Tag Archives: Killer whale captivity

Stella, who is pictured here with a dominant trainer standing on her back, is one of the last three survivors of the more than 50 wild-caught orcas that were flown out of Iceland during the ’70s and ’80s. The other two are female orca Katina who was captured in 1978 and performs at SeaWorld in Orlando, and a male called Ulises, who was captured in 1980 and performs at SeaWorld in San Diego.

12May

Blog, Campaigns, Captivity Industry | Posts by : Helene O'Barry

Ocean Just Out of Reach for Stella and Ran

Posts by : Helene O'Barry

The show stadium at Kobe Suma SeaWorld in western Japan has been built right next to the Pacific Ocean, within the orcas’

Orcas are among the most powerful predators on planet Earth, but years of confinement in a show stadium reduces them to powerless performers who constantly stick their heads out of the water and open their mouths, much like baby birds who open their beaks as wide as they can to show they are hungry

30May

Blog, Campaigns, Captivity Industry | Posts by : Helene O'Barry

Loro Parque Downgrades Role of Orcas as Predators

Posts by : Helene O'Barry

Loro Parque in Tenerife, Spain, recently posted a video on their Facebook page. In it, Wolfgang Kiessling, the founder of Loro Parque,

Naya with her unnamed daughter who was born on December 29th 2023 and died 28 days later, on January 26th 2024. Since the death of her daughter, Naya once again lives in complete isolation at Moskvarium’s dreary orca stadium. Credit: Moskvarium; Inherently Wild

16May

Blog, Campaigns, Captivity Industry | Posts by : Helene O'Barry

The Last Surviving Orca at Moskvarium

Posts by : Helene O'Barry

A conversation with Russian dolphin freedom advocate Oxana Fedorova about Naya, the last surviving orca at Moskvarium in Moscow, Russia. Background: Naya,

Wikie was born at Marineland d'Antibes in June 2001. Her mother is Sharkan, and her father is Kim 2 who were captured in Iceland in 1989 and 1982. In 2018, Wikie became world famous when Marineland announced that she had learned to say the words "hello" and "bye bye." Back then, Marineland proudly marketed Wikie as the first orca in the world who had learned to copy human speech, but now that the commercial exploitation of orcas in France is set to be phased out by 2026, Marineland apparently can’t get rid of her fast enough. According to an anonymous source inside the park, Marineland is preparing to pack Wikie, Inouk, and Keijo into transport boxes and shipping them to Japan with the purpose of abandoning them there indefinitely.

15Jan

Blog, Campaigns, Captivity Industry | Posts by : Helene O'Barry

Orca Transfer to Japan Imminent?

Posts by : Helene O'Barry

Update: 1/17/24: A court decision was handed down on January 17, 2024, after the animal welfare organization One Voice brought the case