A 44-year-old female orca exhibits self-harming behavior after living alone for an extended period due to the deaths of her offspring and fellow marine mammals in the enclosure.
Animal rights activist Phil Demers captured footage of Kiska, the 44-year-old orca, repeatedly banging her head against the walls of her tank at MarineLand water park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, on September 4. “This is dangerous behavior and self-harm. Kiska is suffering greatly,” Demers stated.
The Whale Sanctuary Project (WSP) has nicknamed Kiska, the 44-year-old orca, as “the loneliest whale in the world.” Born in the waters off Iceland, she has been in captivity since 1979. She has lived alone since 2011, following the deaths of her fellow orcas, including her five calves.
“For over 40 years, Kiska has endured the loss of freedom, her offspring, and all her friends in the tank. For the past decade, she has been completely isolated from her kind. This is what loneliness and captivity have done to her,” commented the Orca Rescue Organization.
Rob Lott, a member of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), also believes that Kiska’s behavior is a result of being held in an artificial environment for four decades. “Sadly, this is not an isolated case. Kiska’s self-harming and repetitive behaviors have also been seen in other captive orcas. Many years of living in barren tanks with little to no stimulation lead to such outcomes,” he explained.
“Chronic stress can affect the immune system and physiology of captive orcas, making them ill, and sometimes even leading to death. Kiska has not lived with other orcas since 2011 and lacks all the social interactions she would have experienced in the wild,” Lott added.
Kiska’s behavior is a consequence of being held in an artificial environment for four decades.
The orca (Orcinus orca) is a widely distributed marine predator found in oceans worldwide, with adults weighing up to 6 tons and measuring 7-10 meters in length. In the wild, they live and hunt in pods. Female orcas breed every 3 to 10 years, with a gestation period of 17 months. They typically give birth to one calf per pregnancy and can nurse their young for up to 2 years.
