List of captive orcas

Orca show at SeaWorld San Diego

Orcas, or killer whales, are large predatory cetaceans that were first captured live and displayed in exhibitions in the 1960s. They soon became popular attractions at public aquariums and aquatic theme parks due to their intelligence, trainability, striking appearance, playfulness in captivity and sheer size.[1] As of February 2019, captive orcas reside at facilities in North and South America, Europe and Asia.

The first North Eastern Pacific orca, Wanda, was captured in November 1961 by a collecting crew from Marineland of the Pacific, and over the next 15 years, around 60 to 70 orcas were taken from Pacific waters for this purpose.[2] When the US Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 effectively stopped the capture of Pacific orcas, captures were made in Icelandic waters.[3] Since 2010, captures have been made in Russian waters. However, facilities in the United States such as SeaWorld have not collected wild orcas in over 35 years.

25 of the 33 orcas on display in the US, Argentina, Spain, and France were born in captivity. Six of the seven displayed in Japan are captive-born. An additional 13 orcas reported in China and Russia were captured in Russian waters.[citation needed] Kalina, born in September 1985, was the first captive-born orca calf to survive more than a few days. In September 2001, Kasatka gave birth to Nakai, the first orca conceived through artificial insemination, at SeaWorld San Diego.[4] This technique lets park owners maintain a more healthy genetic mix in the small groups of orcas at each park, while avoiding the stress of moving orcas for breeding purposes.[5]

  1. ^ "Orcas in captivity". Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. Archived from the original on August 5, 2007. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
  2. ^ Heimlich, Sara and Boran, James. Killer Whales (2001) Voyageur Press, Stillwater, Minnesota.
  3. ^ "A Whale of a Business" PBS, Reproduced from "The Performing Orca, Why the Show Must Stop" by Erich Hoyt. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  4. ^ "Artificially inseminated killer whale gives birth" BBC. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  5. ^ "Artificial Insemination Produces Killer Whales" Archived February 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Retrieved February 14, 2009.