So I want to know more about their orcas. I know their names are: Dylan Sean Cookie ( she had a calf this year and her calf is been hand raised but no news on it) Dora Dora front and Cookie in the back. Dora front and Dylan (aka Fattiger) on the back.
All four Orcas were captured from Russia in 2014, and were sent to Shanghai in 2018. They were temporarily trained in the meantime at Dalian Laohutan Ocean Park. Info on the four orcas: Dillon is believed to be 17 years old, and was initially believed to be named 'Wow' due to news articles; although Shanghai themselves haven't confirmed his name, trainers have apparently confirmed his name to be Dillon or Dylan. He's the parks largest Orca and is believed to be the father of Cookie's calf. Dora is about 10 years old and is the largest female at the park. Cookie is around 9 years old and is the smallest female at the park. She delivered a calf in September 2021, apparently sired by Dillon. Shawn is believed to be 9 years old and is the smallest male at the park. Then there is also Cookie's calf which was born 9/9/2021. The sire is believed to be Dillon, due to the fact Shawn was't sexually mature at the time of the conception. Cookie apparently rejected the calf and it has been hand raised by trainers. It's quite disappointing Shanghai aren't announcing more about their Orcas. They haven't even publicly announced the birth of Cookie's calf yet, and its been 6 months.
Oh ok what about their size/weight? Yes I know they hadn’t announced Cookie’s calf birth…which is a total boomer. I think it could be Shawn’s as ie Tilly sired Kyouquot at the age of 8 lol he wasn’t even sprouting yet… Also sorry but I don’t think Dylan is 17 he is probably younger many others I have talked to think he is younger.. they begin sprouting around 10-14 years old so his age at capture was way less cause if he was captured in 2014 with an age of 11 years old that makes him been born in 2003 which makes him to be actually 19-20 years old… lol and he actually began sprouting in 2019 that means he was born in 2009 and captured at 5 years old. He is 13 years old.
Not sure exactly about size/weights of the orcas but Dillon is definitely the largest individual, and Cookie is the smallest. Dillon looks to be quite a big Orca though..could possibly compete with some of those adult males at Seaworld once he gets to full size. It's definitely quite a shame they haven't announced the birth of Cookie's calf. Apparently immediately after birth the calf began swimming awkwardly ect. so it may have some development issues similar to something like Nyar (offspring of Gudrun) had. Tilly was 9 when Kyuquot was sired, and Shawn would've been 8 which is still close and its possible, although i'd like to note that Shawn isn't even kept with the other Orcas; he lives by himself, possibly due to the females and even Dillon being dominant towards him and raking him ect. Dillon was a large male at capture and was estimated to be around ten years of age. It's unlikely he was five at the time of capture but could quite have been around seven or eight due to his development at that time. It's most likely he's just a late bloomer lol much like Taku was at Orlando.
Oh yes; all of Katina's sons really began to sprout at around the age of nine. Ikaika actually had quite a straight dorsal fin up until just before he was moved back to San Diego from Ontario. Nakai is another late bloomer, he had quite a straight dorsal fin right up until a few years ago; now its started to curve a little. May be due to genetics.
Nakai's dorsal only started collapsing about just over three years ago now. This is home from 2018: And this was from 2019: Quite impressive for a male to see that tall dorsal fin standing up straight for all that time! Nowadays it's half curved, much like Sumar's was or Tekoa. Valentin (from Antibes) had an almost straight dorsal fin right up until his death in 2015 at the age of 19. There's a photo of him below:
They have publicly announced the news of the calf this month and are currently soliciting names on the Internet.
The calf was publicly announced and has been on display since June 3. A name will be revealed on June 16, chosen from submissions online.
