Splash was born 5 months premature, which meant that Nootka had been pregnant only 12 of the customary 17 months! This has caused his health to be more fragile than most whales. He was first given the name "Baby Splash" while Marineland thought up what his official name would be. Though he was officially named Katak, he continued to be more commonly called Baby Splash.
In April of 1992, at the age of 2 and a half, Splash was flown to Sea World of California, were he joined Corky, Orkid, Kasatka, and Takara. At Sea World, Splash's nickname Baby Splash was shortened to Splash, and made official. Sea World was impressed by his sweet nature and enthusiasm to perform.
When Splash was 5 years old, he had a major seizure. He slammed his jaw into a gate, ripping a large strip of tissue off and taking off the end of his jaw. He also knocked himself out. Though Orkid was there to bring him up to breathe, Splash lost a lot of blood, and made Sea World aware that he had epilepsy. After a while, the wound became infected, and Splash lost his front teeth. Sea World put him on medication for his seizures, and they became very rare.
Splash is now 12 years old. Though he hasn't had a major seizure in a while, Sea World carefully monitors his heath. He wheezes when he breaths, and has had a few infections that cause more alarm than when other whales have them. He is currently 17 feet long, and weighs in at 4,800 pounds, and expected to get quite a bit larger! He remains a very sweet and playful whale.