Kanduke

Kanduke and a child at Marineland of Canada on Jul. 20, 1986. Photo provided by Boris Spremo (Getty Images).

### Official lD

SWF-OO-8701,
NOA0002835

### Also Known As

T009
T9
Duke
Kandu IV

## Physical Traits

### Weights

* 3,000 lbs (1975)
* 12,275 lbs (Sep. 1990)

### Lengths

* 14 ft (Aug. 1975)
* 22 ft (Sep. 1990)

## Family

### Calves

*Kona II's Unborn Calf (1987)*, *Katerina*, *Taima*

### Half-Siblings

***T007A "Arrow"***, **T007B "Spiller"**, ***T007C "Blunden"***

### Grand-Children

*Sumar*, Tekoa, *Taima's Miscarriage (2005)*, Malia, *Taima's Stillborn (2010)*

### Nieces & Nephews

***T007B1***, ***T007B2***, **T007B3 "Knox"**, **T007B4 "Moonraker"**, ***T007B5***, **T007B6 "Domino"**, **T007B7**

Kanduke *(pronounced kan-DOOK)*, also known as T009, Duke, or Kandu IV *(kan-DOO)*, was an approximately 19-year-old male West Coast transient killer whale who lived at SeaWorld Orlando. Kanduke spent most of his life at Marineland of Canada, and was moved to SeaWorld in 1987. He passed away due to St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE) on September 20th, 1990. Kanduke was the first marine mammal confirmed to have SLE. He was also the father of Katerina and Taima. Kanduke's skeleton is displayed in the Skeletons: Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma.

## Early Life and Capture

Kanduke was estimated to have been born around 1971 to T007 "Innis," and he was given the designation T009. Kanduke was born into T Pod, one of the most well known transient pods. Kanduke was part of a group of whales that included his mother, a juvenile female named Nootka III, and 3 other killer whales. Before their capture, the group was frequently seen in Barkley Sound, British Columbia. Kanduke was a Bigg's killer whale, also known as a transient. He likely grew up surrounded by his close family and learned how to hunt from them. He would've grown up mostly eating smaller marine mammals like seals, sea lions, and dolphins, although he might have hunted the occasional whale as well. Nootka was about the same age as him, and she likely learned how to hunt alongside him. Kanduke was probably closely related to all of the whales in his group.

On August 16th, 1975, Kanduke and his pod (including his mother, who was pregnant at the time) were captured in Pedder Bay, British Columbia, and moved to a sea pen. Their captor was Bob Wright, the owner of Sealand of the Pacific. Wright wanted to find a mate for his lone male killer whale, Haida. The following day, the 2 largest whales in the group were released. A third whale, probably Innis, was released on the 22nd, and another whale was supposedly planned to be released not long after that. According to Greenpeace, a whale may have gotten tangled in the sea pen net and drowned on the 23rd, but there is no official confirmation of this. The fact that the release of the fourth whale was never announced, however, makes this theory seem plausible. Kanduke and his family's capture was the last capture of killer whales in British Columbia, as the British Columbia Department of Recreation and Conservation announced an immediate moratorium on killer whale captures on September 12th of the same year. Just a few days after the capture, Nootka was transferred to Sealand. Kanduke was sold to Marineland of Canada, but he wasn’t transferred there until over a month later.

Nootka passed away less than a year after her capture. Although the fates of most of the released whales are unknown, Innis survived and went on to have 3 calves of her own. About a year after her capture, she gave birth to T007A "Arrow," Kanduke's younger brother.

## Life at Marineland

Kanduke arrived at Marineland on September 19th, 1975. At the time Kanduke was known as Kandu IV. When he moved to Marineland he met two other killer whales: a Southern resident named Kandu II and another transient from T Pod, Knootka. The orcas were trained and began to perform together at the park's main stadium, King Waldorf Theater. For many years the three whales were their main performers.

Starting in 1978, Marineland began to bring in whales from Iceland to sell to other parks. In November, a female named Katina arrived. She lived there for several months, but in June of 1979 she was moved to SeaWorld Aurora. In October of that year, Kandu passed away. A month later, again in November, 4 new whales were brought in from Iceland: Kiska, Caren, Keiko and an unnamed female. In early 1980, a young male named King moved to the park. Either shortly before transport in January or February, or during the transport itself, the unnamed female passed away. King may have moved to Marineland after her death to replace her. In February King and Caren were moved to Kamogawa Sea World. November of 1980 didn't see any new arrivals, although 2 whales were transferred to the park in November of 1981: Nootka IV and another unnamed female. The unnamed female died within 2 months of her arrival. After 1981 Marineland temporarily stopped acquiring new whales.

Because of a lack of space, Marineland began to keep whales in the infamous "warehouse", a small, dimly-lit indoor pool located behind King Waldorf Stadium that was used for many years to store excess animals. The "warehouse" is incredibly cramped and dark, and the animals in there have no access to fresh air or sunlight. The size of the tank and the low ceilings mean that the animals often can't even jump out of the water. The building also houses seals, walruses, and sea lions. Because of the design of the building, the barking from the sea lions and the music from the stadium are amplified, and the noise in the "warehouse" can be deafening. Over the years the tank became incredibly worn down and covered in rust. In many photos the water is foggy and green. Former staff reported that the chemicals used to treat the water in the pool were sometimes so strong that the animals would throw themselves out of the water and onto the slideout to escape them. Due to Marineland's policy against enrichment, animals in the warehouse had virtually no stimulation other than each other and the trainers. Kanduke probably spent at least some time in there.

After the death of the unnamed female in 1981, Marineland had 5 whales remaining: Kandu, Knootka, Keiko, Kanduke, and Nootka. It remained this way for several years until February of 1985, when Keiko was purchased by a Mexican theme park and moved to Reino Adventura. In April of 1986, Knootka was sold to SeaWorld and moved to SeaWorld San Diego. In November of that year, Marineland brought in their last wild-caught killer whales, 2 males named Kandu VII and Junior. Because Marineland still didn't have enough space for all of their whales, Junior was moved to the warehouse sometime after his arrival to await sale. Not long after the new whales were brought in, however, Kanduke's life changed drastically.  Marineland was still overcrowded, and despite the fact that Kanduke had been a dedicated performer for several years they decided to sell him to make more room. He may have been moved to the "warehouse" around the same time as Junior.

## Life at SeaWorld

Following the death of one of their main breeding males, Winston, in 1986, SeaWorld began to search for a replacement. In 1987, SeaWorld bought Kanduke. He arrived at SeaWorld Orlando on January 9th of that year.  Kanduke was reunited with Katina, and was introduced to Kona II, Kalina, Kasatka, and Kahana, the park's females, and a young Icelandic male, Kotar. A month later Kasatka and Kahana left the park.

Not long after Kanduke's arrival, Katina and Kona II both became pregnant. In October, however, Kona passed away, and her unborn calf died with her. Less than a month after Kona's death another female, Gudrun, was moved to the park. She became pregnant not long after.

During the first year that he lived at SeaWorld, Kanduke occasionally fought with Kotar.  Over time, however, their aggression escalated, and eventually Kotar severely injured Kanduke's genitals. Kanduke was left with a 10cm scar.  Not long after the fight, in February of 1988, Kotar was moved to SeaWorld San Antonio.

On November 4th, 1988, Katina birth to Kanduke's first calf Katerina. In July of 1989, Gudrun gave birth to Taima. Kanduke spent at least some time with Katerina, but he may not have ever been kept with Taima. Kanduke was often kept with Katina's oldest daughter, Kalina, although Kalina was too young to breed with him. In February of 1990, Kalina was moved to SeaWorld Ohio.

While living at SeaWorld, Kanduke spent most of his time in the back pools. He didn't participate in shows very often, and trainers didn't get in the water with him. Kanduke would reportedly spend most of his time logging. According to from former staff, he was supposedly swarmed by mosquitos frequently because of his inactivity.

## Death

On September 18th, 1990, Kanduke started acting abnormal. he became lethargic and lost his appetite. Kanduke passed away 2 days later, on September 20th, from St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE). Kanduke was the first marine mammal confirmed to have SLE. St. Louis Encephalitis is transmitted from mosquitoes, meaning that Kanduke likely contracted the virus after being bitten.

## Personality

Interpretations of Kanduke's personality seem to vary considerably depending on who is being asked.

Although there was no specific date provided, one SeaWorld Orlando employee provided a story about the whale that presumably took place between 1987 and 1990. At the time, the large display screens would occasionally present issues. This required the delivery of replacement parts to the screens, which were heavy and difficult to carry. To get to them, an employee had to walk across the narrow gates that separated the show pool from the back pools. Because of their narrowness, it was very easy to lose your footing. Each time this employee crossed the gate during one of these instances, they noticed that Kanduke was watching from the water below, inches from the gate. This behavior was attributed to Kanduke's curiosity.

In a much different portrayal of the whale, Carol Ray admitted that Kanduke was the one whale they were afraid of: "I never had any reason to feel like I was unsafe with the exception of one of the animals we had that was particularly aggressive, but (Kanduke) was not a whale you got in the water with. He would lunge out at trainers. He was sort of the equivalent to Tilikum back in those times... He was very aggressive and self-injurious, and you couldn’t get too close to him most of the time. There were periods of time watching him lunge out at trainers or hurting himself on the sides of the pools and that sort of thing that was difficult to watch."

## Trivia

* Much like his daughter Taima, Kanduke's name is often incorrectly attributed to a Native American language, most commonly as meaning "blackness" in Telugu.
* Kanduke was mistakenly listed as a female in the 2012 Bigg’s killer whale identification catalog.

## Galleries

* **Photos** of Kanduke
* **Videos** of Kanduke

## Transfer History

Kanduke's Transfer History
 Pedder Bay Sea Pen, British Columbia
 Marineland of Canada, Ontario

## References

1. ↑ *Transients: Mammal-Hunting Killer Whales of British Columbia, Washington, and Southeastern Alaska*
2. ↑ "Pictures help identify trapped whales"
3. ↑ "Four whales caught"
4. ↑ "KILLER WHALE FREED"
5. ↑ "HAIDA WILL GET A NEW SPOUSE"
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Illegal Permit To Catch Whales, Greenpeace Says"
7. ↑ "B.C. prohibits trapping of killer whales"
8. ↑ "Captive whale dies at Victoria"
9. ↑ "'$200,000' killer whale reaches Niagara safely"
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Cetacean Cousins: Captive Orca - Kanduke
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "JUSTICE FOR JUNIOR: A Memorial Page For Junior the Orca Whale"
12. ↑ "Marineland: Readers, activists demand change regarding care of sea mammals"
13. ↑ "Killer whale (*Orcinus orca*) reproduction at Sea World"
14. ↑ Necropsy - Killer Whale Kanduke
15. ↑ "Isolation of St. Louis encephalitis virus from a killer whale"
16. ↑ "Samantha Berg and Carol Ray Talk BLACKFISH, Working at SeaWorld, Speaking Out after the Death of Dawn Brancheau and SeaWorld's Questionable Tactics"
17. ↑ "Photo-identification catalogue of Bigg's (transient) killer whales from coastal waters of British Columbia, northern Washington, and southeastern Alaska"