuits,  especially in the underwater viewing pool.

### Shrouded in Secrets

For several months leading up to Cody's birth, there had been some speculation that Cookie was pregnant. Cookie had been taken out of shows for a long period of time,  and she appeared to be much rounder than the the other whales at the park.  At some point in September, the killer whale shows were suspended,  and they did not resume until early October.  Fat Tiger Daddy (胖虎Daddy), a trainer that frequently posts videos of the whales on Douyin, went from posting videos almost daily to barely posting any videos around the time of Cody's birth.

About a month after Cody's birth, on October 9th, 2021, the Chinese Cetacean Alliance announced on Weibo that Cookie had given birth to a calf on September 9th, 2021. They also claimed that Cookie had not known how to care for Cody, that he hadn't nursed, that he has crashed into the side of the pool right after birth, and that he was now in the medical pool. They did not, however, know his gender or who the father was.  As the calf's real name was not known at the time, the cetacean community on Twitter soon dubbed the calf "Chip", which was a reference to his mother's name, as "Bǐnggān" translates to biscuit, another word for "Cookie".      The name quickly spread to other social media sites from there, and it became popular among the English-speaking cetacean community.

Due to the sensitivity of the information, the Chinese Cetacean Alliance wanted to protect their sources, and they did not reveal any photos of the calf in the original announcement.  Because of a lack of photos, as well as no official confirmation from the park themselves, there was initially some skepticism towards this announcement. After the announcement, however, more evidence began to emerge.

Shortly after the announcement, photos were posted that showed Cookie with what appeared to be an extremely swollen mammary area. This suggested that she had given birth shortly before the photos were taken.  A comment from Douyin was translated and screenshotted not long after that possibly referred to the calf. The comment, which was posted under a video on Douyin that featured Sean, asked where a "little killer whale" was.  Although it is unknown if this comment whether this comment was referring to Cody or the other whales at the park, it did lend some legitimacy to the Chinese Cetacean Alliance's claim.

Finally, on January 5th, 2022, Cody's existence was confirmed when the Chinese Cetacean Alliance released a drone photo that showed Cody in the medical pool.  A few weeks later, on January 21st, the first video of Cody was made publicly available. The video showed him swimming in the medical pool. The video also showed that he was malnourished and had developed a "peanut head".  This was soon shared across Western social media, and many people became concerned for Cody's wellbeing.  In early March, there was even some concern that Cody had passed away, as a guest photo taken in February showed that there were no trainers around the medical pool.

On March 19th, the Chinese Cetacean Alliance finally posted up-close photos of Cody, as well as photos of merchandise that the park had made about him. The photos showed Cody shortly after birth, including his collision with the acrylic wall in the tank, as well as two pins that the park had made to commemorate the birth. One of the pins featured the words "Orac Baby". Although this was believed by some to be a typo, "Orac" is actually the name of the park's orca mascot. Due to the prominent use of the color blue on the pins, as well as the lack of stereotypically "feminine" features, the pins suggested that the calf was a male, and some people began to believe such.

### The Truth is Finally Revealed

   In February of 2022, Shanghai Haichang posted a video on Douyin of the "love story" between Pànghǔ and Cookie. While there was no mention of a calf, this did suggest that they were preparing to announce Cody's birth sometime soon.  On May 31st, 2022, nine months after Cody's birth, Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park finally announced him to the public. Not only did they confirm that Cody was indeed a male, they also revealed that the calf was actually born on September 10th, not September 9th like the Chinese Cetacean Alliance had initially reported, and that his father was Pànghǔ.

### A Public Debut

On June 11th, 2022, at 9-months-old, Cody made his public debut.  Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park had been closed for several months due to the COVID-19 Virus, and Cody was their star attraction upon opening.

As part of a marketing campaign, Shanghai Haichang created an official Douyin account for Cody, and posted many videos of him following the announcement of his birth.

At some point in the summer of 2022, Shanghai Haichang announced Cody's show name, "胖豆丁" or "Pàngdòudīng". While this is the name the park uses for him publicly, this is not the "personal" name used by trainers or regulars at the park. His actual name, Cody, was finally revealed in some art made by a fan and posted to Shanghai Haichang's social media.

## Trivia

* Cody's stage name is 胖豆丁 or Pàngdòudīng *(PAANG-doh-ding)*, which means "fat beans". This is a reference to his father, whose Chinese nickname is 胖虎 or Pànghǔ *(PAANG-hoo)*, which means "fat tiger".
* Cody's unofficial English nickname, Chip, was given to him by the English-speaking cetacean community on Twitter in the weeks following the Chinese Cetacean Alliance's announcement of his birth. His nickname is a reference to his mother's name, Cookie, as "Chip" is short for "Chocolate Chip".
* While Cody was the first *known* captive killer whale to be successfully born in China, two other calves were born before him at another park in China, Chimelong Ocean Kingdom. One calf was born on April 5th, 2019, and another was born on April 17th, 2021.

## Galleries

* **Photos** of Cody
* **Videos** of Cody

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "为迎接“六一”国际儿童节，#上海海昌海洋公园#正式官宣#上海多了个虎鲸宝宝# ——国内首个沪籍新生小虎鲸。这只新生小虎鲸出生于2021年9月10日(...)" by 上海海昌海洋公园 on Wiebo
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park will be open for free for 8 days. The first Shanghai-born killer whale baby will meet with tourists on June 11"
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Cookie’s calf in Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park"
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Recently released video of Cookie(...)" by China Orca News (@chinaorcanews) on Instagram
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "#拒绝动物表演##不去海洋馆# 收到可靠的消息，之前腹部隆起的那头雌鲸在9月9日产下了一头虎鲸幼崽(...)" by 中国鲸类保护联盟 on Weibo
6. ↑ "9月底去海昌玩的时候就无意间看见了" by 欢 (966452090) on Douyin
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "New video posted today on(...)" by China Orca News (@chinaorcanews) on Instagram
8. ↑ "Photos of Cookie’s calf at(...)" by China Orca News (@chinaorcanews) on Instagram
9. ↑ "COOKIE Lately Cookie is kept(…)" ningyo\_la\_mar\_daprop on Instagram
10. ↑ "Recent pictures of Cookie from(…)" ningyo\_la\_mar\_daprop on Instagram
11. ↑ "Why is the Orca Hall(...)" a comment by Xiao Xiaoying on Douyin (Google-translated screenshot)
12. ↑ "胖虎复出的第一天，胜似想念#虎鲸 @上海海昌海洋公园 @胖虎Daddy" 欢 (966452090) on Douyin
13. ↑ 胖虎Daddy (Ccc971223) on Douyin
14. ↑ "what vibe are we getting(...) by shrimp simp (@oceanxchoes) on Twitter
15. ↑ "i randomly came up with(...)" by reagan (@reagantogami) on Twitter
16. ↑ "or just chip..a aaaaahh" by corky ii stan account (@loukashouka) on Twitter
17. ↑ "How about chocolates chip or(...)" by Tiz\_just\_orca (@tiz\_just\_orca) on Twitter
18. ↑ "Chip is so cute I’m(...)" by Alyona (@thekohola) on Twitter
19. ↑ "We have to protect sources(...)" by China Cetacean Alliance (@ChinaCetaceanAl) on Twitter
20. ↑ "Breaking News COOKIE GAVE BIRTH(…)" China Orcas Ningyo on Facebook
21. ↑ "Where's the little killer whale" a comment by ✨ Kimi on Douyin (Google-translated screenshot)
22. ↑ "UPDATE COOKIE’S CALF A piece(...)" by China Orcas Ningyo (@ningyo\_la\_mar\_daprop) on Instagram
23. ↑ "From this footage I now(...)" by (@flukeoceans) on Twitter
24. ↑ "Do you know if this(...)" a comment by Orca Pictures (@chineseorcaphotos) on Instagram
25. ↑ "文盲东西啊。。想捞烂钱结果拼写都能错。。吗的你这里的人脑子都被拖拉机碾过一遍了吧。。orca啊orac你是吗的什么啊@上海海昌海洋公园(...)" by 都别左右我 on Weibo
"9.9起见证虎鲸爱情故事 上海海昌海洋公园 的虎鲸都在谈恋爱了，那你呢？快来吸欧气～(...)" by 上海海昌海洋公园 on Douyin
27. ↑ "9个月身长已达3米，国内首只沪籍#虎鲸 宝宝与游客正式见面#上海海昌海洋公园 #上海bot #熟悉的上海正在归来" by 东方网 on Douyin
28. ↑ 小虎鲸胖豆丁 (46691718688) on Douyin