#even if each half of the pair hate each other (this is just bad husbandry) but i could raise them right

[dirt-str1der]

I think its cute that vash has one arm (says this all the time) hes like a prawn in that way they love to have a missing arm

[tepiddreamer]

do you know anything about why amaya is raked up right now? have the trainers offered any explanations? it would be nice to hear from them as there is a lot of speculation but no definitive answers

So I have heard nothing outside the normal trainer lines such as ‘raking is a natural form of discipline among killer whales’. Which is half true.

It is true that wild Orcas rake just like they do in captivity. But in captivity it is much more prevalent and even signs of abnormal behaviors amongst captive individuals.

In a wild pod, you will mostly see calves, adolescents, and males with rake marks*. Out of the entire group the youngest will have the most rakes. A mother will rake a calf for attention or punishment. How severe the raking is determines on the behavior, and other members may join in on the action. I have seen wild calves being tossed by pod members, or in some cases the rakes came from siblings attempting to assist a ailing calf. In the wild alloparenting is common, in that younger animals will be raised or ‘babysat’ by other members of the pod while the mother is off hunting or resting. But this kind of behavior is resolved quickly, and not as frequently as in captivity.

In the wild the animals spend a great deal of time traveling from one place to another for food, socializing, traveling again, pod integrations, resting, and what can be considered play time. But the animals are constantly expending energy and being stimulated by other animals, sounds, objects in the water, and food.

In captivity the animals are given their food requirements, and spend less energy traveling or being mobile. While most animals do some kind of behaviors throughout the day to raise heart rate and trainer interaction (stimulation), the caloric burn is not equal to those in the wild. So they log. Or hang at a gate. Or elicit attention from a trainer. A calf will pester or bother another pod mate. And that pod mate now has free time and energy to expend on that calf.

I hate to ever use a human comparison to animals, but this is the best way to explain this. Human children between the ages of 3-7 enter what is known as the ‘push button stage’. A normal child this age is somewhat verbal**, mobile, and likes to explore. This energy can be creative or destructive. They will knock items over, tear them apart, kick/punch other individuals, ignore given commands, purposely or defiantly go against a rule or instruction, act out to garner attention, soil/disrobe themselves, enter/leave a forbidden area, and various other activities to illicit a direct response from parents/caregivers. Basically: what can I do to make you mad and give me what I want, and if I don’t get it I will act out, sometimes violently, to discipline my caregivers.

If you have never had children or worked with them, I recommend a quick view of one of those Supernanny programs. A tantrum/meltdown over not getting chocolate milk is a good example. A frustrated parent will give verbal warnings, put them in time out, and suffer as the child has a complete meltdown for not getting what they want and not being able to communicate their thoughts/feelings. Behaviors observed in baboon and great ape species so negative behaviors by juveniles and are punished by dominate family individuals, either by chasing/biting/grabbing the animals in submission.

Killer Whales have a similar process. Except they lack appendages like hands/feet. So they use a warning call, chase the individual, roll them over/hit with their tail flukes/rake with their teeth. A raking is a direct punishment, it does cause pain, although how much pain depends on how deep the rake is. A superficial rake will probably come down to a shock factor, a deeper rake is more than likely a painful reminder. A calf may not come when called, stray to far from their mother, rough play with another animal, may take a EED away, persistently want to nurse or ask for food, general aggravation of a tired mother.

In captivity is where the aberrations really start. And these aberrations differ from animal to animal and park to park. Here we see Shouka vocalizing before she purposely went after Ulises and went after his tail. A minute later Kalia and Shouka began fasting chasing each other then rolling/balling. This is a reconcile effort, in that touch can reconcile bad feelings. What set Shouka off is unknown, however in the last year I have seen her become aggressive towards the males and even Amaya. In Kalias case she would rather spend time with the trainers than with her daughter Amaya, who is very independent. Shouka will often be paired with Kalia and Amaya, and the 3 of them are a force to be reckoned with. Shouka has taught a great deal of behaviors to Amaya, and Kalia has passed her assertiveness onto her daughter as well. But this assertiveness has gotten her in trouble, she has a tendency to bully Ulises who will turn around and give it right back. Shouka seems to have a shorter tolerance for Amayas habits, and will quickly roll and rake Amaya, even with Kalia in full view. Amaya is pushing buttons, how far can she get within another whales personal space before they react. Kalia seems to become jealous of her daughter getting attention by the glass and by trainers, she has pushed Amaya away. Amaya has energy to burn and wants to be stimulated, but in a gated pool with bored adults its not happening, so she plays with the gate, or interacts with guests, baits birds, plays on the slide outs, elicits responses from Shouka, and wastes time.

Makani has lost his mother, the former matriarch of the San Diego pod. As a juvenile male, he is the bottom of the ladder, and the first to be disciplined. Luckily Makani has been taken in by Corky, but Corky is a no-nonsense whale and will quickly put Makani down. Recently Tilikum16 posted a video of Orca Encounter being interrupted by Makani after he tried to nibble Corkys tail, and Corky chased him into the show pool. Corky resolved the tension herself, but Makani stayed in the show pool. Ikaika is submissive to Makani, Keet does well, Nakai has rolled him, Ulises has raked him several times. The females don’t tolerate him well. This is not to say that this wouldn’t be happening if Kasatka was still around, he would still be on the bottom and raked up. Makani is testing his limits of what he can get away with and his own environment. He will push EEDs over a gate and vocalize until a trainer retrieves them.

photo@Makaiolover_lisag

Makaio is the youngest of the Orlando pod, and currently one of 5 whales in the pod. While he does have some raking, he is not as bad as the youngsters in San Diego.

photo@LunaBeluga

Sakari is also another juvenile whale in San Antonio, a member of 5 whales. She as well has superficial raking (notably on her saddle) but again not as prominent as the San Diego pod

So what is wrong here?

Well for one is pod size. The San Diego pod is now at 10 whales, 5 females/5 males. There is a good mix of Older female (Corky), Older Male (Ulises), Middle Age (Keet, Orkid, Shouka), Teenage (Ikaika, Nakai, Kalia), and finally juvenile (Makani, Amaya) These whales are often broken into 4 groups with Dominant/Cycling (Kalia, Shouka, Amaya), Intelligence (Orkid, Nakai, Ikaika), Balance (Corky, Keet, Ikaika, Makani), Size (Ulises, Keet). Throughout the day these smaller groupings will be intermingled or switched out from pool to pool for husbandry or shows. Some whales do not do well mixed (Corky/Ulises), are direct family (Kalia, Amaya, Makani, Nakai) or are used for high energy behaviors (Ulises, Kalia, Shouka, Orkid, Nakai). Some animals like Corky and Ulises are put into underwater viewing due to ‘tank pacing’, they swim in circles all day long and keep park guests interested. Others log all day like Keet. But by keeping them separated they cannot form a cohesive pod. Dominate behaviors from Kalia and Shouka lose traction with other whales like Orkid or Corky when they are kept in different pools for days at a time. They can hear each other, they can maybe see one another, but cannot enforce matriarchal behaviors until they are in the same pool together. Kalia and Shouka were recently kept separate for 43 days due to not being on birth control, this further adds tension to the group, then possible hormonal/sexual frustrations from being placed back on BC. This group cannot easily be put entirely together due to tensions within the pod.

They also can’t escape one another. Ulises will relentlessly be bullied by Shouka and Kalia for hours and trainers will ignore it (my last visit in July I was privy to this first hand in that Ulises had new rake marks by the end of the day, and was chased during a dine program, yet trainers made no move to switch him in to another pool). Amaya will hang at a gate while Kalia and Shouka log near trainers. While Corky does adore Makani, I sense she wants time away from him sometimes. When the whales have a ‘disagreement’ I do argue that sometimes separating them needs to be done sometimes. You mix them up daily for enrichment and stimulation but ignore the warning signs that they are not a cohesive group.

In San Antonio Takara and her 2 daughters are often together with access to another pool, the 2 youngster often entertain themselves with following trainers or splashing guests. The 2 males are often separate in another pool, except for main shows. Takara gets plenty of trainer time and alone time.

In Orlando there has been a great deal of disruption. Medical problems, separation due to cycling, storm interruptions (rain delays and show stops can frustrate a animal that is used to routine), loss of the UV area to interact with guests, and new/unconfident trainers. But it is still a smaller group that can be easily separated or put together as one if needed.

TL:DR Amaya and Makani are heavily raked due to aberrations in a captive environment. They are basically toddlers pushing their nearest tanks mates buttons and suffering the consequences. These consequences are exacerbated by confinement, irregular groupings, boredom, and frustrations.

Wild whales rake but captive animals act out.

* males with give each other rakes during sexual play with another male. Also mammal eating or stranding ecotypes may have more skin damage from the type of prey they are hunting

** In the last 15 years cases of Autism and lower brain development have increased. The number of non-verbal children by age 5 has drastically increased. Even with a limited vocabulary a child can convey basic feelings, but can become stressed or frustrated when they cannot come across clear or what they need. Scientific studies and research must be updated to account for the raising numbers of children who are non-verbal or limited vocabulary after the age of 5. I did not included children in late stage prepubesent/puberty as hormonal changes due alter behaviors.