The True and Tragic Story of Tilikum, SeaWorld’s Captive Orca

Tilikum, also known as Tilly, was a male orca whale (Orcinus orca) captured off the coast of Iceland in 1983, when he was about 2 years old.

After his capture, the young orca lived at Hafnarfjördur Marine Zoo in south Iceland for about a year before he was transferred to Sealand of the Pacific in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Sealand of the Pacific

At Sealand of the Pacific, Tilikum sired his first offspring, Kyuquot, who now lives at SeaWorld San Antonio.

On February 20, 1991, Tilikum — along with Kyuquot’s mother, Haida II, and another Sealand orca, Nootka IV — forcibly submerged 20-year-old Sealand trainer Keltie Bryne after she fell into the whale pool. Haida II was pregnant with Kyuquot at the time.

Bryne’s death marked the first time that orcas in captivity had killed a human.

After Kyuquot’s birth, the two older female orcas became aggressive toward Tilikum, who had to be isolated in the medical pool. In 1992, Tilikum was moved to SeaWorld Orlando, and Sealand of the Pacific closed shortly after.