Another orca death at SeaWorld

SeaWorld announced on Monday that Kayla, an orca held at its marine park in Orlando, Florida, has died.

Kayla was 30 years old, having spent her entire life in captivity since her birth in 1988 at SeaWorld’s San Antonio park.

Kayla’s father was an orca captured from British Columbia in Canada while her mother was taken from Iceland. In the wild, these two very different types of orcas would never have encountered one another.

Kayla died at a far younger age than would have been expected of a wild orca (avg. 46 years).

According to SeaWorld, her health became a concern on Saturday and her condition worsened over the weekend. A cause of death is not yet known.

Find out more about the fate of captive orcas