Nakai

This article may contain upsetting or graphic media. Viewer discretion is advised.

Nakai
Nakai. Photo provided by Hunter D. Photography.
Status	Deceased
Official ID	SWC-OO-0127 NOA0005995
Also Known As	"Kai"
Sex	♂ Male
Date of Birth	September 1st, 2001
Place of Birth	SeaWorld San Diego, California
Date of Death	August 4th, 2022
Place of Death	SeaWorld San Diego, California
Cause of Death	Unspecified Respiratory Disease
Physical Traits
Weights	350lb (158.7kg) (Sep. 2001) 3,350lb (1,519kg) (Jun. 2010) 5,250lb (2,381kg) (May 2015) 6,000lb (2,721kg) (Nov. 2015) 7,000lb (3,175kg) (Aug. 2017) 8,000lb (3,628kg) (Dec. 2021)
Lengths	7ft (2.1m) (Sep. 2001) 12.5ft (3.8m) (Jun. 2010) 18ft (5.4m) (May 2015)
Population	Icelandic
Family
Mother	Kasatka
Father	Tilikum
Half-Siblings	Takara Kyuquot Nootka IV's Calf (1992) Taku Nyar Nootka IV's Stillborn (1994) Gudrun's Stillborn (1996) Unna Kalina's Stillborn (1997) Sumar Tuar Tekoa Haida II's Unborn Calf (2001) Kohana Ikaika Skyla Kalia Taima's Miscarriage (2005) Malia Sakari Taima's Stillborn (2010) Makaio Makani
Extended Family
Nieces & Nephews	Kohana Trua Unna's Stillborn (2006) Nalani Unna's Miscarriage (2009) Sakari Adán Victoria Takara's Miscarriage (2012) Kamea Amaya Kyara

Nakai (pronounced nuh-KY) was a 20-year-old male Icelandic killer whale who lived at SeaWorld San Diego. He was born there head-first at 8:50 PM PDT on September 1st, 2001. He was the first killer whale to be conceived through artificial insemination. His mother was Kasatka and his father was Tilikum. During the summer of 2022, Nakai developed health complications due to an unspecified lung illness. Although he received aggressive treatment, he unfortunately passed away late in the evening of August 4th, 2022.

Birth & Early Life

Nakai and Kasatka. Photo provided by SeaWorld.

Sometime during late 1999 or early 2000, Kasatka was artificially inseminated with sperm from Tilikum, a male killer whale who lived at SeaWorld Orlando. It wasn't long before Kasatka successfully conceived a calf, and became the first female killer whale to be successfully artificially inseminated.

On September 1st, 2001, at about 7:30 PM PDT, Kasatka went into labor. About an hour and a half later, at 8:50 PM PDT, Nakai was born. Nakai's half-sister, Takara, was present for his birth and helped Kasatka during labor. Although most killer whales emerge from their mothers tail-first, Nakai was born head-first. During a typical birth, a calf's flukes emerge first to give them time to harden during labor, allowing the calf to easily swim to the surface for its first breath. During a head-first birth, however, the flukes do not have time to harden, and the calf is at a much higher risk of drowning. Despite this, Nakai was escorted to the surface by his mother, and took his first breath only a few moments after birth. At the time of Nakai's birth, there were nine other whales living at SeaWorld San Diego: his mother and sister, Keet, Sumar, Splash, Ulises, Orkid, Corky II and Bjossa. All of the whales except for Bjossa were living at Shamu Stadium at the time. Bjossa was living in SeaWorld's animal care area, and passed away only a month later, so she never had a chance to meet Nakai. Although some trainers initially believed that Nakai was female, on September 6th SeaWorld announced that he was a male.

Nakai quickly showed that he was a curious and energetic calf, and that he was an incredibly quick learner. Within just five hours of birth, Nakai began to attempt to nurse from his mother. At only two days old, Nakai was introduced to Orkid. A few days later, Nakai began to attempt to swim on his own, and would dart away from Kasatka from time to time. At 18 days old, Nakai began to show interest in trainers, and at less than 3 months old he even tried to eat fish. Nakai was also able to leave Kasatka for short periods of time at just a few months old. As he grew older, Nakai became incredibly close to Takara and Orkid. Nakai eventually met Corky and Sumar, and grew close to them as well.

On May 3rd, 2002, Takara gave birth to a female calf named Kohana, Nakai's niece and half-sister. Kasatka and Nakai were present for the birth and assisted Takara during labor. Nakai swam next to his mother and older sister as they accompanied the calf to the surface. It wasn't long before Nakai and Kohana became extremely close.

Life at SeaWorld San Diego

Nakai and Kasatka. Photo provided by Jason Lee Scott.

By a very young age Nakai was performing in shows without his mother, and sometimes even performing completely on his own. He would also frequently interact with guests as well. At some point in 2003 or 2004, Nakai became stuck on the slide out while doing a show with Kohana, Takara and Kasatka. Although Kasatka attempted to get him unstuck, she was not able to. Nakai had to be pushed off the slide out by trainers. During the entire incident, his family refused to leave him.

On February 24th, 2004, Keet was moved to SeaWorld San Antonio. On April 24th of that same year Takara and Kohana were moved out of the park to SeaWorld Orlando. Before the move, Nakai was incredibly close with Takara and Kohana. He could often be seen playing with them. He was likely affected by their move in some way, although exactly how he handled it is unknown. Kasatka is believed to have reacted to their move very badly. On December 21st, 2004, Nakai's younger sister Kalia was born. While Nakai was not present for her birth, he met her soon after.

By five years old, Nakai had learned how to hunt birds. He became very good at doing so, and was even known to attempt to catch birds while doing waterwork. Nakai taught Kalia how to hunt and catch birds as well.

Nakai. Photo provided by Cayla Holek.

On November 13th, 2011, a juvenile male named Ikaika was moved to the park. Nakai met him soon after his arrival. On February 27th, 2012, Keet was moved back to SeaWorld San Diego, and Nakai was reunited with him. Just a few months later, on August 20th, an adult female named Shouka was moved to the park as well.

Nakai's Injury

In 2012, Nakai was badly injured when a large (at least 20cm diameter) piece of skin and flesh was removed from between his mandibles. The removed tissue was substantial and one edge of the wound appeared to have a tear in it. SeaWorld claimed that the injury was a result of ‘contact’ with the side of the tank, which later developed into the conclusion that it was caused by the whale scraping the track that holds the watertight gates between the two pools at Shamu Stadium. However, that claim has been disputed by various sources, including trainers and scientists, who either witnessed the event and have claimed it was an act of aggression between male Orcas, or who obtained photographs showing puncture marks at the edge of the wound that are similar in spacing. The injury occurred the evening of September 20th, 2012, when Nakai was 11 years old. The resultant wound was treated with lasers and Nakai was administered antibiotics. The open wound was still clearly visible on January 29th, 2013 (i.e., 4 months and 10 days after the injury occurred.)

Later years

Nakai, Kasatka, Kalia, Makani, and Amaya. Photo provided by SeaWorld.

On February 14th, 2013, Kasatka gave birth to Nakai's younger brother, Makani. On December 4th, 2014, Kalia gave birth to a female named Amaya, Nakai's niece. The family unit spent a lot of time together and all maintained a close bond. However, Kasatka's health began to rapidly decline in 2016. Despite intensive treatments, her condition worsened, and SeaWorld vets made the decision to humanely euthanize her on August 15th, 2017. Kasatka passed away in the medical pool at 8:15 pm PST surrounded by her caretakers and pod. After Kasatka's death, the social structure of the San Diego pod changed drastically. Kasatka had been the matriarch for decades, and all of the whales were deeply affected by her loss. Although the social hierarchy fluctuated at first, Kalia and Shouka eventually became the dominant females at the park.

On August 18th, 2021, Amaya began to show signs of illness. Despite immediate medical care, she passed away suddenly that afternoon. A necropsy revealed that her cause of death was gastrointestinal disease. Although the loss of Amaya reportedly affected all of the whales deeply, it seemed to hit Kalia and Makani especially hard. Immediately after Amaya's death, Kalia isolated herself and would only let Makani approach her. On August 21st, Kalia let Shouka be with her. The day after that, Ulises, Nakai, and Orkid joined her as well. By August 27th, Nakai and the other whales were starting to return to normal. Nakai continued to get along with the pod, but spent a lot of time with Orkid.

Death

Sometime during the summer of 2022, Nakai developed a lung infection. Although his infection was identified and aggressively treated by veterinarians, on the evening of August 4th, 2022, Nakai passed away. His death was announced by SeaWorld on their Facebook page the following day, after rumors that Nakai had passed away began to circulate on social media. Their intial post featured a photo of Kalia, not Nakai, although a new post with an actual photo of Nakai was posted shortly after. Although SeaWorld announced that he had been treated for an infection for some time, they did not elaborate on what type of infection he was being treated for, or how long he had been sick.

A cause of death was not publicly available until September 19th when a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request published documents showing that Nakai had passed away from an unspecified lung infection. The request was made on August 20th, 2022, a few weeks after Nakai's death.

Appearance

Nakai was a large whale, weighing around 8,000 pounds and measuring 18ft long. He had large pectoral fins and a tall dorsal that leaned to his left, with two notches near the top of it. His right tail fluke curved inwards while his left fluke remained straight.

Personality

Nakai was a very affectionate and playful orca. When he was younger he would often interact with the parks guests. Nakai spent most of his time with Orkid, Shouka, Kalia and Makani, though he was often seen with any member of the pod. He had grown dramatically in his late teen years. Despite his size, he was very gentle with younger calves. He was closest with his family, but enjoyed spending time with the other pod members as well. Nakai did waterworks before they were stopped in 2010. He was young when they were stopped so he wasn't as advanced in those behaviors as some of the other whales.

Trivia

• Nakai's nickname was "Kai" (pronounced KY).

Galleries

• Photos of Nakai
• Videos of Nakai

Transfer History

Nakai was never transferred out of SeaWorld San Diego.