Takara (pronounced tah-KAR-ah), also known as Tiki (TEE-kee), is a 33-year-old female Icelandic killer whale who lives at SeaWorld San Antonio. She is the matriarch of the San Antonio pod. She was born tail-first at 12:00 pm PST on July 9th, 1991 at SeaWorld San Diego. Her mother is Kasatka and her father is Kotar, and she was conceived through a gate at SeaWorld San Antonio. In 2017 she made international headlines when she gave birth to Kyara, the last killer whale to be successfully born at SeaWorld. Takara is also the mother of Kohana, Trua, Sakari, and Kamea, and the grandmother of Adán and Victoria.
Birth and Early Life[]
Kasatka and Takara. Photo provided by Sara Farrell.
Takara was born tail-first at 12:00 pm PST on July 9th, 1991 at SeaWorld San Diego to Kasatka. Not long after her birth she met the parks 2 other whales, Corky II and Orkid. Orkid, whose mother had died in August of 1989, had become very close to both of the adult females in the park. Takara became very close to her as well. Takara was very close to her mother. If she and her mother were separated overnight they would stay at the gate together. Kasatka's aggression towards trainers increased after Takara's birth and she would become very upset if Takara was not with her.
Takara. Photo provided by Jason Lee Scott.
Less than a year after her birth, a young killer whale named Splash was moved to the park. Splash had epilepsy, a neurological disorder that caused seizures. He had moved to SeaWorld for better care. He was quickly adopted by Corky, although he was close to the rest of the whales as well. About 2 years later an adult male named Ulises also joined the San Diego pod. Ulises was extremely aggressive towards Corky, although Kasatka protected the older female from him.
Orkid and Takara. Photo provided by Orcalover.
As Takara grew older she began to show dominance towards Orkid, Corky, Splash, and Ulises, especially when she was around Kasatka. Despite this she still got along with all of them. Because she was the daughter of the matriarch, the other whales wouldn't mess with her.
Kasatka and Takara. Photo provided by Sara Farrell.
In 1999, three new whales came to San Diego: Keto and Sumar in February and Keet in November, although they all moved out again to SeaWorld Ohio in April of 2000. Keet and Sumar returned from Ohio in February of 2001 and a new whale, a female named Bjossa, arrived from the Vancouver Aquarium just 2 months later in April. Sadly Bjossa passed away the following November.
Motherhood[]
Kasatka, Takara, and Kohana. Photo provided by SeaWorld.
At some point in 1999 or 2000, Kasatka was artificially inseminated with sperm from a killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando named Tilikum. She was the first killer whale to successfully conceive from artificial insemination. Takara was also artificially inseminated shortly after, again with sperm from Tilikum. Both Takara and Kasatka's pregnancies were featured on Animal Planet show That's My Baby.
Takara and Kohana. Photo provided by SeaWorld.
In September of 2001, Kasatka gave birth to a male calf named Nakai. Takara was present for his birth. She helped her mom take care of him, and Kasatka taught her how to care for a calf. In May of the following year, Takara gave birth to her own calf, a daughter named Kohana. Kasatka and Nakai were present during Kohana's birth, and Kasatka helped her daughter through the process. Takara was an excellent mother and she, Kohana, Nakai, and Kasatka spent a lot of time together.
Move to Orlando[]
Takara. Photo provided by Jason Lee Scott
In 2004 the decision was made to move Kohana and Takara. On April 24th, 2004, Takara and Kohana were taken to SeaWorld Orlando. Kasatka reportedly emitted loud distress vocalizations after Takara was moved and was incredibly upset, isolating herself from the other whales and calling out for her daughter.
Takara. Photo provided by Kim Chapman.
Takara and Kohana were moved to SeaWorld Orlando where they joined the aforementioned Tilikum, as well as Katina, Kalina, Taima, Taku, Ikaika, Tuar, Skyla, and Tekoa, although Tuar and Tekoa moved out the next day. Takara often vied for dominance while in Florida, and could be especially aggressive towards Kalina.
Takara and Trua. Photo provided by Edge0fall.
Taku, a subadult male and the son of Katina, took an interest in Takara after her arrival and she soon fell pregnant again. On November 23rd, 2005, Takara gave birth to her second calf, a son named Trua. Kohana was present during his birth. Although Kohana spent a lot of time with her mother and new baby brother, she never got the chance to learn how to properly care for a calf. Less than 4 months after Trua's birth Kohana and Skyla were both moved to Loro Parque. Several years later Kohana would go on to reject both of her calves, Adán and Victoria, something that may not have happened if she had spent more time learning from her mother.
Takara and Trua. Photo provided by orcalover.
In September of 2006, Katina gave birth to a calf, a female named Nalani. In November, Ikaika and Taku were moved out of the park and a female named Kayla was moved in to take their place. Although Kayla was pregnant at the time of her move, she lost the calf soon after. In March of 2007, Taima gave birth to a daughter named Malia. Because Taima had rejected her previous 2 calves, Takara and Kalina showed her how to take care of Malia. Takara and Trua spent a lot of time with Taima and Malia, and Taima did much better with Malia than she had with her other calves. Eventually, however, Takara started to become aggressive towards Malia and Takara was separated from her and her mom.
Trua, Takara, and Tilikum. Photo provided by orcalover109.
In the summer of 2008, Takara and Trua were used to film the PBS Show Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman. Takara and Trua both played the role of "Shamu", a whale being interviewed to be the titular character’s cameraman. That same year the pair was introduced to Tilikum. Despite the fact that Takara was a very dominant whale, she and Trua got along with him very well. Takara soon fell pregnant again.
Life at SeaWorld San Antonio[]
Takara. Photo provided by dakotajophotos.
In 2008 or early 2009 the decision was made to move Takara out of Orlando, and she and Trua began to spend more time apart. Takara reportedly did not respond well to this. In February of 2009 she moved to SeaWorld San Antonio, leaving her son behind.
Becoming a Matriarch[]
Takara. Photo provided by Katherine Larson.
Upon her arrival in Texas, Takara assumed the role as matriarch. Although 2 of the whales at the park, Keet and a whale named Unna, got along with her immediately, 2 others, Tuar and the most dominant whale at the park, Kyuquot, challenged her. They repeatedly rammed the gate of the pool she was in after her arrival, and she responded by slamming the gate even harder. After that Tuar calmed down, but Kyuquot did not. Eventually Takara and Kyuquot were put in the same pool where she relentlessly chased and raked him, and he eventually submitted to her.
Sakari and Takara (front to back). Photo provided by dakotajophotos.
On January 7th, 2010, Takara gave birth to her third calf, a daughter named Sakari. Takara's labor only lasted about 52 minutes and Sakari quickly began to nurse. Takara was once again a fantastic mother. Unna was the first whale to be introduced to Sakari, and then Keet, Kyuquot, and Tuar respectively.
Takara. Photo provided by floppyfins.photography.
In 2011 Takara was artificially inseminated for a second time, this time with sperm from Kshamenk, a killer whale who lives at Mundo Marino in Argentina. In early 2012, however, she suffered a miscarriage. She was artificially inseminated again shortly after. Keet also left San Antonio later that year.
Kamea and Takara. Photo provided by SeaWorld.
In the early morning hours of December 6th, 2013, Takara gave birth to her fourth calf, another female named Kamea. Kamea is a very interactive and curious whale, and she joined the rest of the pod not long after her birth.
On December 21st, 2015, Unna passed away.
Kamea, Sakari, Takara, and Kyara. Photo provided by SeaWorld.
In 2016, SeaWorld announced an end to their breeding program. They also announced that Takara was expecting her fifth calf, fathered by Kyuquot. On April 19th, 2017, Takara gave birth to Kyara, the last killer whale to be born at SeaWorld. Kyara’s birth got international attention and many people fell in love with her. Like always, Takara took very good care of her, and soon Kamea and Sakari were introduced to their new little sister. The four of them were very close and spent a lot of time together. At just a few weeks old Kyara was already very active and mimicking her mom and sisters, and by 3 months she was showing interest in the trainers. Sadly, in late July, Kyara developed pneumonia and had to be separated from her mother. She was moved to the Animal Care Center for more intensive care. She passed away there on July 24th, 2017, at just over 3 months old.
Appearance[]
Takara. Photo provided by dakotajophotos.
Takara's most unique feature is the large brown birthmark on her chin. She has a very tall, straight dorsal fin with a tiny notch on the trailing edge. She has large eyepatches and blue eyes. Her left eyepatch is very similar to her dad’s and has a very prominent "finger" that extends above her eye, and there is a large freckle towards the back of it. Her right eyepatch has a much more subtle "finger" and a very small, long freckle. She has a very light grey closed saddle patch. Her mouth chips (subocular notches) are sloped and rather subtle, although the left one is more pointed than the right one. Her shoulder notches are very small and the right one is barely visible. She also has a freckle on her anterior ventral field behind her right pectoral fin. She is a smaller, thinner whale, especially when compared to “chunkier” whales like Kalina. She has a very pointed rostrum.
Personality[]
Takara. Photo provided by floppyfins.photography.
Takara is a very active and interactive killer whale. She is one of the few adult whales that still enjoys interacting with guests. Despite being such a dominant whale she has only been involved in two minor incidents with trainers, and she was frequently used in waterworks. Takara is the matriarch of the San Antonio pod, and she is known to occasionally interrupt and delay shows. When she does the other whales will follow her lead and refuse to perform. She enjoys visual enrichment, water buckets and being sprayed with water hoses, tactile, fish tosses, and ice. She loves being pushed by trainers or having her flukes and pecs pulled. She gets bored easily and benefits from having creativity and variation in her routine, and she will lose interest if sessions become too repetitive or easy. Much like her mother did, she doesn’t like to be separated from her calves.
Trivia[]
- Takara's name means "treasure" in Japanese.
- Takara's nicknames are "Tiki" (pronounced TEE-kee) and "Baby".
- She is known to vocalize loudly before night shows, a habit that started when she was just 5 or 6 years old.
- Takara is also known to vocalize loudly when separated from her calves.
- When she is distressed she will often split from trainers and fast-swim around the habitat, and the other whales will avoid her.
- Takara is very willing to pickup foreign objects that have fallen into the pool and take them to her trainers.
- When Sakari was young Takara was often distressed by trainers touching her daughter's tail flukes.
- Takara has lived with a total of 27 different whales in her lifetime.
- From 1997 to 1998, A grey whale named JJ was briefly kept in the back pool of Shamu Shadium, although none of the killer whales ever directly interacted with her.
- Takara and Trua's separation in 2009 was the last time that SeaWorld permanently separated a mother and calf for non-medical reasons.
Galleries[]
Transfer History[]
| FROM: | TO: | ON: |
|---|---|---|
| SeaWorld San Diego, California | SeaWorld Orlando, Florida | Apr. 24, 2004 |
| SeaWorld Orlando, Florida | SeaWorld San Antonio, Texas | Feb. 05, 2009 |