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Baby Shamu II, the killer whale born Jan. 5 at Sea World, died of a respiratory infection brought on by heart lesions.
Sea World officials announced the cause of death Thursday after preliminary results of a post-mortem revealed the defective heart.
Dr. Lanny H. Cornell said the heart problem resulted in lung congestion that was followed by infection.
Baby Shamu II, the offspring of 27-year-old Shamu and his 12-year-old mate, Kenau, weighed 350 pounds when born and appeared healthy.
However, there is a high mortality rate for whales born in captivity. The only killer whale born in captivity to survive is Shamu’s only other offspring, born at the Sea World in Orlando, Fla.
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