Kyuquot

Kyuquot, nicknamed Ky, is a 31 year old male Icelandic killer whale that lives at SeaWorld San Antonio. He was born on the 24th of December, 1991 to Haida II and Tilikum at Sealand of the Pacific. Kyuquot is the first male killer whale to survive being born in captivity.

Sealand's Surviving Calf

Kyuquot is the son of Haida II and Tilikum, the first calf between the two. On Christmas Eve(24th of December), 1991, Haida II went into labor, a presumed tail first birth. Sealand of the Pacific, known for the death of their trainer named Keltie Byrne(who fell into a pool and was drowned), was shocked by the birth but later had no intent on keeping the whales there permanently. Because of the death, Sealand eventually closed its doors and transferred the whales to different SeaWorld parks, with two ironically being the further away parks. Tilikum got moved to SeaWorld Orlando around two weeks after Kyuquot was born as a result of Haida and another female, Nootka IV, backing Tilikum into a very small "medical pool"(SeaWorld then filed for a "emergency permit"). Though it is likely Kyuquot was in the same pool as Tilikum, it is unlikely he ever interacted with him. Nootka gave birth to her first calf in March of 1992, however he only lived a few days. It is likely that Kyuquot met the newborn.

In 1993, nearly two years after the death of Byrne, Kyuquot and his mother got moved to SeaWorld San Antonio while Nootka was moved to Orlando and reunited with Tilikum.

SeaWorld San Antonio

The 2000s

Kyuquot used to perform waterworks, but after multiple aggressive incidents, it was decided that he would be banned from interacting with trainers in the water.

In 2017, Takara, the oldest female at San Antonio(at the time), had Kyuquot’s first calf. It was later found out to be a female and on the 22nd of July, 2017, staff named her Kyara, which is a combination of her parents names(Kyuquot + Takara). Sadly, Kyara died two days later.

Recent Days

Kyuquot is mostly grouped with Tuar because SeaWorld usually separates the males and females, more likely to prevent breeding. He can do many impressive behaviors for his size, getting his entire body out of the water, which is uncommon amongst grown adult males.

Gallery

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Many photos can be found from Inherently Wild.