Since the buzz about marine trainer, Jessica Radclifee, brutally killed by an orca surfaced on the internet, people’s interest in the killer whale has doubled. While the incident is entirely fake and the videos are AI-generated, people found out the brutal truth about marine life captivity for entertainment purposes, and how these captivities led to real-life incidents. We know the story of Tilikum, the orca, who rebelled. Not many of us know about Kiska, the lonely killer whale.
Kiska, the last captive orca of Canada
Kiska lived in MarineLand, a marine amusement park in Niagara Falls, Canada. She was known across the world as the loneliest whale. A video fo her went viral as she was seen banging her head against her water tank in 2021. It left everyone extremely outraged, and appeals were made for the release of ‘Kiska’.
Kiska was initially captured from the coast of Iceland in 1979 when she was just three years old. Her beautiful life in the ocean ended with human-imposed captivity till her death at the age of 46. After she was caught, she was transferred to MarineLand.
Since the early 2000s, MarineLand was actively looking for a male partner for Kiska. They reached out to SeaWorld, which agreed to send their male orca, Ikaika, who was four years old, in exchange for three beluga whales. Ikaika was flown to Canada to live with Kiska and another female orca, Nootka.
Orca Kiska’s journey to loneliness
However, Kiska’s journey became difficult as Ikaika, the male orca, had several behavioural and health issues, which often occur in Orcas under captivity. He became aggressive and started attacking and biting Kiska. Soon, his condition and behaviour worsened, and SeaWorld requested his return to take better care of him in 2009.
MarineLand disagreed, followed by a legal battle. SeaWorld won the case, and Ikaika was flown back to California. By this time, Nootka, another female orca, had passed away. It left Kiska alone in Canada’s MarineLand. She was soon named ‘the loneliest whale in the world’.
Kiska, the orca, gave birth to five calves, who died at a young age. People often noticed Kiska displaying abnormal and repetitive behaviours, which seemed to be a result of boredom, stress and lack of stimulation. She was often seen banging her head against her, would swim in circles and at times, she simply floated lifelessly in her tank.
Kiska, the female orca, suffered in captivity, and despite the ban on killer whales’ captivity, she never saw the oceans again
In 2019, Canada banned whales, dolphins, and porpoises from being bred or kept in captivity. However, those who were already living in captivity were forced to remain there, including Kiska. Her life filled with lonelines and isolation showed the truth of cruel human practices in the name of entertainment.
Kiska, the orca’s death
The mammals that are meant to live in the vast ocean are forced to live in small tanks where they can’t even move. They are forced to stay afloat in isolation, forgetting the beautiful waves of the ocean. Kiska died in 2023 at the age of 47. Orcas are considered social animals, and despite constant pleas to release her, she spent her final days floating lifelessly and banging her head against the tank’s walls. However, she deserved to stay in the ocean with her family.
Meet Tilikum the orca who rebelled
While Kiska spent her final days alone, there is another famous orca, Tilikum, who rebelled and showed the world that capturing orcas and turning them into jokers for entertainment can lead to a serious impact. It was in 1991, at Sealand of the Pacific, two eyewitnesses saw Tilikum, the orca, attacking a 21-year-old Keltie Byrne who accidentally slipped and fell into the tank. The male orca dragged Keltie repeatedly under the water, while the other two female orcas prevented the staff from helping the trainer. She died due to drowning, forced submersion by an orca.
Later, in 1999, another trainer, Daniel Dukes, was found dead on the back of Tilikum. It was suspected that Daniel could have jumped into his tanks. There were also claims that the male orca could have dragged him in a similar way he did with Keltie. Despite video cameras and night trainers whose sole responsibility was to monitor the animals, no one was able to understand how Daniel died.
Despite two deaths, Tilikum’s trainers were working with him and performing shows. They were giving him cues from the side of the tank without barriers. And in 2010, Tilkum, the killer whale, killed the senior trainer, Dawn Brancheau, during a SeaWorld show in Orlando. The 11-ton orca dragged her into the pool and mutilated her in a 45-minute attack. The body was unable to be recovered even hours after its death. The horrifying attack was witnessed by many.
We might consider orcas scary and call them killer whales. In reality, we meddled with their peace, capturing them from deep oceans and turning them into show jokers for business, profit, and tourist attraction. There is no such thing as marine trainers. They are simply people with no heart, trying to tame the marine life into caged prisoners.
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