Shamu /ʃæmuː/ (c. 1961[1] – August 16, 1971) was a female orca captured in October 1965 from a southern resident pod.
[3] The very young, 14-foot (4.3 m), 2,000-pound (910 kg) southern resident orca was captured by Ted Griffin off Penn Cove, Puget Sound, Washington in October 1965 to be a companion for the male orca Namu at Griffin's Seattle public aquarium.
[4][10] Shamu was retired from performing after an incident on April 19, 1971, in which she bit the legs and hips of Annette Eckis, a SeaWorld employee who was told to ride her as part of a filmed publicity event.
Shamu refused to release the woman until other workers came to the rescue and pried the orca's jaws apart with a pole.
[11][12] The employee had been asked to ride Shamu while wearing a bikini, and had not known that the orca had previously attacked people who wore ordinary bathing suits and was only conditioned to perform with trainers wearing wetsuits.