Shamu Has Company

Friday, March 16, 2007
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - SeaWorld has one more mouth to feed.

After one-hour in labor Monday, March 12th, at Shamu Stadium in Orlando, mother began to nurse her calf, a 6-foot-long, 350-pound newborn.

Animal care specialists remain “cautiously optimistic” about the baby and its mother’s progress, SeaWorld officials said today in a release. The sex of the calf has yet to be determined.

The birth brings the Orlando pod to nine whales, ranging from the 350-pound baby to a 12,000-pound male.

The calf is the 15th killer whale born at SeaWorld Orlando and the 23rd born and successfully raised throughout all three SeaWorld parks.

The mother, Taima, was also born at SeaWorld Orlando during a 1989 thunderstorm. “Taima” is Icelandic for “crash of thunder.”

Source: Florida Today