thelonelywhale: tokitaee: orcaprofile: Name: Kanduke Sex: Male Bloodtype: 100% Bigg’s Transien
thelonelywhale: tokitaee: orcaprofile: Name: Kanduke Sex: Male Bloodtype: 100% Bigg’s Transient Estimated Birth Date: 1974 Age at Capture: 1 Date of Capture: Aug 16th 1975 Place of Capture: Pedder Bay, BC Captured With: Nootka 3 Transfers & Tankmates: Pedder Bay Seapen: Aug 16th 1975 – Sep 18th 1975: Nootka 3Marineland Ontario: Sep 18th 1975 – Jan 9th 1987: Kandu 2, Nootka, Katina, Kiska, Keiko, Caren, King, Nootka V, Junior, Kandu VII SAE-OO-C8106, SAE-OO-C7906SeaWorld Orlando: Jan 9th 1987 – Sep 20th 1990: Kahana, Kasatka, Kona 2, Kotar, Kalina, Katina, Gudrun, Katerina, Taima Mother: Innis T-7 Siblings: Arrow T-7A, Spiller T-7B, Blunden T-7C Nephews and Nieces: T-7B1, T7B2, T7B4 Offspring: SWF-OO-U8701 (Died with mother) Katerina (deceased) Taima (deceased) Grand-Offspring: Sumar (deceased) Tekoa, Malia Age at Death: 15 Date of Death: Sep 20th 1990 Place of Death: SeaWorld Orlando Cause of Death: Bacterial Pneumonia Size & Identifiers: 12,275lbs and 22ft long. He is still to this day the largest recorded orca ever to be held in captivity. Tilikum is the second largest by only a few pounds. Kanduke had beautifully abstract eyepatches, as well, probably due to being a Bigg’s Transient. Kanduke and his podmate Nootka 3 were both captured and put in a seapen until they were sold to a marine park in Canada called Marineland Ontario. They were transferred there and soon joined by Jandy 2, the park’s resident male orca. Kanduke spent time in the infamous warehouse indoor pool before being allowed into the main pool. Marineland purchased many new orcas in 1978-79. Even with all the new additions, Kanduke, Nootka 3 and Kandu 2 were the only performers at the park. In 1987, SeaWorld bought Kanduke and moved him to SeaWorld Orlando. There, he met two females and eventually mated with both of them. He also met another male named Kotar and unfortunately, Kanduke didn’t get along well with him. Kotar actually bit Kanduke’s penis, injuring him pretty severely. The two were permanently separated after the incident and Kotar was sent to the new Texas park. In 1988, Kanduke’s first daughter was born to Katina, and in 1987, Gudrun gave birth to Taima. It is not known if he met his daughters before he died on September 20th, 1990. Kanduke’s death is one of the most traumatic orca deaths in captivity, next to Kandu 5. At SeaWorld Orlando, Kanduke was mainly kept alone unless he was participating in shows, so he spent a lot of time logging at the surface of the water where clouds of mosquitos would swarm on his back. According to Dean Gomersall, who was present at the time of Kanduke’s death, no one paid any mind to the fact that he could get bitten and contract a virus that was going around due to mosquitos, but he did. On September 20th, Dean Gomersall and another trainer were called to Shamu Stadium to help with an orca that was potentially dying. They arrived to see Kanduke in a stretcher, held up above the water in a med pool. Dean was told to hold his pectoral flipper and attempt to keep him calm. He was standing close enough to his head that he could see Kanduke’s eye and Dean was told that if his eye turns red, to back away, because he would be starting the “death swim”. The death swim consists of the animal’s eyes turning red, then throwing it’s body left and right violently until the animal dies. When Kanduke’s eye turned red, Dean backed away and watched in horror as Kanduke attempted to violently writhe in the stretcher and then he opened his mouth and began spewing gallons and gallons of blood until he rolled over and died. It was horribly traumatic for everyone involved to watch him die, then to witness his body being chopped up into pieces for disposal. It is rumored that Kanduke’s corpse was made into dog food. The part about how he died. Oh my god Christ.I’ve always love this poor big guy, but had no idea about the details of his death. Is there a source on that? Dean told the story about Kanduke’s death on the dvd extras of Blackfish (Blueray only in the UK) -- source link