Sealand of the Pacific facts for kids

Sealand of the Pacific was a public aquarium located in South Oak Bay at The Oak Bay Marina, near the city of Victoria, in British Columbia, Canada. It was famous for housing several orcas, also known as killer whales. Some of these orcas included Haida, Nootka, and Tilikum. In 1991, an unfortunate incident involving a trainer occurred. The aquarium later closed and its orcas were moved to SeaWorld.

History of Sealand of the Pacific

The aquarium first opened its doors in 1969. Its first orca was named Haida, who had been captured in 1968. Soon after, Sealand decided to find a partner for Haida. They brought in a partially albino orca named Chimo. Sadly, Chimo passed away in 1972, just over two years after she was captured. She had a rare condition called Chédiak–Higashi syndrome, which made her very prone to getting sick.

Haida, her partner, seemed to miss her greatly and remained alone for many years. Eventually, Sealand brought in a new female whale named Nootka II to be his mate. However, Nootka II also died after only nine months. His third partner, Nootka III, also lived for a short time. By the time his third partner passed away, Haida no longer seemed interested in having a mate.

In 1977, Dr. Murray Newman, who helped start the aquarium, received a call about a sick baby killer whale in the wild. This baby whale had a bullet wound. Sealand decided to rescue the baby whale and bring her to Victoria for urgent care.

This rescued whale was named Miracle, and she became a very popular attraction. She was kept in a separate area from Haida. Later, her companion in the pen, a seal named Shadow, sadly drowned in the nets that formed the pen. A diver from Sealand explained that Miracle had learned that if she damaged the nets, divers would come into her pen, and she could play with them. Miracle's playtime had become very rough, making it unsafe for the divers to properly maintain the pens. Experts believed that Miracle, being a southern resident killer whale, was naturally very playful and rough with other sea animals. These factors led to the sad accident where she became trapped and passed away in January 1982.

As groups that wanted animals to live in the wild started to protest, Sealand agreed to release Haida. However, Haida died just a few days before his planned release in October 1982. There was no sign of anything suspicious. His release was part of a plan for the aquarium to get new whales. Many people were upset by the idea of capturing more whales and protested where the new whales were supposed to be caught. Sealand soon brought in three new whales from Iceland.

The three new orcas were Tilikum, Nootka IV, and Haida II. They did not get along well. Tilikum, the male, was often picked on and chased into the medical pen by the two females.

Orcas Who Lived at Sealand

• Haida
• Chimo: An albino orca. She was captured in March 1970 and passed away in 1972.
• Knootka/Nootka: This orca was captured at the same time as Chimo in March 1970. She lived at Sealand for a short time before moving to other parks in California and Texas. She then lived at Marineland of Canada and SeaWorld San Diego, where she passed away on March 13, 1990.
• Nootka II
• Nootka III
• Miracle: She passed away in January 1982.
• Haida II: She passed away on August 1, 2001. She was pregnant when the incident with the trainer happened in 1991. She gave birth to a son named Kyuquot on December 14, 1991.
• Nootka IV: She passed away on September 13, 1994, at SeaWorld Orlando.
• Tilikum: He passed away on January 6, 2017, at SeaWorld Orlando.
• Kyuquot: He was the first baby born to Tilikum and Haida II. He currently lives at SeaWorld San Antonio.
• Nootka IV's calf: This baby orca was born on February 4, 1992, and passed away on March 10, 1992.