People have increasingly turned their backs on the captivity of marine animals such as orcas and dolphins in marine parks. It used to be common for marine parks like SeaWorld to keep orcas in captivity and even perform shows with them.
There have been several laws passed over the years to end the capture and captivity of orcas, but some still live in tanks.
One of these orcas, Kiska, has sadly passed away: she was often called the “loneliest orca in the world.”
The Ministry of the Solicitor General in Ontario confirmed the orca’s death last week, according to AP. Kiska was believed to be 47 years old.
Both Kiska and Keiko were captured in Icelandic waters in 1979 and ended up at Canada’s Marineland theme park in Niagara Falls.
In 1993, Keiko was sold to a Mexican amusement park, and he later starred in the 1993 film Free Willy. He was controversially released back into the ocean in Norway in 2002, but he died the following year.
She led a sad life that led animal rights groups to call her the “world’s loneliest orca.” Kiska continued living at Marineland for decades, performing shows for tourists.
In 2011, Kiska’s tankmate Ikaika was transferred to SeaWorld San Diego; orcas are highly intelligent and social animals, but Kiska was Marineland’s last remaining orca.
Kiska was the last remaining captive orca in Canada. Despite a grandfather clause, Canada banned the captivity and breeding of whales and dolphins in 2019.
As per TMZ, Marineland defended their treatment of Kiska: “Marineland’s marine mammal care team and experts did everything possible to support Kiska’s comfort.”
The video from 2021 shows Kiska banging her head against the side of her tank, as if desperate to get out. Kiska became a symbol of the unhappiness orcas suffered in captivity for many animal lovers and activists.
While it’s unlikely Kiska could’ve ethically been re-released into the wild, animal activists wished the orca could have been relocated to a whale sanctuary.
“It is heartbreaking to know that Kiska will never have the chance to be relocated to a whale sanctuary, and experience the freedom that she so deeply deserved,” Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice, told CBC.
According to NPR, both PETA and the Whale Sanctuary Project reported Kiska’s cause of death as a bacterial infection, although that has not been confirmed. The Solicitor General said that a necropsy had been conducted.
According to AP, in 2021 the province found problems with Marineland’s water system and ordered repairs for their pools, including the one that housed Kiska. The park initially denied the findings but later dropped their appeal.
Christine Santos, who was Kiska’s trainer for 21 years until she was fired by Marineland in 2012, told AP that news of Kiska’s passing was bittersweet, acknowledging the loneliness she had lived through in recent years: “I’m just really relieved she’s not alone anymore.”
Kiska’s passing is bittersweet for animal activists in Canada: it means that there are no longer any orcas in captivity here.
Nevertheless, Whale and Dolphin Conservation estimates that 54 orcas remain captive.
