Haida II

Haida II. Photo provided by George Hunter.

Haida II (*pronounced hi-DAH*) was an approximately 21-year-old female Icelandic killer whale who lived at SeaWorld San Antonio. She was captured in October 1982 from Stokkseyri, Iceland at approximately 2 years old. Haida passed away due to a brain abscess and associated infections on August 1st, 2001 at SeaWorld San Antonio. At the time of her death, Haida was pregnant with a 5 month old fetus.

## Early Life and Capture

In October 1982, Haida was captured from Stokkseyri, Iceland at approximately 2 years old.

## Life at Sealand

On May 6th, 1983, Haida II, another young female named Nootka IV, and an unnamed male were flown from Iceland to Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia. They were brought in as replacements for Sealand's previous orca Haida, who had died the previous year.

Less than a month after arriving at Sealand, the unnamed male fell ill, and died on May 28th due to a rare blood disorder.  Another young Icelandic male who would later be named Tilikum was brought in to replace him on November 11th, 1984.

At Sealand, Haida, Nootka, and Tilikum were deprived of food when they didn't perform or cooperate, and spent the nights in a "module". The module was a small, metal holding tank 26 feet in diameter, and 20 feet deep. The whales would spend up to 14 hours at a time in there. The three whales often fought, and Tilikum in particular was often subject to aggression from the two females. Both Haida and Nootka eventually fell pregnant to him.

### Death of Keltie Byrne

On February 20th, 1991, 21 year old Sealand part-time employee Keltie Lee Byrne was walking along the edge of the pool after a show had just finished when, for reasons unknown, she fell into the pool at approximately 1:20 pm. She attempted to exit when one of the three whales in the pool at the time, Nootka IV, Haida II, or Tilikum, grabbed her by the foot and pulled her back in, according to witnesses. For approximately ten minutes, all three whales batted Byrne around the tank, dragging her underwater. Sealand employees attempted to get Byrne out of the pool with a pole, life buoys, and nets, but were unsuccessful. They also attempted to distract the whales and cue them to still, which was also unsuccessful. Byrne was not able to be retrieved for another two hours, by which time Byrne was deceased. The coroner listed the cause of death as drowning due to forced submersion by killer whales.

New safety standards were imposed upon Sealand for continued killer whale keeping after an inquiry, but Sealand put all three whales up for sale in September of 1991.

### Birth of Kyuquot

The aggression towards Tilikum grew worse as Haida's pregnancy progressed, and he was eventually driven into a small medical pool. He was kept there to prevent the aggression from escalating.

On 11:30 am on December 24th, 1991, Haida went into labor. She gave birth to her first calf at 12:40 pm. Nootka and Tilikum were initially kept separated from the pair. About a month after birth, the calf was determined to be a male.

## Move to and Life at SeaWorld

In November of 1991, two months after Sealand put all of their whales up for sale, SeaWorld applied for a display permit for all three whales. On January 8th, 1993, Haida and Kyuquot were moved to SeaWorld San Antonio.

## Death

On July 29th 2001, SeaWorld staff began noticing changes in Haida's behavior. She was placed under observation, and given antibiotics. On the night of August 1st, 2001, Haida passed away.

## Galleries

* **Photos** of Haida II
* **Videos** of Haida II

## Transfer History

**Haida II's Transfer History**
 Saedyrasafnid, Iceland
 Sealand of the Pacific, Canada

## References

1. ↑ 'Sealand Gets 3 Iceland Whales'
2. ↑ 'Sealand Whale Dies From Rare Blood Disorder'
3. ↑ 'Sealand Adds a Male Whale'
4. ↑ 'Dangers to Trainers'
5. ↑ 'Keltie Byrne Coroner's Inquest'
6. ↑ 'Playing Whales Kill Trainer Before Shocked Crowd'
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 'The Tilikum Transaction'
8. ↑ 'Orca's Christmas Birth Surprises Aquarium Staff'
9. ↑ 'Sealand's Month-Old Killer Whale Identified as Male'
10. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59733820/jan-8-1993-nootka-arrives-in/
11. ↑ 'Biologists at Park Baffled by Whale's Death'