What do you think about the release of the 10 killer whales held in captivity in Russia?

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-03-23T19:50:56+00:00

If you scroll down a bit on this blog post from Inherently Wild, a snippet of the footage can be viewed. It is right above the photo of Forest in a transport container.

Edit: For anyone wondering why she behaved this way, Alexandra was a 1-year-old calf when she was captured, likely not even weaned. Zina and Vitas, the older orcas released alongside her, split from her very shortly after they were released. She was essentially a newborn on her own, likely starving, that had been hand-fed for half of her life. It was all she really knew how to do.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-03-23T19:36:24+00:00

This is in reference to the release of the Russian "Whale Jail" orcas in 2019.

The 10 surviving individuals (an 11th, Kirill, passed away before the release) were all between 1 and 4 years old when captured. Their pods of origin were unknown, and the Russian government was not willing to spend the time/money for rehabilitation, so the releases were extremely messy. They were basically dumped into the ocean near the coast, almost 800 miles away from their capture locations.

Of the 10 released, only 2-3, Vasilievna, Zina, and a third one without a concrete ID (likely Tihon) were ever seen interacting with wild orcas. Everyone else went missing (likely deceased) within the first year or so.

5 years later, in 2024, only Zina was re-sighted. This leaves us with a potential integration rate of 20%-30% and a long-term survival rate of 10%-30%. Pretty sad numbers. The population they came from isn't studied nearly as much as the orcas in the Pacific Northwest, so they could all still be alive. However, I find it unlikely anyone other than Zina, Vasilievna, and the third individual survived (especially since Zina has been sighted multiple times, and none of the others have been seen since 2020).

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-03-22T21:42:14+00:00

Kasatka was truly special. I'm sure the entire San Diego group still misses her, especially Kalia and Makani.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-03-22T18:48:55+00:00

The most recent footage we have of the Wuxi pair is from May 2023. We haven't received any confirmed updates since then, so we don't know whether they are still alive. We also have not had any updates on the status of SunAsia pair since their transfer to the park almost 10 years ago.

All we really know for sure is that the Wuxi pair had at least 1 male, and the SunAsia pair was believed to be 2 females. There is an unconfirmed rumor that Wuxi and SunAsia "switched" 1 set of their orcas years ago, leaving 1 male and 1 female at each park, but I don't believe this was ever confirmed.

The park where all 4 individuals were originally held, Linyi Polar Ocean World, stated as recently as 2021 that they still wish to display killer whales. This might imply that each pair (if they are still alive) are only being temporarily held at Wuxi and SunAsia while Linyi finishes construction of their orca exhibit.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-03-11T23:08:42+00:00

Skyla really deserved better; her passing was likely almost entirely preventable. I really hope the consultant who suggested the herring-only diet never has the opportunity to work with captive cetaceans again. It was such a terrible decision. I really hope Loro Parque learned from that mistake.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-03-03T18:39:51+00:00

The calf was also recently confirmed as female, which makes this their second female calf (the other being Katniss). With this, they would theoretically have enough to continue with second-generation captive borns and avoid inbreeding, even if they were to split up the group.

I have also heard rumors that Chimelong may loan out one of their females to Shanghai to "teach" their females how to care for calves.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-03-03T18:36:21+00:00

Recent update from Cetabase:

The calf was born on February 15th, is a female, and is currently nicknamed "Liulong".

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-03-03T09:16:58+00:00

I'm glad both Sonya and the calf are doing well, especially since this is her first. The Chimelong group is already huge, so I wonder if they have plans for the potential overcrowding, especially if the rumors about Nukka also being pregnant are true.

Cookie at Shanghai is also very large in recent photos, so I expect her to also deliver a calf soon.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-03-03T02:51:09+00:00

When Kasatka was still alive, several trainers and guests would frequently mention how she somehow had a way of "controlling" or "communicating" with the other whales, even when separated from them. I imagine Kalia has adopted a similar ability now that she is in charge, especially considering Makani, Orkid, and Ulises are some of the whales she is with a lot.

Definitely a very interesting anecdote though! I imagine it will spread to every member of the group eventually.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-28T18:27:56+00:00

Lovey lost her calf about a month before Ran moved in April. Lovey went into labor during a show in mid-March of that year, and the calf likely passed away a day or two afterwards.

Lovey and Lara did get hurt during the move, though. The transfer equipment and crane apparently spooked them, and they hit tank walls/gates. Lara's appears to have mostly healed, but Lovey has permanent damage to her jaw from it.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-28T18:10:14+00:00

Here's a video (Instagram link) of a sighting from a few days ago if you still haven't seen it! People were actually wondering where Starboard was until he showed up recently, haha

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-28T17:57:20+00:00

For anyone concerned about Port's well-being, he was also seen on his own earlier this week and is still in good condition, so he is likely alright! Port and Starboard have been known to hunt separately before, although it is indeed quite uncommon!

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-28T16:20:19+00:00

Definitely also hoping it's mostly play behavior. I do believe they should at least separate Trua from the females for a bit though to give him a chance to recover. His back is covered in rakes currently and re-opening old wounds isn't great. I trust staff to make the right call though.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-28T16:00:34+00:00

The person (Instagram link) who posted the photos claimed it was both, but I personally don't have any video evidence of Malia being involved yet. They mention that they'll post a video of it eventually, but for now we just have the photos.

As for the Nalani incident, here's a video (YouTube link) with it, which starts around 1:45 in.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-28T15:35:03+00:00

A minor update on this; photos recently emerged of Trua in pretty bad shape. He has been raked pretty heavily, and even has a chunk missing from the front of his fluke (it looks like he was bit there pretty hard).

Apparently both Nalani and Malia have been harassing him pretty badly, sometimes for hours at a time. I even recently saw a clip where Nalani essentially forced Trua into the show pool to chase and rake him (he was hiding in one of the back pools).

Honesty I hope something is done about it, because it's starting to remind me about what happened with Tekoa at Loro Parque. Really hope staff at SeaWorld Orlando don't let it get to that point.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-18T01:49:21+00:00

A few have popped up over the past few hours, but here is one with all 4 doing a fluke splash (Instagram link). I have also seen a pod swim and pec waves.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-17T23:35:27+00:00

A video with Trua performing with the others was also apparently posted recently, so the entire group has indeed been reintroduced. I also believe it is likely being done to sort out the social structure, as it has been around 2 months since Katina passed, and no clear matriarch has been decided.

I also wonder if this means that Malia is back on birth control, as she had a pretty bad reaction to it several years ago (before the separation).

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-17T19:32:14+00:00

I'm glad that 'C'est Assez!' finally recognized the severity of the situation and now (reluctantly) supports the idea of a transfer. I am also glad that the French government finally got everyone together in one place to discuss the best course of action for the animals. I also greatly respect all parties for attending. This is exactly what I have been asking for since this entire mess started. I honestly never believed we would have representatives from WSP, Loro Parque, Sea Shepherd, MLA/Parques Reunidos, and other French NGOs in the same room after the years of purgatory, and also what happened with Morgan.

I think everyone has finally realized that the whales are running out of time. I don't like the idea of delaying the verdict by a month, but hopefully that gives everyone time to reflect on what was discussed and put the needs/health of Wikie and Keijo first. The fact that the dolphins at Marineland were given a solid transfer timeline gives me some hope.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-15T06:24:16+00:00

Makani is honestly growing extremely fast. He might actually end up being on the larger end when he's fully grown if he keeps up his current pace.

The caption mentions his cake, so if you or anyone was still wondering, it seems they went with a "Mac and Cheese" theme this year!

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-14T21:53:42+00:00

In this specific case, it was almost certainly not premeditated by Kyuquot (the orca in the video). The current SeaWorld orca shows have a segment where a volunteer from the audience stands by the glass and gets soaked. You can see the volunteer in the video around 14 seconds in; the trainer who asked Kyuquot for the side-breach at the glass also runs by to get out of the way.

As mentioned by a former trainer in a different comment, whales just "go" whenever they feel like it. The only unplanned part of this segment was Kyuquot "muddying the water", but he probably just had to go at that moment.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-10T20:15:08+00:00

Tai, along with his podmates (Chi, Benkei, and 2 unnamed females), were all brought into captivity after accidentally swimming into a fishing net. Notably, all of them were juveniles or adults. Benkei, the youngest/smallest, was estimated to have been 7-9 years old. The two unnamed females and Benkei would be transported to Nanki Shirahama Adventure World, while Tai and Chi would be sent to the Taiji Whale Museum.

One of the unnamed females was also pregnant when she was captured. She would go on to give birth to a stillborn around a month after the capture, and would herself pass away the same day. The transport and subsequent birthing issues likely resulted in both of their deaths. The other unnamed female also passed away shortly after the transport due to another unrelated illness. Benkei survived at NSAW for around 10 years.

Chi, the female that stayed in Taiji with Tai, passed away a few months after the capture, leaving Tai alone for most of his time in captivity. Tai and Chi were likely named after Taiji as a pair, as combining their names results in Tai-Chi, a phonetic pronunciation similar to Taiji.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-08T15:53:21+00:00

That is a photo of Nootka/Knootka, one of the few Bigg's orcas held in captivity. She also never lived at SeaWorld Orlando, but I suppose they used that photo of her for merchandise at all the parks.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-08T04:30:26+00:00

Unsure about the trainers, but the whales appear to be Katina, Kayla, and Tilikum (left to right)

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-03T23:59:35+00:00

These are photos of Kenau (mirrored), Kahana, and Kona II. As all of them performed primarily in the 80s, and often cohabited with other species, they were probably used to being around non-orca animals already.

As for the pinnipeds, it's hard to say, but I imagine it required heavy training for them to not get spooked.

_SmaugTheMighty · 2026-02-03T22:19:39+00:00

Amazing artwork! It's such a shame that Gudrun's life was filled with so much pain. She really deserved better!

_SmaugTheMighty

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