Corky 2

Photo taken on August 13th, 2010 at SeaWorld San Diego by Flickr user "Bryce Bradford".

## Physical Traits

### Weight

8,300 lbs

Corky 2, better known as just Corky, is a killer whale (*Orcinus orca*) that currently lives in SeaWorld San Diego. She was captured in Pender Harbor on December 26th, 1969. She has been in captivity longer than any other orca. As of February 2012, Corky is around 20 feet long. As of 2016, she weighs about 8,300 pounds.

Corky is estimated to have been born in 1964. She was a part of the Northern Resident A5 pod and her mother is most likely A23 Stripe. Corky's designation was A16. In 1967, Stripe gave birth to another calf, who was called A21. In 1969, 12 whales, including Corky, her mother, and her little sibling, were rounded up in Pender Harbor. There, three young whales were selected for a life in captivity while the rest were let go. Those three whales were an unnamed male, a young female that would later be named Patches, and Corky.

Corky was sold to Marineland of the Pacific, where she met two other whales: the original Corky and Orky 2. The original Corky died in 1970, and Corky 2 took up her name. The same thing had happened with Orky (who died before Corky 2 was captured) and Orky 2. Corky 2 and Orky 2 performed at Marineland together for almost two decades. While at Marineland, Corky fell pregnant seven times. She gave birth to her first calf, a male, in 1977. It wasn't known that she was pregnant until Corky went into labor. Sadly, the calf couldn't figure out how to nurse. Trainers and vets attempted to help, but the calf died 18 days after it was born.

Corky gave birth again a year later to another male calf. Because the calf was born on Halloween, it was named Spooky. Just like the previous calf, Spooky couldn't figure out how to nurse. Though trainers bottlefed him, Spooky died after 11 days. Corky suffered a stillbirth in 1980, then had another calf two years later. This calf, Kiva, survived the longest out of Corky's calves. Kiva made attempts at nursing shortly after birth, but Corky still didn't know how to nurse. Trainers bottlefed the calf and Kiva grew stronger. However, she was separated from her mother as trainers felt Corky was being too rough with her. Shortly after the separation, Kiva fell ill and died. She was 46 days old. Corky had another calf in 1985, another female. Once again, she never figured out how to nurse and died after 41 days. It's theorized that Corky couldn't nurse her calves due to the small, circular shape of Marineland's tanks and she didn't have enough space to properly present her mammary glands. Corky miscarried another calf in 1986.

In 1986, Marineland of the Pacific was purchased by SeaWorld. It was closed shortly afterwards, and all of the animals, including Orky and Corky, were moved to SeaWorld San Diego in January of 1987. That same year, Corky suffered another miscarriage at SeaWorld. Nine months later, Orky died as well.

In 1988, an orca named Kandu V gave birth to a calf, sired by Orky, named Orkid. Corky was very interested in the baby, possibly because she had lost all of her own calves. However, Kandu didn't like Corky's interest in her calf and the two would often fight. The tension came to a boiling point on August 21st, 1989. During a show, Kandu charged Corky with her mouth wide open. It's unclear whether Kandu hit Corky or the wall behind her, but the impact broke Kandu's jaw and severed an artery in her head. She slowly bled to death over the course of 45 minutes. Orkid was just 11 months old at the time of her mother's death. Later on, Corky became somewhat of a surrogate mother to Orkid and the two are still very close.

Before they were stopped in 2010, Corky was the main whale used for waterwork at SeaWorld San Diego due to her gentle personality and lack of aggressiveness. Only two behavioral incidents are attributed to her. In 1990, she pushed a trainer's midsection, and she pushed a trainer again in 1994.

Offspring:

* Corky 2's Calf (1977)
* Spooky
* Corky 2's Stillbirth (1980)
* Kiva
* Corky 2's Calf (1985)
* Corky 2's Miscarriage (1986)
* Corky 2's Miscarriage (1987)