SeaWorld announces death of 30-year-old Orca; 20 remain at parks

Kayla was with an animal care specialist when she died

Kayla the orca from SeaWorld Orlando. (SeaWorld)

ORLANDO – SeaWorld has announced the death of a 30-year-old female orca.

Kayla, the orca, died Monday morning at SeaWorld Orlando. The cause of death will not be known until a post-mortem examination is complete, which SeaWorld said could take several weeks.

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"The entire SeaWorld family is deeply saddened by the loss," SeaWorld posted on its blog.

According to the post, Kayla began showing signs of discomfort Saturday and veterinarians began treatment. SeaWorld did not disclose what her discomfort was or what they treated the orca with.

"While this is very difficult for all of us at SeaWorld, Kayla inspired generations of guests and employees to care and learn more about this amazing species," the post said.

SeaWorld will be monitoring the other orcas at SeaWorld Orlando in case they are affected socially by Kayla's death.

There are only 20 orcas at the three SeaWorld parks. The parks are located in California, Florida and Texas.

In 2016 SeaWorld announced that it would be ending its orca breeding program.

Read the post here.


About the Author:

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.