SeaWorld's killer whale dies

A very sad news from Sea World Orlando.

A female killer whale has died after giving birth to a calf, that was unfortunately stillborn.

Two deaths that are NOT caused by a negligence of SeaWorld, which is doing a great job with its animals, because they truly love them.

Here's the complete news from CF News 13:

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"ORLANDO -- SeaWorld Orlando said one of its killer whales died Sunday from complications associated with the birthing process.

The whale was identified as Taima, a 20-year-old orca.

"We are very saddened by this loss,” said Dr. Chris Dold, vice president of veterinary services for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment." Although we understand that complications with pregnancy can occur here, just as they do in the wild, the loss of any animal affects all of us at SeaWorld.”

Taima had successfully given birth to three calves previously. 

Preliminary indications suggest that her death was caused by a condition in which the placenta is delivered before the fetus, as well as an unusual position of the fetus in the birthing canal. She was not able to deliver the stillborn fetus naturally; SeaWorld’s veterinarians attempted to assist, but her complications were too severe.

A definitive cause of death will not be known until a necropsy is completed. The comprehensive medical process will be carried out by SeaWorld veterinarians and pathologists, and may take up to six weeks to complete.

SeaWorld Orlando's collection, including Taimi, had eight orcas.

A second orca at SeaWorld Orlando is also pregnant. The 32-year-old orca Katina is due to have her seventh calf in late October. Both Taima and Katina were impregnated by Tilikum, the six-ton orca that went on a rampage in February and drowned a trainer.

The birth was first reported on theme park blog behindthethrills.com around 5 p.m. Sunday.

The blog said guests were informed by a sign at the front of the park that Shamu Stadium would be closed due to a killer whale birth in progress."

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UPDATE: Here's a picture of the killer whales (Tilikum and Taima):

Really sad. I hope that something like this will never happen again, even though these events are unpredictable...