Taima

Taima (pronounced Ty-EE-Ma) (July 11, 1989 – June 6, 2010) was a transient/Icelandic hybrid female orca who lived at Sea World Orlando in Florida. Her name purportedly comes from a Native American or Icelandic language, and means "crash of thunder". She was born tail-first around 16:45 EST during a thunderstorm.

Taima was born to mother Gudrun and father Kanduke. In 1990, Kanduke died at the age of 20 from St. Louis encephalitis; Gudrun gave birth to Taima's half-sister Nyar in 1993. Nyar suffered frequent illness and it was reported that Gudrun tried to drown her during several shows. Trainers believe that this confused Taima, as she witnessed this and thought this was how to raise a calf. She was later reported to have performed this on her own calves, Sumar, Tekoa, and Malia. Gudrun died in 1996 from stillbirth complications, and Nyar died from an illness a few months later in April.

On May 14, 1998, Taima gave birth to a male calf named Sumar. They were separated when he was about eight months old because of the aggression between them. On one occasion while performing, Taima started biting Sumar, and throwing him out of the pool, onto the trainer's platform. She then slid out herself and started biting him. The show was stopped, and Taima was pulled to the other swimming pool. A few months later Sumar was transferred to SeaWorld San Diego in California.

On November 8, 2000, at 3:47 pm, Taima gave birth to a male named Tekoa. He began feeding overnight and was estimated to be 7 feet (2.2 m) long and weigh 350 pounds (160 kg). During the birth, Kalina assisted Taima and helped the calf to the surface for its first breath. Tekoa was sent to SeaWorld San Antonio in 2004, and was later sent to Loro Parque in Tenerife in February 2006, where he remains today. After Tekoa's attack, Taima was separated from all other whales except Tilikum, until she gave birth again to her first daughter Malia in 2007, on March 12. "At birth Malia (Hawaiian for "calm and peaceful") measured about 6 feet and weighed in at around 350 pounds. Her father is Tilikum." Seaworld announced on May 18, 2010, that Taima was pregnant again.

Taima died from complications to a stillborn male calf on June 6, 2010. Preliminary indications suggested that her death was caused by placenta previa, a condition in which the placenta is delivered before the calf.