Imagine spending every day of your life inside a concrete tank. The water tastes of chemicals. The walls echo with your own calls. Your world is in a loop: the same circle swam hundreds of times a day, doing the same tricks for the same applause. You are one of the 17 remaining orcas in captivity in the United States, part of a generation that will be the last to endure this life behind glass.

The state of captivity in the U.S

As of August 5th, 2025, there are approximately 55 orcas in captivity worldwide. 17 of them are in the United States, all held at SeaWorld parks in San Diego, Orlando, and San Antonio. Of these 17, 14 were born in captivity, the ‘product’ of decades of breeding programs. Three were abducted from the wild.

How we got here and why captivity is nearly over

Orca captivity in the United States began in the 1960s, when marine parks discovered the public’s fascination with these intelligent, social predators. For years, young orcas were hunted, netted and hauled from the wild. Many died before being shipped to shows across North America. By the 1980s, the Marine Mammal Protection Act had ended U.S. captures, but the industry had already learned how to breed orcas in tanks, creating generation after generation born into confinement.

Luckily, there was a turning point, and the end of orca captivity in the U.S. is now within sight. The major shift began in 2013, with the release of the documentary Blackfish, which exposed the psychological and physical toll of captivity on orcas, particularly focusing on Tilikum, a SeaWorld orca involved in the death of a trainer. It sparked widespread public outrage, prompted sponsors and investors to pull their support and led to declining attendance at SeaWorld parks. What followed was SeaWorld’s Breeding Ban in 2016, meaning no new orcas would be born in captivity.

Experts predict that within 20 years, orca captivity in the U.S. will be extinct. The current generation will be the last. As we celebrate the end of cruel breeding and performances, we must not forget those still living behind glass. On average, orcas in captivity live to be around 30 years of age. Two have lived into their 50s. Meaning that many of them could still spend years and years confined to small concrete tanks. Each one of them has a name, a history, and a personality. Some have endured the loss of calves, others have been shuttled between parks, and a few still perform for crowds despite failing health. They all have stories of immense trauma.

17 lives. 17 individuals. And their stories of survival and resilience deserve to be told.

Meet the orcas still trapped

Location: Sea World Orlando

*Credit: Heather Murphy, Ocean Advocate News/Seaworld of Hurt*

Name: Katina
Age: 49
Sex: Female

Katina was born free. At just 2 years old, Katrina was captured in October near Iceland in 1978. Orca calves typically stay with their mothers for many years in the wild, so her capture at such a young age meant she was separated from her pod very early in life. SeaWorld considers her as the ‘most successful orca mother’ in human care. She gave birth to multiple calves. One day after giving birth to her 6th calf, Katina and her calf appeared in a modified show SeaWorld named the ‘Baby Believe’ show.

Name: Nalani
Age: 18
Sex: Female

Born on September 18, 2006, to Katina and Taku. She is inbred, as her parents are mother and son. She was neglected by her mother shortly after her birth. This led to confusion and isolation in her social group, as orcas rely heavily on stable matrilineal bonds.

Name: Malia
Age: 18
Sex: Female

As a calf, Malia showed abnormal behaviors, sometimes going completely still, as if in a seizure-like state. At just a year and a half old, a photograph of her sparked public outrage: a trainer balanced on her back and neck, forcing her small head fully underwater. According to several experts, such treatment could have caused serious harm to such a young and vulnerable orca.

Name: Makaio
Age: 14
Sex: Male

Makaio is the youngest whale at SeaWorld Orlando, born just days after his sister died unexpectedly. By just three months old, he was already participating in shows. He is one of the largest orcas to ever be held in captivity.

Location: SeaWorld San Diego

Name: Corky
Age: 60
Sex: Female

Corky was violently taken from her mother in 1969, captured by fishermen off the coast of British Columbia and sold into captivity. She has now been imprisoned for over 55 years, longer than any other orca in history. Used as a breeding machine, Corky endured the loss of all seven of her calves. For an animal with such strong maternal bonds, the grief of losing each baby, while living in confinement, must have been immeasurable. Yet, despite everything, she is known for her gentle demeanor.

Name: Ikaika
Age: 22
Sex: Male

In 2006, Ikaika was sent to Marineland Canada on a breeding loan, traded in exchange for three male beluga whales. By 2009, his condition had deteriorated: he was underfed, suffering from a chronic dental problem, showing elevated blood cell counts linked to stress, and displaying repeated aggression. SeaWorld demanded his return, sparking a long custody battle. In 2011, the court sided with SeaWorld, and Ikaika was transported back to the U.S. by cargo plane and flatbed truck, a journey that underscored how captive orcas are treated as property to be moved, rather than sentient beings deserving of care and stability.

Name: Kalia
Age: 20
Sex: Female

Kalia spent much of her early life on and off medication. At just six and a half months old, she became seriously ill and was lifted into the medical pool daily for injections and blood draws, experiences that left her deeply distrustful of trainers. Years later, she lost her daughter, Amaya, and withdrew into isolation to grieve. Not long after, she suffered another devastating loss: her brother Nakai, with whom she had shared a lifelong bond.

Name: Keet
Age: 32
Sex: Male

Keet is one of the most transported orcas in SeaWorld’s history. Before he was even two years old (and still nursing) he was separated from his mother and never saw her again. Once he reached sexual maturity, he was used in SeaWorld’s artificial insemination program, treated as a breeding asset. Over the years, Keet has been shuttled between SeaWorld parks multiple times.

*Credit: Chelsy S., Eyewitness/Seaworld of Hurt*

Name: Makani
Age: 12
Sex: Male

Makani was born on Valentine’s Day 2013, carried by his mother, Kasatka, even as she battled a bacterial lung infection for three years: a disease that would eventually take her life. After her death, an eyewitness provided PETA with photographs showing Makani’s young body covered in deep rake marks, wounds from the teeth of other orcas. Evidence of the aggression and vulnerability that often follow the loss of a maternal protector in captivity.

Name: Orkid
Age: 36
Sex: Female

Just a year after her birth, Orkid watched her mother suffer a horrific, fatal injury during a show: bleeding out before her eyes for 45 minutes. Orphaned so young, she has carried that trauma through decades in captivity. Over the years, Orkid has been involved in more trainer incidents than any other captive orca. Those who see her describe her as “sad-eyed’’.

Name: Shouka
Age: 32
Sex: Female

Shouka was born in 1993 at Marineland in Antibes, France, the first orca ever born in the country. The staff was unprepared for her care. She was underfed, kept in isolation, and by the age of eight was still the size of a four-year-old orca. At nine years old, she began a series of transfers, each time ending up in solitary confinement. In 2012, she was moved once more, this time to SeaWorld San Diego, where she remains today.

Name: Ulises
Age: 48
Sex: Male

Ulises is one of the last three surviving wild-captured orcas in U.S. captivity. Born free in 1977, he spent his first years swimming the cold, open waters off Iceland, until, at just three years old, he was torn from his family. Now over 20 feet long and weighing nearly 10,000 pounds, he is a giant confined to a tank a fraction of the size of his natural range. Over the years, Ulises has been bullied by tankmates and has sustained multiple injuries.

Location: SeaWorld San Antonio

Name: Kyuquot
Age: 33
Sex: Male

Kyuquot was born on Christmas Eve and, at barely a month old, was transferred with his mother to SeaWorld San Antonio. Today, he is a massive orca, weighing over 9,000 pounds. In the wild, orcas can travel up to 150 miles in a single day. But for Kyuquot to cover that distance in his tank, he would have to swim more than 4,280 laps. Deprived of space, stimulation, and the freedom his species depends on, the stress sometimes boils over. Over the years, Kyuquot has been involved in multiple incidents with trainers.

Name: Tuar
Age: 26
Sex: Male

Born at SeaWorld Orlando, Tuar was moved to SeaWorld San Antonio in 2004: a transition that took a visible toll. In the stress of adjusting, he ground his teeth against the concrete walls, wearing them down until several had to be drilled. He picked at the paint on the pool floor, a restless habit born of boredom and confinement, and his frustration sometimes surfaced in tense encounters with trainers.

Name: Sakari
Age: 15
Sex: Female

Sakari is the youngest orca at SeaWorld San Antonio. Before she was born, her mother was transferred to SeaWorld Antonio while still pregnant, meaning Sakari never had the chance to meet her father. She spent her entire life in the park’s tanks.

Name: Takara
Age: 34
Sex: Female

Takara was born in 1991 to mother Kasatka and father Kotar. At just three years old, she was moved to SeaWorld Orlando. A departure that distressed her mother deeply. In 2009 Takara was relocated again, but to SeaWorld Antonio. She gave birth to several calves, including SeaWorld’s final orca calf Kyara. She has been a prisoner for nearly four decades.

Every day in a tank is a day stolen. Let’s not wait 20 years. We have the power, right now, to change the ending for these last 17. Support and fund sea sanctuaries. Demand that marine parks release them. Refuse to buy tickets to any show built on captivity. For these 17 individuals, it’s about the right to live their final years with dignity: in waters that move with the rhythm of the ocean, not the hum of a filtration pump.

Want to help end whale captivity in the United States? Join Species Unite in urging congress to pass the Strengthening Welfare in Marine Settings (SWIMS) Act. Sign the petition here.

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The last 17 orcas in U.S. captivity

The state of captivity in the U.S

How we got here and why captivity is nearly over