The death of Taima, a SeaWorld Orlando killer whale who died giving birth to a stillborn calf earlier this month, has revived criticism from some animal-rights activists of an orca-breeding program crucial to SeaWorld's long-term success.

During the past 25 years, SeaWorld marine parks have bred 26 killer whales, including the first successful orca birth in captivity. Along the way, the company has pioneered techniques such as sex selection and artificial insemination, and it has generated groundbreaking research on everything from the length of a killer whale's gestation period to the composition of its mother's milk.

But with the death of Taima, SeaWorld has now had three killer whales die since 1994 after complications that appear to be linked to pregnancy. Four other company orcas have also died while pregnant, though the causes of death were not directly related to the animals' pregnancies.

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