LA’s Own Marineland Podcast Episode 4: “Orky and Corky Take Center Stage” By Writer and Podcaster Tod Perry

The following is the fourth article in a 12-part series covering “LA’s Own Marineland,” a podcast documentary on the history of the oceanarium produced, written, and hosted by writer-podcaster Tod Perry. The first article in the series, “The Birth of Marineland,” which takes a behind-the-scenes look at the show’s genesis and production, can be read here.

Episode 4 of the podcast covers the park’s history from the years of 1969 through 1974. The episode’s primary focus is the park’s pivot from the main attraction being pilot whales to killer whales, namely Orky and Corky.

However, even though Orky 2 and Corky 2 are probably the world’s most famous pair of killer whales, they weren’t the only orcas who spent time at Marineland. From 1968 to 1971, there were also Orky 1 and Corky 1, Patches, and Kenny. In 1970, the orca show was moved from the Seaside Stadium on the lower deck, to the round, top-deck pool rechristened The Killer Whale Coliseum.

By the summer of 1971, the show starred Orky 2 and Corky 2 and would remain that way until the pair were moved to SeaWorld San Diego in 1987. During this time Corky had multiple calves, but sadly, they were short-lived.

Even though the killer whales were a popular attraction, Marineland’s attendance began to wane, and due to financial woes, it was sold to the owners of the Hollywood Park Racetrack in 1972. Two years later, it was leased to Twentieth Century Fox.

This episode also highlights the fact that people were able to get close to Marineland’s animals in ways that are unthinkable these days. In the ‘70s a kid could just walk up to the orca tank and give Orky a high five on his flukes.

“We used to sneak up [to the Killer Whale Coliseum] and play with them. We knew better than to go up near the top part, close to the tank, because my dad said, ‘Don’t go there because they can grab you and pull you in,’” Mark Thomas, son of sea lion trainer Art Thomas, shared with the podcast. “We’d go underneath [the stadium] knock n the windows and they’d come over to us and then we’d run … and they’d chase us. It was fun but it would almost feel kinda spooky after a while.”

The episode also features a fun conversation with Virgina Mason, who was a Peal Diver in the ‘70s, about the joys of diving into the cold water in the oval fish tank and working with pre-fame Richard Dean Anderson.

But before you listen to the show, there is one warning: If you listen to this podcast while seated in the first five rows of the Killer Whale Coliseum, you will get wet. You may get soaked.

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