Winnie is a 26 year old Icelandic female. She was captured in Ingolfshodhi, Iceland, in October of 1977. After capture, she, along with 5 other Orcas captured in that month, were shipped to Holland for holding. After a short while in Holland, 3 of the whales had been sold to Sea World, 1 had died, and 2 (Winnie and pod-mate Hoi Wai) went to Windsor Safari Park. Winnie's move to Windsor was actually a form of "payment", as Sea World had promised a small Orca to Windsor in exchange for their large male Winston.

Winnie remained alone at Windsor for several years fallowing Hoi Wai (the remaining whale from her pod) was sold in 1979. During that time, a few Dolphins, kept in an adjacent pool, were her only social contact. A few years later, a teenage male named Nemo moved in. unfortunately, instead of providing companionship for Winnie, Nemo terrorized her. Already a shy, ready-to-please whale, Winnie's soft temperament made her an easy target for Nemo's rage. This lasted over a year, until Nemo died of blood cancer.

During Winnie's 13 years at Windsor, she was routinely kept half-starved in order to insure her cooperation in performances. She was also usually in a state of depression, resting listlessly at the bottom of her shallow pool. These things, combined with the loss of her pool and pod mates, caused Winnie to end up a very confused and depressed whale.

Then, in 1991, Winnie's luck changed. Sea World, who had captured her and given her to Windsor, got her back. With the passing of new laws in Britain, keeping Marine Mammals captive became almost impossible. Windsor, with no way to expand her pool, choose to give her back to Sea World. Sea World of Florida thus imported her on a breeding loan.

However, despite a much larger pool, multiple companion, and hugely improved training conditions, Winnie did not immediately settle in. Her shy nature, which had caused her problems in Windsor, caused her problems in Florida as well. The other, much larger whales (the 3 adult females ranged from 5,000 to 8,000 pounds while Winnie weighed in at 3,000) tormented her, giving her lasting physical and emotional scars.

After 3 years at Sea World of Florida, Winnie was moved to Sea World of Ohio. This move occurred for a number of reasons. Some of the reasons included her problems with the SWF whales, her failure to become pregnant at SWF, her size (she fit into the Ohio pool better than a larger animal), and her need for a quiet, submissive companion. Sea World Ohio filled all her current needs, and offered her a healthier environment. Still, some things were lacking. The pool offered was much to small for Winnie, who, despite her small size, was a very active whale.

In 1999, Winnie finally got her chance at happiness. After almost 6 years in Ohio, Winnie and Kayla were transferred to Sea World of Texas. The pools there were much larger, and a great deal deeper than both Florida and Ohio pools. At Texas, Winnie interacted well with submissive whales Kayla, Ky, and Keet. But she closely bonded with dominant female Haida, and together they ruled the pool. By this time, Winnie had also grown, and was now 4,000 pounds, though still the smallest adult female currently being held captive.

Sadly, in 2001, Haida passed away. Winnie has been devastated over the loss, and has had a hard time settling into the role of the dominant female. Known to be robotically-regular in her performances, she has recently refused to participate, and become erratic when she does. However, these are expected to be short-term consequences only. And, while she has not shown much interest in SWT's male, Ky, Sea World of Texas reports that its very possible that she may become a mother in the future.