Isolated Killer Whale Now the Loneliest Orca in the World, Sanctuary Could Save Her

The isolated killer whale kept in a theme park for over a decade is now dubbed the 'loneliest orca' in the world. Experts believe a sanctuary is the best place for her.

The amusement park and themed zoo MarineLand in Niagara Falls, Ontario, is home to the killer whale known as Kiska. After being imprisoned for 43 years, she stayed in her tank alone for the past 11 years.

While she was in captivity, Kiska gave birth to five calves, all of which lived short lives. The shortest-lived one lived only two months, and even the longest-lived one lived for only six years. In the wild, orcas normally live from 30 to 50 years; however, when kept in captivity, their lives are much shorter.

Orcas and Their Social Lives

The high intelligence and complex social structures of orcas are well known. One of the biggest and most sophisticated minds in the animal kingdom belongs to them.

A 2019 study said that they rank third among the species of aquatic mammals known as cetaceans, which includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises, that are kept in aquariums as well as marine theme parks in different corners of the world. The study looked at the negative impacts of keeping these animals in captivity.

In concrete tanks, orcas are kept in great numbers worldwide. Many of them, like Kiska, have been held captive for years or even decades.

The authors of the study claim that mounting evidence indicates that both captive orcas captured from the wild and those born and raised in captivity cannot survive in such unnatural conditions.

According to the study's author, orcas in captivity exhibit a variety of abnormal behaviors and frequently pass away at a young age due to infections and other illnesses that are uncommon in the wild. They asserted that because the animals were housed in concrete tanks, they might experience chronic stress.

Lori Marino, the founder of the Whale Sanctuary Project, said that none of the whales can thrive despite "vast" individual variations in how each one survives years in a concrete tank. Marino is also an author of the study.

Kiska's Condition

Marino said that Some captive orcas, like Kiska, live longer than average, but that does not necessarily mean she is in good health. Orcas are highly social animals, but Kiska has lived alone for 11 years. That is the equivalent of torture.

Marino continued by saying that Kiska had five offspring, all of whom died before reaching adulthood. Given how closely orcas value their family relationships, especially those between mothers and young, this experience for her was probably very traumatic.

She claimed that Kiska has been swimming to a specific area of her enclosure and flailing her body there for years, which is a stereotypy or otherwise known as abnormal repetitive behavior.

Stereotypes always relate to stress. They are prevalent in emotionally disturbed orcas as well as other animals, and they are a symptom of neural damage to specific areas of the brain.

Kiska's teeth have also worn down to the gum line. Cetaceans kept in captivity, such as orcas, frequently display this oral stereotypy. Her physical condition is not well understood because MarineLand is secretive about it. Her well-being is very low.

2019 saw Canada pass the historic Bill S-203, which forbids the breeding, keeping, and trade of cetaceans for entertainment. Cetaceans already in captivity, such as Kiska, who was around three years old when she was taken into captivity in the Iceland Sea in October 1979, are an exception.

According to the non-profit Orca Rescues Foundation, orcas are not intended to live alone. They depend on one another not only for survival but also for their emotional and mental health. People who have watched her over the years have described her as having an uninterested, listless, and repetitive demeanor.

She frequently floats at the surface and circles her empty tank in the opposite direction. Her teeth-or lack thereof-are rumored to be in the worst condition of any orca held in captivity.

100-Acre Sanctuary in Nova Scotia

Marino and other proponents of animal welfare are now holding out hope that Kiska can sooner than later be retired and transferred to a 100-acre sanctuary in Nova Scotia being built by the Whale Sanctuary Project for captive beluga whales and orcas. The sanctuary aims to have its first occupants move in by the end of the upcoming year, according to Marino.

According to Marino, Kiska's future life in the sanctuary-or any real sanctuary for cetaceans-would be very different from being displayed in a concrete tank.

In terms of a natural ocean environment where she'd have room to swim as well as a sophisticated natural environment to interact with, the sanctuary would give Kiska more of what she needs as an orca. She wouldn't have to deal with exchanges with the general public, and the orca's welfare would be the sanctuary's top priority, Newsweek reports.