Six-year-old orca dies unexpectedly at Sea World San Diego just one day after first showing signs that she was sick

A six-year-old female orca has died unexpectedly at SeaWorld in San Diego after first showing signs of illness just one day before.

The orca, named Amaya, fell ill on August 18 and was treated by animal care specialists and veterans at the theme park immediately, as reported by NBC Bay Area. 

The next day she died suddenly and the cause of death remains unknown.

Specialists at SeaWorld are conducting a post-mortem exam to find out how the killer whale's health declined so quickly but said getting the results may take a couple of weeks.

Amaya - whose name means 'night rain' in Japanese - was the youngest orca at SeaWorld, where her mother Kalia and father Ulises still live. 

'Her death was sudden and unexpected,' SeaWorld said in a statement.

A female orca named Amaya fell ill on August 18 at SeaWorld San Diego and died suddenly the following day

Amaya - whose name means 'night rain' in Japanese - was the youngest orca at SeaWorld, where her mother Kalia and father Ulises still live

Specialists at SeaWorld are conducting a post-mortem exam to find out how the killer whale's health declined so quickly but said getting the results may take a couple of weeks 

Fox5 captured the enclosure Amaya was being kept in - which holds six million gallons of water and is home to nine orcas

'This is a very difficult time for those who knew and loved Amaya. She inspired millions of guests to appreciate and learn more about this amazing species. The specialists who cared for her at SeaWorld are heartbroken,' the statement added. 

Amaya's death was met with a lot of criticism on social media by users who were unhappy that the orca lived her entire life in captivity.

'She was meant to be born in the ocean. Captivity kills,' one user tweeted. 

Peta on Twitter has been a longstanding critic of SeaWorld on both coasts - slamming them for drugging, breeding and not properly caring for the orcas they are keeping at the park and starting the hashtag 'BoycottSeaWorld'. 

Many used the hashtag - along with 'EmptyTheTanks' - after hearing that Amaya died.

DailyMail.com has reached out to SeaWorld San Diego for comment. 

It's not the first time animal activists have used the hashtags to band together against SeaWorld. The park has faced a longstanding controversy over keeping orcas. 

According to SeaWorld's website, a female orca's life expectancy in captivity is 29 years - versus between 50 and 80 years in the wild - while males are expected to live up to 17 years in captivity and about 30 in the wild.

In 2019 two ex-SeaWorld Orlando trainers claimed that the whales were drugged and deprived of food to encourage them to perform. 

John Hargrove and Jeffrey Ventre alleged the animals 'self-mutilated' due to the stress of training and performing hungry by doing things such as grinding their teeth and popping their jaws.

Ventre also claimed that the whales would chew concrete and scratch each other with their teeth purely out of boredom. 

If the whales became too aggressive, the ex-trainer said they were given Valium to calm down. 

SeaWorld Orlando denied the accusations.

Former SeaWorld killer whale trainers John Hargrove (pictured with an orca) and Jeffrey Ventre claimed that the animals were drugged and deprived of food at the park

A killer whale named Tilikum who lived at SeaWorld Orlando killed his trainer during a performance in 2010 

Nearly a decade earlier Dawn Brancheau, 40, was grabbed by her ponytail by a whale named Tilikum and killed during a performance in 2010 in front of 50 tourists.

Trainer Dawn Brancheau (pictured performing), 40, died after she was dragged underwater by killer whale Tilikum

An autopsy revealed Brancheau's spinal cord was severed and she sustained fractures to her jawbone, ribs and cervical vertebra.

Brancheau's left arm had also been ripped off near the shoulder and her left elbow and knee were dislocated.  

In 2014 SeaWorld San Diego announced plans to double the size of their killer whale tank - in a project dubbed the Blue World Project - in response to a wave of backlash they experienced after the release of the 2013 documentary Blackfish.

SeaWorld detailed plans to build 100million-gallon tanks that covered 1.5 acres and were 50 feet deep and 350 feet in length. 

The habitat was supposed to include stimulating features for the whales such as a foe fast water current. 

The original announcement said the facility was slated to open to the public four years later, with similar changes to be made at its Orlando and San Antonio locations to follow.

However, the new facility was never constructed and their tanks still only hold six million gallons of water for nine orcas.

Amaya spent her entire life in captivity. Critics on Twitter said: 'She was meant to be born in the ocean. Captivity kills'

SeaWorld announced plans in 2014 to nearly double the size of the orca tank at its San Diego park but it never happened (pictured is a rendering of the proposed Blue World Project)

Peta on Twitter has been a longstanding critic of SeaWorld on both coasts - slamming them for drugging, breeding and not properly caring for the orcas they are keeping at the park