Some General Info

Some General Info:

Name: Corky (2)/A16
Pronounced: kore-kee

Means: hill hollow , and to replace the original Corky
Stage Name/Nickname:

SW ID: SWC-OO-8727
Sex: Female
Age: 40(?)

Birth Date: 1960's
Current Size: 21 feet and 8200 pounds
Capture Date: 11th December 1969
Capture Size: 12 feet

Parent: Stripe/A23

Siblings: A43/Ripple

Half Siblings: A27/Okisollo* and A60/Fife

Birth Place: British Columbia

Birth: Tail First?
Mother of: unnamed*, unnamed*, unnamed*, Kiva*, unnamed*, unnamed*, unnamed*

Corky's Status:

Corky holds 3 records: The longest female in captivity, the longest kept orca in captivity, and one of the oldest orcas in captivity. Corky doesn't interact at the Close Up much but she sometimes comes up to the glass. Corky swims around the tank, upside down a lot. Corky performs daily in the shows and is one of SWC best performers.

Corky's History:

Corky was captured with Calypso, Patches, Nepo, Yaka and a young male. Patches, Corky and the young male joined Orky 2* and the original Corky. Corky died 11 months after their arrival and that was when Corky (2) was named. Patches died 1 and a half years later, and the unnamed male died 2 and a half years later. Orky 2* and Corky 2 were the only ones left. Corky gave birth to her first calf on 25th February 1977. It was a male, but it wouldn't nurse well. He died 18 days later because of pneumonia. A little more than a year later, Corky gave birth to another calf. Again it couldn't nurse correctly. 11 days later it died. Another year later Corky gave birth a still born. On June 18 1982 Corky gave birth a little female that was named Kiva*. Kiva* was Corky's longest surviving calf. Like her deceased brothers and sister, she could not nurse correctly. On 3rd August 1982, Corky and Orky* drowned Kiva*. Because of Corky's small, round tank at MotP, Corky couldn't nurse correctly because females have to nurse in a straight line. Corky had 2 other pregnancies at Marineland California. A female that lived only 1 month and a miscarriage. In 1987, Seaworld bought Marineland California. Corky and Orky 2* were sent to Seaworld California. They met Kandu 5*, Kenau* and Nootka* (Knootka). Corky was pregnant when she was transferred to SWC and it ended in a miscarriage.

Kandu 5* gave birth to Orkid and on 21st August 1989 a horrible incident between Corky and Kandu*, ended in Kandu's* death and the loss of Corky's eye. Corky was babysitting Orkid whilst Kandu* was performing. Suddenly Kandu* charged into the tank where Corky and Orkid were, and rammed Corky into the wall, with her mouth open, which blinded Corky. Due to the attack, a bone fragment came loose and severed an artery in Kandu's brain. She went into another pool with Orkid, and started to exhale fountains of blood from her blow hole. 45 minutes later she died. Corky then became Orkid's surrogate mother. When a 2 and a half year old, Canadian Orca, Splash, Corky became his surrogate mother too.

For along time the only orcas residing at SWC were: Corky, Kasatka, Ulises, Orkid, Splash and Takara. In March 1999, 2 young male orcas, Sumar and Keto, arrived from SWF. Corky was introduced to them first and she became the surrogate mother of Sumar. A few months later, Keet, from SWT arrived at SWC. Corky helped him to acclimate to his new environment. She spent a lot of time with the 3 young orcas until the three were sent to SWO in April 2000.

How to identify Corky: