Captive Orcas 'Dying to Entertain You' - Whale and Dolphin ...

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However, the female held at Taiji Whale Museum, although reported in May 1997 to beeating around 46kg of mackerel per day (about 2.5% of body weight, almost enough tomaintain it) was making what Paul Spong described as a "bizarre twisting movementwith her body every minute or two". He went on to report that "her appearance worriedme too, as there were a series of parallel ridges running across her back behind theblowhole. Possibly they may have resulted from the skin filling out after she beganeating." She was still being kept in the same small 10m square pen inside the lagoon atthe Museum which had been her home since capture.The female held at Shirahama had consistently refused to eat by herself and was beingforce-fed small amounts of fish (around 10kg, barely enough to sustain life). An officialof the Fisheries Agency told Spong that he was "emotionally concerned" about thecondition of this female. She had reportedly been pregnant when captured and had(again, reportedly) suffered a miscarriage in April 1997. Spong was unable to ascertainthe condition of the two males held at Shirahama, but believed that they were botheating.Then, on June 14th, 1997, the male calf at Shirahama died, after only 130 days incaptivity. Three days later, the adult female at Shirahama died. Weakened bymalnutrition and unable even to float by herself, she had spent her final days supportedby a canvas sling in a half empty tank (staff at Shirahama had decreased the water inthe pool by half in a bid to prevent her from "drowning".) Shirahama has announcedthat internal organs from the two dead orcas will be sent for analysis at the PrefecturalMedical College at Wakayama. Bacterial infection is one possibility to be investigated.Logically, the trauma of capture, combined with the failure of the orcas to eat properly,must have played a significant role in their premature deaths.Update - March 1999:Orca expert Paul Spong spent a fortnight in Japan during February 1999. During his visit, hesaw all three survivors from the capture of orcas at Taiji two years ago. Here is Paul’s account:“All 3 orcas looked to be in fairly good condition now, especially the female being held at theTaiji Whale Museum. She looked great... energetic & alert, breath & body full, dorsal fin stillstraight. She is in the largest part of the lagoon at TWM... it's about 130m across, flushed bysea water (there are fish, plants, sand & rocks, the depth varies but is sufficient for her to diveon one side, disappear from view & surface on the other). She had two dolphins for company& was breathing synchronously with one of them. I'm not sure why, but she has not been puttogether with the other orca, Nami chan, though she spends time facing Nami chan'senclosure. She was hungry, even after feeding, & appears hooked on fish now (you'll recallthat she is a transient orca, i.e. was previously accustomed to eating marine mammals). She isnot performing (is being used for "research").The other two survivors are not performing yet either, though the female at Izu Mito SeaParadise is clearly on display, as she is in the same pool as Tanouk (now called Yamato). Theylooked to be in about the same condition to me, i.e. both maybe ok but not as good as theTWM female. The dorsal fins of both are bending. The IMSP female seemed active, wasdefinitely hungry even after feeding (picking up scraps of fish off the bottom). Her body looksok but isn't quite as full as the TWM female. She seemed alert, was interested in thespectators, though not as intently so as the TWM female.The male at SAW was confined in a tank about 8m square, behind the show tank. There'sanother connected space about 8m x 15m beside it. Those two spaces hold 4 orcas,including the male Goro, whose dorsal fin is now completely bent over. The Taiji survivor atSAW isn't performing yet (may soon be) though he is receiving "husbandry" training (e.g. toprovide urine samples). When I saw him, he was mostly swimming in circles with fairly typicalrespiration patterns (long dive followed by several shorter ones). When he stopped swimminghe arched his body rhythmically several times in a manner that was reminiscent of the TWMfemale two years ago, 6 weeks after capture. In any event, he looked ok (maybe about as okas an orca is in a tiny concrete tank) & his breathing sounded ok. He was hungry after feeding21
too. My overall impression was that all three Taiji survivors are likely to live for some time...meaning there's still a chance of returning them to the ocean & their family.“22
Page 2 and 3: IntroductionContentsSection 1 The s
Page 4 and 5: industry's contention that captives
Page 6: At precisely the moment that his di
Page 9 and 10: the wild for the captivity industry
Page 11 and 12: since some individuals may reach 80
Page 13 and 14: Most of what we know about the habi
Page 15 and 16: Latest news, November 1999Northern
Page 17 and 18: Section 3Captivity: a one-way ticke
Page 19 and 20: It is also important to note that c
Page 21: 3. Japan: 1972 - to date. 28 orcas
Page 25 and 26: has 12 belugas (3 adult males, 9 ju
Page 27 and 28: • On 19th November, 1995, a young
Page 29 and 30: Section 4Conditions in captivity:
Page 31: eceive a measure of protection unde
Page 35 and 36: Cote D'Azur use treated natural sea
Page 38 and 39: in this indoor pool, deprived of na
Page 40 and 41: In a special report for the 1990 me
Page 42 and 43: • Prince died in 1991 at Hong Kon
Page 44 and 45: These observations obviously have i
Page 46 and 47: • In June 1987, 28-year-old train
Page 48 and 49: Marine mammal veterinarian Jay Swee
Page 50 and 51: Section 5Marine Park Myths.'Are sou
Page 52 and 53: Although show scripts have improved
Page 54 and 55: go through their minds? Are they ab
Page 56 and 57: pollution (from shipping, seismic t
Page 58 and 59: e the eventual release of captive-b
Page 60 and 61: observing the births of older femal
Page 62 and 63: • Thor, Stella, Oscar and Maggie,
Page 64: identification techniques and under
Page 67 and 68: of discrediting the accepted link b
Page 69 and 70: In their quest to promote their pro
Page 71 and 72: eality, taken the form of peaceful
Page 73 and 74:
make a great deal from these transa
Page 75 and 76:
without a valid capture permit, Sea
Page 77 and 78:
Attendance at Sea World's Ohio park
Page 79 and 80:
park. One student observed that kee
Page 81 and 82:
Many people now believe that marine
Page 83 and 84:
The way forward: cetacean-free faci
Page 85 and 86:
The future of current captives:Thos
Page 87 and 88:
under his flippers, his 'papilloma'
Page 89 and 90:
Lolita: Captured in August 1970 at
Page 91 and 92:
In Keiko's case, orca scientists ha
Page 93 and 94:
Section 8Conclusions and recommenda
Page 95 and 96:
APPENDIXTable 1 Current distributio
Page 97 and 98:
24 NOAA. October 1993. Protected sp
Page 99 and 100:
pp1-102.92 Awbrey, F. November 1991
Page 101:
8, p34.156 Kleiman, D. March 1989."
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