Kiska: ‘The world’s loneliest orca’ passes away at Marineland theme park in Niagara Falls, Canada

Kiska, the majestic orca that once lived with Free Willy star Keiko, passed away in captivity at the Marineland theme park in Niagara Falls in Canada.

As reported on Friday, March 10, Kiska the orca – often referred to as the loneliest orca in the world – passed away at the Marineland theme park in Niagara Falls. The popular attraction had lived in captivity since being captured in 1979 while swimming in the North Atlantic at the age of three and had recently caused concerns about her health.

At one point early in her captivity, Kiska lived in Iceland with four other killer whales. One of these mammals was Keiko, who starred in the film ‘Free Willy’. The two orcas were sold together to Marineland. Keiko was eventually rehabilitated and released back into the wild but Kiska remained in captivity for the remainder of her life.

During her time in captivity, she gave birth to four calves. Sadly, Athena, Hudson, Nova, and Kanuck, all died young. Another one died so early that it was sadly not even given a name.

Kiska’s death has led to a huge wave of posts on social media calling for action to be taken against keeping such huge creatures in captivity. According to animal rights activist Phil Demers, Kiska had lived alone for the last 12 years of her life. Known as social creatures, living alone is considered to be torture for these huge mammals say the experts.

On February 19, he posted what was to be the final video of the cetacean’s life on his Twitter profile @walruswhisperer. He lamented the sight of her swimming in circles inside a confined space.

This is the last video of Kiska taken. Her suffering is now over. #RIPKiska https://t.co/iyTFMlO2ac

— Phil Demers (@walruswhisperer) March 10, 2023

The passing of Kiska, MarineLand’s last orca marks the end of orca captivity in Canada forever. #RIPKiska pic.twitter.com/F97kJfvTxI

— Phil Demers (@walruswhisperer) March 10, 2023

A tweet from PETA, the animal rights organisation, read: “BREAKING: Kiska, an orca who was abducted from her home in the ocean more than four decades ago, has died at #Marineland. She spent her final years floating listlessly or banging her head against the tank’s walls. She deserved to stay in the ocean with her family”.

BREAKING: Kiska, an orca who was abducted from her home in the ocean more than four decades ago, has died at #Marineland.
 
She spent her final years floating listlessly or banging her head against the tank’s walls.
 
She deserved to stay in the ocean with her family.

— PETA (@peta) March 10, 2023

You deserved so much better, Kiska.

We won’t stop fighting for orcas like you. pic.twitter.com/BWcOy2gZ1K

— PETA (@peta) March 11, 2023

Animal Justice accused Marineland of keeping Kiska in ‘solitary confinement’. For over a decade, they fought for Kiska’s rights, including filing legal complaints on her behalf demanding Marineland be investigated and prosecuted for keeping her in inadequate and unlawful conditions that experts say caused her to experience distress.

BREAKING: #Kiska, the lone orca at Marineland, has died after suffering for over a decade in solitary confinement 💔

Animal Justice is heartbroken over this news, & is renewing calls for charges against Marineland for illegal animal cruelty. Act now! ➡️ https://t.co/cQplD3zsXF pic.twitter.com/kRYfZG6l12

— Animal Justice (@AnimalJustice) March 10, 2023

The lone #orca at Marineland – #Kiska – has died. Our hearts are heavy. Please find our full post via FB/IG. 💔

Full post with statement from our Co-Founder @_PeggyOki: https://t.co/rNLlzjHTDv

📷Ontario Captive Animal Watch pic.twitter.com/ELsoNTEhYq

— Cetaceans.org (@cetaceans_org) March 11, 2023

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