The Youngest Orca at SeaWorld Is Dead—The Other Dolphins and Whales Still Suffering There Need You to Act NOW!
Breaking, but not shocking: Another orca has died far too young at SeaWorld due to an undisclosed illness. 11-year-old Kamea, the youngest orca at any of the facilities, died in a tank at SeaWorld San Antonio—the same abusement park where she was born.
In nature, Kamea could have lived for up to 80 years. In their ocean homes, orcas stay with their tight-knit family pods for life, diving deep, traveling vast distances, hunting cooperatively, and communicating with a unique dialect passed down through generations. They are highly intelligent, social animals with distinct personalities and rich cultures—and SeaWorld denied Kamea all of it.
Kamea’s Story: Generations of Suffering
Kamea came from a long line of suffering orcas born—or torn—into miserable confinement and exploitation. Capturers abducted her grandmother, Kasatka, from her ocean home and family as a young calf. She spent nearly four decades in cramped tanks at SeaWorld, where trainers forced her to perform and repeatedly bred her. She died in 2017 at SeaWorld San Diego after a prolonged battle with a painful bacterial lung infection.
Kasatka’s daughter, Takara—Kamea’s mother—was born at SeaWorld and, like Kamea, has never known life outside a concrete tank. SeaWorld also used her as a breeding machine, and she remains imprisoned at the San Antonio facility after the death of her daughter. Humans ripped Kamea’s father, Kshamenk, from the ocean in 1992. He’s now the last orca trapped in a cramped tank at Mundo Marino in Argentina, where he has nothing to do but float listlessly or swim in endless circles.
Kamea’s short life was not an isolated event—it was the continuation of a generational cycle of exploitation and grief. She is now the 45th orca to die on SeaWorld’s watch.
Orcas Deserve a Natural Life
In a letter to SeaWorld, PETA called on the company to spread Kamea’s ashes in the ocean—where she belonged. While she never got to feel the pull of ocean currents or hear the calls of other orcas echo through the open sea, returning her remains to her rightful home would be the bare minimum act of respect from a company that denied her dignity and freedom for her entire life.
Help the Animals Still Suffering at SeaWorld
Because of PETA’s campaigns and mounting criticism of SeaWorld, the company ended its sordid orca-breeding program and then agreed to stop allowing trainers to stand on dolphins’ faces and backs in cruel circus-style shows. But 17 orcas are still suffering at the abusement parks, and the company is still using other dolphins and whales as breeding machines to create more generations of animals to exploit.
Tell SeaWorld to send the orcas and other dolphins and whales still suffering at its parks to seaside sanctuaries, where they can finally experience a life free of cruel exploitation.
