HOME | DD

Description
MAYLEA ("Mahy-ahl-ah"; Hawaiian for "wildflower")

General Data
Species: Orcinus orca / Killer whale / Orca
Subspecies: 100 % Icelandic / Type 1 Eastern North Atlantic
Sex: Female
DOB: ?/?/1993
Length: 20 ft. / 6.09 mtrs.
Weight: 9,000 lbs. / 4082 kilos
Category: Drywork, all trainer levels; Waterworks, experienced trainers only

Differentiating Characteristics
- Dark green eyes
- Broad jaw
- Large, oval-shaped eyepatches with sharp points
- Stocky body
- Triangular, sharklike dorsal fin
- Clean, unmottled tail flukes
- Clean, mostly-intact teeth

Secondary Reinforcers
- Whistle (bridge)
- Ice/fish play
- Tactile
- Verbal praise
- Hose
- Animal plushes (any left within visual distance)

Finds Aversive
- Strangers
- Gated isolation for any length of time
- Separation from Kopa
- Displacement by aggressively-dominant individuals
- Failing to master a behavior following repeated tries

Behavioral Tendencies
- Resting whenever not at play, in show/session, or interacting with tankmates
- Mellow, submissive nature toward most
- Behaves shyly toward park visitors, but shows a clear preference for interaction with children
- Fiercely protective over young calves, be they her own or others'
- Shrill vocalizing when stressed

Behavioral Incidents
- 2023: "Jaw pop" at training staff during an introductory husbandry session with Augustus. (Northcentral Seaquarium)
- 2028: Knocked trainer into med pool while being hoisted out for a transfer to Moreton Bay. (Northcentral Seaquarium)

Summary
Maylea is a sexually mature wild-caught female orca. In total, she has delivered four calves:
- Kaija (female, born 2006, sired via AI by [name redacted])
- female stillborn (born 2010, sired via AI by [name redacted])
- female stillborn (born 2015, sired via AI by [name redacted])
- Augustus (male, born 2022, sired via AI by Gunnar)

She was originally taken from the waters off of western Iceland, at the approximate age of two-years-old, during a covert operation in 1995. Four others of her pod were also acquired in the same event, and all five were transported to a holding facility in Newfoundland. From there, each was sold to a different park. Because of her once-hyper, inquisitive nature, Maylea caught the eye of buyers representing the growing Northcentral Seaquarium, based in northern Nevada. She was the first orca acquired by said facility, in 1996. It was another ten years before NCS brought in a second orca, Oriana, in 2006, and then Kaleo and Mele in 2007.

As the oldest, Maylea assumed matriarchal status by being a passive, yet stern individual. While she could tolerate the antics of her younger tankmates on the best of days, she was known to rake or bite other animals when they acted out of line. She did not tolerate fits disobedience toward the trainers, either, making her an informal 'spotter' animal during group sessions. Maylea's weakness was her slowness to adapt to new stimuli. For several years, she was easily startled by things not familiar to her, and frustrated when her training sessions did not go smoothly because of her inability to learn quickly.

Over the next thirty years at the park, she had four calves. Her breeding records are incomplete, particularly with regard to where the AI material was obtained from. The first, Kaija, was taken from Maylea at the tender age of three. The second and third, both sired by a different bull than the one who sired Kaija, were stillborn. In 2014, she became an adopted mother figure to Azule, and an "aunt" to Kalea and Konani in 2015 (after suffering the second stillbirth). In 2022, she gave birth to her fourth calf, Augustus. In the six years they lived together, Maylea and her sons grew very close, and became practically inseparable.

The decision to send her to Moreton Bay Oceanarium was not made lightly, for a number of different reasons, that bond being among them. But the park felt they could no longer afford to display an aging female orca as part of their collection, and enticement of being loaned a younger breeding animal, nine-year-old Zuri, was too promising to pass up. On the day she and Augustus were parted, Maylea threw a terrible fit, even with the pre-conditioning she had received in the weeks prior to the actual move. With her wild thrashing, as she was lifted from the pools in a sling, she accidentally ended up knocking an assisting trainer from the half-drained medical pool's edge, to the shallow water below. While he was not seriously injured, the event caught the local media's attention, and from that one incident the NCS's plan backfired, as it drew much criticism for removing one of its longest-residing animals. Nonetheless, Maylea was loaded onto a long-range cargo plane, and flown to Australia in 2028.

Since being introduced at Moreton Bay, Maylea has grown the closest to Kopa, and vice versa. Both seem to have adopted each other as their surrogate mother/daughter, to fill the social voids each one must have felt for losing those close to them. While she isn't utilized as actively in performances as she was in her younger years, Maylea is considered a calm, submissive orca, one who can be comfortably placed with any of Moreton Bay's orcas and no aggression be displayed. She seldom scolds or rakes the others now, as Jigsaw holds matriarchal status, and seems to prefer the company of Kopa, Nuni, Sooleawa, or any of the younger whales between sessions/shows.

Whether or not Maylea intends to breed/be bred again remains to be seen.

Facilities:
NCS: sta.sh/0101v9piidw5
MBO: sta.sh/0fz0lw5377q

Relatives:
Grandmothers: unknown
Grandfathers: unknown
Mother: unknown
Father: unknown
Sisters: none / unknown
Brothers: none / unknown
Daughters: Kaija [link unavailable]
Sons: Augustus
Half-Sisters: none / unknown
Half-Brothers: none / unknown
Nieces: none / unknown
Nephews: none / unknown
Aunts: unknown
Uncles: unknown
Cousins: unknown

Tankmates:
Northcentral Seaquarium [1996-2028]
Kaija [2006-2009] [transferred out] ref sheet unavailable
Oriana [2006-2028] fav.me/d62khf8
Kaleo [2007-2014] [moved to NED] fav.me/d5tfisu
Mele [2007-2028] fav.me/d62j90b
Azule [2014-2028] fav.me/d5z8ee5
Kalea [2015-2028] fav.me/d6c2x6l
Konani [2015-2028] fav.me/d6c34mu
Gunnar [2017] fav.me/d4sr0d6
Augustus [2022-2028] fav.me/d62it34
Zuri [2027-2028] fav.me/d5gawit

Moreton Bay Oceanarium [2028-present]
Kopa [2017, 2028-present] fav.me/d4sdbkj
Enzi [2017, 2028-present] fav.me/d4tejck
Jigsaw [2028-present] fav.me/d5hvg0f
Nuni [2028-present] fav.me/d67x2nx
Queeky [2028-present] fav.me/d5h94qk
Skate [2028-present] fav.me/d5fk4gc
Sooleawa [2028-present] fav.me/d5fhvro

Best of Maylea:

Maylea © me

Description
MAYLEA ("Mahy-ahl-ah"; Hawaiian for "wildflower")

General Data
Species: Orcinus orca / Killer whale / Orca
Subspecies: 100 % Icelandic / Type 1 Eastern North Atlantic
Sex: Female
DOB: ?/?/1993
Length: 20 ft. / 6.09 mtrs.
Weight: 9,000 lbs. / 4082 kilos
Category: Drywork, all trainer levels; Waterworks, experienced trainers only

Differentiating Characteristics
- Dark green eyes
- Broad jaw
- Large, oval-shaped eyepatches with sharp points
- Stocky body
- Triangular, sharklike dorsal fin
- Clean, unmottled tail flukes
- Clean, mostly-intact teeth

Secondary Reinforcers
- Whistle (bridge)
- Ice/fish play
- Tactile
- Verbal praise
- Hose
- Animal plushes (any left within visual distance)

Finds Aversive
- Strangers
- Gated isolation for any length of time
- Separation from Kopa
- Displacement by aggressively-dominant individuals
- Failing to master a behavior following repeated tries

Behavioral Tendencies
- Resting whenever not at play, in show/session, or interacting with tankmates
- Mellow, submissive nature toward most
- Behaves shyly toward park visitors, but shows a clear preference for interaction with children
- Fiercely protective over young calves, be they her own or others'
- Shrill vocalizing when stressed

Behavioral Incidents
- 2023: "Jaw pop" at training staff during an introductory husbandry session with Augustus. (Northcentral Seaquarium)
- 2028: Knocked trainer into med pool while being hoisted out for a transfer to Moreton Bay. (Northcentral Seaquarium)

Summary
Maylea is a sexually mature wild-caught female orca. In total, she has delivered four calves:
- Kaija (female, born 2006, sired via AI by [name redacted])
- female stillborn (born 2010, sired via AI by [name redacted])
- female stillborn (born 2015, sired via AI by [name redacted])
- Augustus (male, born 2022, sired via AI by Gunnar)

She was originally taken from the waters off of western Iceland, at the approximate age of two-years-old, during a covert operation in 1995. Four others of her pod were also acquired in the same event, and all five were transported to a holding facility in Newfoundland. From there, each was sold to a different park. Because of her once-hyper, inquisitive nature, Maylea caught the eye of buyers representing the growing Northcentral Seaquarium, based in northern Nevada. She was the first orca acquired by said facility, in 1996. It was another ten years before NCS brought in a second orca, Oriana, in 2006, and then Kaleo and Mele in 2007.

As the oldest, Maylea assumed matriarchal status by being a passive, yet stern individual. While she could tolerate the antics of her younger tankmates on the best of days, she was known to rake or bite other animals when they acted out of line. She did not tolerate fits disobedience toward the trainers, either, making her an informal 'spotter' animal during group sessions. Maylea's weakness was her slowness to adapt to new stimuli. For several years, she was easily startled by things not familiar to her, and frustrated when her training sessions did not go smoothly because of her inability to learn quickly.

Over the next thirty years at the park, she had four calves. Her breeding records are incomplete, particularly with regard to where the AI material was obtained from. The first, Kaija, was taken from Maylea at the tender age of three. The second and third, both sired by a different bull than the one who sired Kaija, were stillborn. In 2014, she became an adopted mother figure to Azule, and an "aunt" to Kalea and Konani in 2015 (after suffering the second stillbirth). In 2022, she gave birth to her fourth calf, Augustus. In the six years they lived together, Maylea and her sons grew very close, and became practically inseparable.

The decision to send her to Moreton Bay Oceanarium was not made lightly, for a number of different reasons, that bond being among them. But the park felt they could no longer afford to display an aging female orca as part of their collection, and enticement of being loaned a younger breeding animal, nine-year-old Zuri, was too promising to pass up. On the day she and Augustus were parted, Maylea threw a terrible fit, even with the pre-conditioning she had received in the weeks prior to the actual move. With her wild thrashing, as she was lifted from the pools in a sling, she accidentally ended up knocking an assisting trainer from the half-drained medical pool's edge, to the shallow water below. While he was not seriously injured, the event caught the local media's attention, and from that one incident the NCS's plan backfired, as it drew much criticism for removing one of its longest-residing animals. Nonetheless, Maylea was loaded onto a long-range cargo plane, and flown to Australia in 2028.

Since being introduced at Moreton Bay, Maylea has grown the closest to Kopa, and vice versa. Both seem to have adopted each other as their surrogate mother/daughter, to fill the social voids each one must have felt for losing those close to them. While she isn't utilized as actively in performances as she was in her younger years, Maylea is considered a calm, submissive orca, one who can be comfortably placed with any of Moreton Bay's orcas and no aggression be displayed. She seldom scolds or rakes the others now, as Jigsaw holds matriarchal status, and seems to prefer the company of Kopa, Nuni, Sooleawa, or any of the younger whales between sessions/shows.

Whether or not Maylea intends to breed/be bred again remains to be seen.

Facilities:
NCS: sta.sh/0101v9piidw5
MBO: sta.sh/0fz0lw5377q

Relatives:
Grandmothers: unknown
Grandfathers: unknown
Mother: unknown
Father: unknown
Sisters: none / unknown
Brothers: none / unknown
Daughters: Kaija [link unavailable]
Sons: Augustus
Half-Sisters: none / unknown
Half-Brothers: none / unknown
Nieces: none / unknown
Nephews: none / unknown
Aunts: unknown
Uncles: unknown
Cousins: unknown

Tankmates:
Northcentral Seaquarium [1996-2028]
Kaija [2006-2009] [transferred out] ref sheet unavailable
Oriana [2006-2028] fav.me/d62khf8
Kaleo [2007-2014] [moved to NED] fav.me/d5tfisu
Mele [2007-2028] fav.me/d62j90b
Azule [2014-2028] fav.me/d5z8ee5
Kalea [2015-2028] fav.me/d6c2x6l
Konani [2015-2028] fav.me/d6c34mu
Gunnar [2017] fav.me/d4sr0d6
Augustus [2022-2028] fav.me/d62it34
Zuri [2027-2028] fav.me/d5gawit

Moreton Bay Oceanarium [2028-present]
Kopa [2017, 2028-present] fav.me/d4sdbkj
Enzi [2017, 2028-present] fav.me/d4tejck
Jigsaw [2028-present] fav.me/d5hvg0f
Nuni [2028-present] fav.me/d67x2nx
Queeky [2028-present] fav.me/d5h94qk
Skate [2028-present] fav.me/d5fk4gc
Sooleawa [2028-present] fav.me/d5fhvro

Best of Maylea:

Maylea © me