A large blue container on a flatbed truck carried the newest resident of SeaWorld San Diego from the airport to its new home Monday.
Shouka, a killer whale from Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, arrived to Lindbergh Field via a large cargo plane around 5:50 a.m..
The whale arrived in a foam-padded container held in a sling so she wouldn't move around during her flight. The container, filled with thousands of gallons of water, weight 38,000 pounds according to park officials.
Once she landed, the plan was to load the whale onto a flatbed truck and drive it to its new home at SeaWorld San Diego.
Just after 7 a.m., a crew of six people could be seen traveling with the large whale inside a container. Occasionally, a crew member would use a tool to pour water over the top of the whale.
The truck was escorted by highway patrol from the airport to the park near Mission Bay.
Shouka is a 19-year-old female orca who veterinarians hope will find a suitable companion among the other whales at the San Diego theme park.
Her former companion at Six Flags was a bottle-nosed dolphin who was recently put in a different pool.
Since then, Shouka has not met a good companion park officials said.
SeaWorld San Diego representatives say they plan to have Shouka performing at SeaWorld soon but did not give an estimated date.
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