Tilikum

Tilikum is a 32 year old male orca who lives at SeaWorld Orlando. He is the most successful breeding male orca in captivity. He is also the largest weighing over 12,000 pounds and being approximately 23 feet long.

Tilikum was captured in Iceland in 1983. He soon lived at Sealand Victoria with two other female orcas, Haida 2 and Nootka 4. On December 24, 1991, Haida gave birth to his first calf, a male named Kyuquot. Tilikum was involved in his first death, in which a trainer fell into the water and drowned. It is important to note that none of the orcas had ever been trained to have people in the water with them, so when she fell into the pool the whales didn't know how to react. The four orcas where soon sent to SeaWorld parks and Sealand closed permanently.

Tilly has lived at SeaWorld of Orlando ever since moving from Sealand. Despite his size, he is a submissive orca as males rank lower in the pod than females do. Because of this he would somtimes be raked by the more dominant orcas so he was often kept with the ones who weren't as dominant. In 1993, a female named Gudrun gave birth to his daughter Nyar. Nyar was physically and mentally ill. To end her daughter's suffering, she tried drowning Nyar. It is common for many species of animals to try to end their offspring's life when they are ill. As Gudrun became more aggressive it was decided to try putting Nyar with Tilly. The two did very good together and Tilly was very gentle with his daughter. Sadly, Nyar passed away in 1996 from her illness. For a long time he was often seen with his mate Taima. Although she was a dominant female, they both got along very well. In 2007, Taima gave birth to her third calf Malia. Malia soon joined her parents in the shows. They went on to have four calves together, though Taima died giving birth to her last calf, a stillborn, in 2010. Luckily in 2008, Tilikum was introduced with a female named Takara, and her son Trua, who is also Tilikum’s grandson. Takara moved to another park in 2009, but he is often grouped with Trua in and out of shows. Trua has become a great companion for Tilly and the two like spending time together. Trua can even bring out Tilly's more playful side despite his laziness.

In 1999, a mentally ill man hid in SeaWorld after the park closed. He snuck into Tilly’s tank and was found in the morning draped over Tilly’s back without clothing. The coroner’s report stated he died from hypothermia and drowning. He had a few bite marks and bruises but it is unknown if he received them before or after death or both.

On February 24, 2010, Tilly was involved with a third death. At the end of a Dine With Shamu show, his trainer Dawn Brancheau, was laying on the platform known as a slide out, which is used for the orcas to slide onto. She had been playing with him just before the incident. Her hair was in a long pony tail hanging in the water when Tilly grabbed it and she went underwater. It is thought that maybe he thought it was a fish or toy as she had just been jumping back and forth playing with him in a video that was shot just minutes before. Her pony tail had been moving back and forth which may have caught his attention. Trainers say they had seen no warning signs of aggression from him, but two other female orcas, Kayla and Kalina, had been having issues with each other. According to other employees and visitors, earlier that day Dawn and Tilly had been doing something known as melon bumping. This is usually done between orcas, where one orca is under the other and bumps the one closest to the surface up slightly. It is not known how close Dawn had been to be doing this as he was not allowed to have trainers in the water with him or laying on the slide out since he was not trained for waterworks. Despite his history, he is actually a very gentle whale. He has never shown aggression to his trainers or other orcas. He has only had issues when people have been in the water with him.