Orca Encounter at SeaWorld San Diego on April 5, 2026

In every corner of the ocean, you are able to be a legend, from southern and Indian, to the mighty Pacific and East. The killer whale's story is the ocean's story, and it's one we all share. Welcome to SeaWorld! Shuka, Yuki, Kei, and four members of our killer whale family demonstrating their incredible size, speed, power, and complex learning abilities. These behaviors keep our whales active and engaged. SeaWorld's killer whales have inspired generations of guests, and we're so excited for you to learn more about them. As trainers, we spend years building our relationships with the whales. This creates trust and allows us to provide optimal health care, research, and quality of life. In fact, all eight of our killer whales here take an active role in their own health and well-being through husbandry, or medical training. One of the very first of these husbandry behaviors that our whales learn is called a blue corset. This position allows our veterinary team to collect a blood sample from the underside of the whale's tail about once a month. Collecting a regular blood sample is just one way that we can ensure that our whales are staying healthy. You can see Shuka demonstrating this behavior right there on the stage. Another example of a husbandry behavior is monitoring our whales' weight. All of the whales know how to slide up onto a giant killer whale-sized scale and let their tail float up and down the water so that we can't interact with them. Here comes an orchid to demonstrate. This is a great example of the purpose behind our training program. Some behaviors like to slide out are visually stunning, but its true purpose is to be able to monitor their weight. We'll also ask the whales for high-energy, powerful behaviors like reaches and jumps up and out of the water for exercise. In fact, the behaviors that you've seen so far today contribute to making sure our whales stay healthy. As trainers, the health and wellness of our pod is the most important part of our job. We strive to achieve this through diet, exercise, lots of love, and of course, play. And these whales sure do love to play. We learn what they like and how they enjoy interacting not only with the other members of their pod, but also with each one of us. We love getting creative and introducing new toys and enrichment and building our connection with the whales. We also love getting to share great fun with all of you! Whoa! As you all can see, which is the blue whale. It's about five times longer and speaks like a prey, which is the size of the blue whale. Skill and teamwork allow killer whales to hunt all different types of prey. In fact, killer whales from around the world have developed specialized hunting techniques to help them hunt the prey of their choice. They use their powerful tail flutes for slapping, tossing, and throwing, which tires their prey, making it easier to catch. Whoa! They've learned how to create waves that wash them right off of floating ice and into the water. This behavior is incredible to witness. But in order to truly demonstrate just how much water gets displaced, I happen to have a pair of incredibly brave volunteers who are going to come down and feel the power of the killer whale's wave. Are you two ready? All right, you two, come on down. Today, you two are my seals, and that's your iceberg. Go ahead and take a seat and hold on tight. Yeah, perfect. Just like that. Okay, you two stay right there. I'm going to go over here. It's not that bad if you're wearing your wetsuit. Unfortunately, it doesn't work today. They pronounce it wetsuits, but let's not worry about that. We have about seven million gallons of salt water here at Orca Encounter. All of our water comes straight from Mission Bay, and in just a few moments, I'm sure one of our killer whale friends is going to be able to come and help share some of that salt water with you. So, I just have one question. Angel and Damien, are you two ready to get wet? You are? Okay, what do we think? Are we ready to sit up and get wet? Well, in just a few moments, we'll see one of our other members of our killer whale family on their way. We've got Corky and Ikaika, and here's the thing, you two. Corky and Ikaika are two of the biggest whales here at SeaWorld San Diego. Ikaika, he's got the right idea. Ikaika weighs almost 10,000 pounds, and Corky, she has earned the nickname The Beast. She is 61 years old, and she is one of the highest flyers of the entire pod. Let's keep our eyes out. In just a few moments, we're going to see one of the whales making their way around. Looks like it's going to be Corky. We've got The Beast headed our way. So, keep your eyes out, because you're going to see the whale start. She's going to start making her way around. They can even use their powerful tail fluids to stun their prey, but today, I'm pretty sure they'll just be stunning all of you. And you know what that means. It's time to get wet! Their future depends on you. Oh, she's going to see you. Time to do sessions with our family of killer whales. This is Corky and her best pal, Ikaika. Yay! Your dreams will always be true And you'll be amazed What they can do Just open your heart The Beast!