Shouka

Shouka is a 31 year old female orca who lives at SeaWorld San Diego. She was the first orca to be born at Marineland France. Her mother is Sharkane and her father is Kim 2.

Shouka grew up under the care of her mother Sharkane and fellow pod mate Freya. When Shouka was 3, Freya gave birth to her half brother Valentin and the two became close. Her mother gave birth to 2 more calves, Inouk in 1999 and Wikie in 2001. 

As she grew older, the decision was made to move her to Six Flags Ohio in the United States in 2002. In 2004 she moved to Six Flags California. Shouka lived alone for almost 10 years with dolphins as companions. Though attempts were made to bring a male orca named Kshamenk in from Argentina, Shouka remained with dolphins until late 2011 when her tank mate Merlin was separated from her after aggression between the two occurred. She also spent some time with a dolphin named Cupid.

Soon Six Flags was in trouble with their decision because, by law, orcas need to be with other orcas or cetaceans which they were not complying with. After a short attempt to send her to Marineland Canada, it was decided to send her to SeaWorld in California. She arrived on August 20, 2012, and after 10 years of being without orca companionship, she met an older female named Corky. She can be seen with any member of the pod, but has become close with Orkid and Kalia. 

Shouka is a dominant orca and has shown aggression to trainers in the past. The most recent was in July 2012 when she lunged at a trainer. This likely came as a result of having no tank mates to socialize with. Since being moved to SeaWorld, her aggression has decreased greatly and she gets along with her pod mates very well.