Sea World Whale Deaths Questioned : Protest: Humane Society demands that Sea World be prevented from acquiring new killer whales.

An animal-welfare organization is demanding to know what’s killing Sea World’s killer whales.

The Humane Society of the United States has asked the federal government to bar the four Sea World attractions from getting more killer whales until the parks’ whale deaths can be adequately explained.

The move came days after the pregnant whale that shares the Shamu role with three other whales for shows at Sea World’s park here died of unknown causes.

It was the fifth whale death at a Sea World in the last two years.

“It’s outrageous that whales keep dying, and Sea World keeps asking for more whales. This has to stop,” said Ken Johnson, investigator for the 1.4-million-member Humane Society.

“We have no evidence that the animal that died Tuesday died of anything improper on Sea World’s part, but our concern is that a large number of animals have died there, and that causes us to further address the question of captivity,” Johnson said.

“We would like to have the federal government appropriately evaluate the whole marine mammal issue before any more animals are captured and placed into this unnatural environment.”

Another animal welfare group, The Sea Shepherd Society of Fairfax, Va., said Wednesday that it will sponsor a boycott of products made by Anheuser-Busch Corp., parent company of Sea World’s parks in Florida, Ohio, Texas and California.

Sea Shepherd President Benjamin White said the boycott will remain until Sea World “sets the orcas free and stops capturing them.”

In a prepared statement, Anheuser-Busch responded: “We are grateful for the ongoing support of the consumers of our beer products. We believe they will not heed the call for this kind of unwarranted, unfair action.”

Although orcas are not listed by the federal government as a rare or endangered animal, some estimates suggest that perhaps no more than 25,000 now range Earth’s oceans.

Brad Andrews, Sea World’s director of zoological operations, said captive killer whales have created greater awareness about the fragile nature of their environment.

“These animals have brought a message to the American public,” Andrews said. “If they hadn’t brought that message, we’d probably still be shooting at them, like we did 20 years ago when they were considered a menace.”

Today, 12 orcas remain at the four Sea World sites, and Andrews said there are no plans to go into the wild to capture more.

In August, 1989, one orca attacked and killed another in San Diego. Another one, said to be a victim of pneumonia, died seven months later.

In September, 1990, one died in Orlando for causes attributed to a medical condition, but an examination later found that the animal had swallowed a pool buoy.

This year, in May, a female orca died in San Antonio, six months after a life-threatening miscarriage.

Then, Tuesday, the Orlando whale named Kenau died in the 12th month of a 17-month pregnancy.

Officials with the federal agency that issues permits to capture, own and transport marine mammals said Wednesday that they will closely review information gathered in the next few weeks that may shed light on Kenau’s death. That information, they said, may influence whether Sea World will receive permits in the future to keep killer whales.