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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]
^"Orcas in captivity". Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. Archived from the original on August 5, 2007. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
^Heimlich, Sara and Boran, James. Killer Whales (2001) Voyageur Press, Stillwater, Minnesota.
^"A Whale of a Business" PBS, Reproduced from "The Performing Orca, Why the Show Must Stop" by Erich Hoyt. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
^"Artificial Insemination Produces Killer Whales" Archived February 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
and 22 Related for: List of captive orcas information
groups oforcas at each park, while avoiding the stress of moving orcas for breeding purposes. This table contains a full listof living captiveorcas in...
sheer size. As of 1 January 2024, around 59 orcas are in captivity worldwide, 35 of which were captive-born. At that time, there were 18 orcas in the SeaWorld...
Orcas (or killer whales) are large, powerful aquatic apex predators. There have been incidents where orcas were perceived to attack humans in the wild...
have been cases ofcaptiveorcas killing or injuring their handlers at marine theme parks. Orcas also feature strongly in the mythologies of indigenous cultures...
(SeaWorld San Diego) Listof individual cetaceans ListofcaptiveorcasCaptive killer whales Killer whale attacks on humans Keiko, the star of the 1993 movie...
orcas have been observed to interbreed with one another, though occasional brief interactions do occur. Widely studied since the 1960s, the orcasof the...
Vietnam War Spooky, a killer whale born in captivity; see Listofcaptiveorcas Spooky, nickname of asteroid 2015 TB145, which passed Earth on Halloween 2015...
named Bebe at the Seaquarium in 1969 Crocodile The Golden Dome List of captiveorcas SeaWorld Orlando "About Us: History". Archived from the original on...
orcas, also known as the southern resident killer whales (SRKW), are the smallest of four communities of the exclusively fish-eating ecotype oforca in...
Splash, a statue by Peter Hodgkinson Splash (c. 1986–2005) – see Listofcaptiveorcas Splash, a Portuguese water dog owned by Ted Kennedy Splash (wrestling)...
"Underwater Fantasy at Marineland" (2020s–present) Listofcaptiveorcas Miami Seaquarium "Kiska, the last captive killer whale in Canada, has died". CBC. The...
"Shamu" shows for different orcas in different SeaWorld parks. Shamu was the first-known intentional live capture of a healthy orca as the three previous captures...
Beginning in 2020, a subpopulation oforcas (Orcinus orca) began ramming boats and attacking their rudders in waters off the Iberian Peninsula. The behaviour...
collapse. As of 2016, 63 orcas are in captivity in the U.S. Studies show that nearly all captiveorcas die for reasons other than old age. Twelve orcas have died...
Line. Japan portal Fish portal Marine life portal Nagoya Port ListofcaptiveorcasCaptive killer whales Italia Mura Japanese icebreaker Fuji (AGB-5001)...
supplement the staff at Loro Parque to assist with the orcas move. In 2004 and 2005, before the orcas were brought to Loro Parque, eight animal trainers from...
proposes this phenomenon can occur when any orcas live in relatively warmer conditions. Though, since captiveorcas are more likely to breach, rising up to...
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