The first calf -- officially named Nakai today as a result of ballots cast by 10,000 park visitors in December -- was born Sept. 1 and now weighs about 600 pounds. Nakai is an American Indian word meaning "victory."

Nakai's mother, 26-year-old Kasatka, was the first marine mammal in history to become pregnant through artificial insemination.

Now Kasatka's daughter, Takara, has become the second of her species to be impregnated with semen injected into her womb by SeaWorld veterinarians.

Although Takara was inseminated in November, the pregnancy was not certain until recent sonograms confirmed the presence of a growing fetus. If Takara's pregnancy results in a successful birth sometime in the spring of 2003, SeaWorld for the first time will have three generations of killer whales in captivity.

"This means we'll have a grandbaby Shamu," said Bob Tucker, SeaWorld's spokesman.

Both Kasatka and Takara were impregnated with semen collected from the same 11,000-pound male, Tilikum, who lives at SeaWorld's theme park in Orlando.

The historic inseminations were performed by Dr. Todd Robeck, who works at SeaWorld San Antonio, and Dr. Tom Reidarson of San Diego.

Although SeaWorld San Diego's male and female killer whales live together and regularly mate, none has achieved a natural conception at the park in more than 10 years.

The successful artificial inseminations allow SeaWorld, which operates three parks with captive killer whales, to increase genetic diversity among its cetaceans without having to transport them across the country.

"It makes sense scientifically and from an animal-husbandry point of view to do (breeding) like this," Reidarson said. "We've refined the technique."

The female whales are trained to turn upside down and hold their breath during the insemination procedure, which can take up to six minutes.

Scientists at the Center for the Reproduction of Endangered Species at the San Diego Zoo provided critical hormone research that helped the SeaWorld veterinarians determine when the whales were ovulating and ready to conceive.

Reidarson said the breakthrough insemination process pioneered by Robeck could someday prove invaluable in saving endangered species of dolphins and whales from extinction.