A trapped whale, known to be the world's loneliest orca, has been subjected to conditions that are "tantamount to torture." "Kiska," the killer whale, has been placed in captivity in MarineLand, a themed zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario. According to a report from Newsweek, the aquatic mammal has been in captivity for the past 43 years, being alone in its tank for 11 of those years.
Kiska had five offspring while staying in captivity, but all of them died young. The minimum life span one of the calves survived was two months, while the baby with the longest life span lived for six years.
Orcas are marine creatures that are also known as killer whales. They are the largest members of the dolphin family and belong to the suborder of toothed whales known as odontocetes. Orcas are extremely popular since they are the most extensively dispersed of all whales and dolphins, being found in every ocean.
Orcas have an average lifespan of 30 to 50 years in the wild, although they spend substantially shorter lives in captivity. They are well-known for their black and white colouring, but they have vastly varied looks, behaviour, communication styles, and diets depending on where they dwell.
Orcas are famed for their high intelligence and complicated social lives. They have one of the largest and most sophisticated brains in the animal kingdom.
According to a 2019 study published in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior, they also belong to the third most frequent species of cetaceans, a category of aquatic animals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises kept in aquariums and marine theme parks throughout the world. The study looked at the negative impacts of keeping these creatures in captivity, reported Newsweek.
As quoted by Newsweek, Lori Marino, an author of the study and founder of the Whale Sanctuary Project, told Newsweek that, "there are "vast" individual differences in how each whale copes with living for years in a concrete tank, but "none can thrive."
"Some, like Kiska, live longer than most, but that does not mean she is experiencing good well-being. Orcas are highly social animals, and Kiska has been alone for 11 years. That is tantamount to torture," she added.
Ms Marino further stated that "She had five children, and all perished at young ages. That experience for her was likely extremely traumatic, as family bonds especially between mothers and children, are extremely tight and important for orcas."
