#orca kyuquot

[blackandwhiteproductions]

SeaWorld Orca profile Kyuquot

[ceramicdolphin]

from my aunt’s trip to swsa!!! i’m super jealous 🫶

[littlewalken]

This is wild J27 Blackberry who discovered that if you show off the creatures in the boats will make high pitched squeaking noises he can hear some of.

This is zoo born Kyuquot who doesn't understand physics (only Orkid and eventually Makani do) so he doesn't know nearly 10,000 pounds of mass shouldn't be able to do this but the bumblebee does front flips anyway.

[the-floof-king]

Random fact tidbit about me: All my wolves in WolfQuest are named after orcas at SeaWorld.

[whaleexpertsanonymous]

Whale actually, average life expectancy for wild orcas is about 30 years for males and 50 years for females. No orca has ever been documented making it to 100. You can thank Blackfish for spreading that around.

Corky (59), Katina (48), Ulises (47), Stella (37), Orkid (35), Takara (32), Kyuquot (32), Shouka (31), and Keet (31) would like to have a word with you about how using data from the entire 60 years there have been orcas in captivity to make claims about how long they live in modern day facilities is problematic to say the least.

[orcinus-veterinarius]

i actually used to be a very "WATCH BLACKFISH!1!111" "eMpTy tHe tAnkS" seaworld = bad sort of person. It wasn't until I actually started listening to people who considered themselves "pro-seaworld" or "pro-animal welfare" until I really realized something.

People base their hatred against seaworld against exaggerated or straight up false information. Sources like PETA/SeaWorldofHurt or the dolphin project are the most common ones that I've seen. PETA in itself is obviously not a good source whatsoever (the claim that Corky killed Amaya still astounds me) and I lost all respect for The Dolphin Project when they criticized Winter's trainers after her passing and suggested that they were immoral for rescuing her and letting her have a permanent home with her caretakers instead of just... letting her die.

No, SeaWorld's orcas aren't forced to perform. I visited SWSA this summer and Tuar just straight up decided to not do the splash segment. Kyuquot soloed the entire segment and Tuar still got his fish. Simple as that. Dorsal collapse isn't caused by depression, there are perfectly healthy killer whales in the wild with collapsed dorsal fins. A lot of the claims like "they separate orca mothers and calves!!11" are outdated too. The last mother/calf separation that was not for medical reasons was Takara and Trua in 2009.

Is SeaWorld a perfect angel? No, of course not. There are plenty of valid criticisms against SeaWorld such as their cancellation of The Blue World Project or investing more into coasters than renovating their animal exhibits. Just if you're going to argue against SeaWorld, use valid arguments.

Also obviously don't go after the trainers. It's honestly disgusting when I see comments like "I HOPE THE WHALE EATS THE TRAINER". Those trainers know that animal much better than you, Beth.

Support your AZA accredited facilities.

Yes to all of this. The Dolphin Project is every bit as bad as PETA. They're probably worse in some ways... to my knowledge, PETA hasn't illegally released captive dolphins into the open ocean. It's infuriating that their pages are what pops up whenever someone googles any topic related to killer whales or SeaWorld, and it's why I don't trust most people who say "I did my own research." A Google search isn't research.

[confused-biscuit]

ky

wasn’t sure what to do with the background so i just did that </3

[toki-trolls]

Okay so I know I’ve been posting a lot of whale stuff but I am just SO HAPPY WITH HOW THIS CAME OUT!!!!

Thank you for your time😁

[khal-eventing]

Ky looks so much like Tilikum

[swampgh0stt]

“That which cannot be stopped: Inherited will, a man's dream, and the flow of time. As long as man continues to seek out the answer to freedom, these things shall never be stopped.”

― One Piece (Gol D. Roger)

[the-cetacean]

It’s Playtime at SeaWorld San Antonio (SeaWorld)

[littlewalken]

~David Attenborough voice~ Like the majestic bumblebee Ky doesn’t understand how physics says he shouldn’t be able to do this, all he knows is he is meant to fly.

[a-a-p-t-gifs]

Kyuquot doing a ‘lazy’ vertical spin.

Credit: TessOrca.

[adeliaee-blog]

Continuous shot of Kyuquot and Tuar at Seaworld San Antonio Camera: IPod Touch 6 Do not repost or use without permission or you will be reported

[orcinus-veterinarius]

Age at death of SeaWorld's captive orcas: By the decade

Here's a very quick look at the age of death of SeaWorld's killer whales over the past four decades. I chose the 80s to begin because that is when their breeding program began, which they have relied on exclusively to keep their population going since wild captures ended in the 70s. Please note that I'm excluding spontaneous abortions and stillbirths, as failed pregnancies can occur for an astronomical number of reasons and we simply don't know the rate at which they occur in the wild. I am including whales under one year of age on the list below as long as they were born alive, but am leaving them out of the average as is typical in aging studies due to neonates' much higher death rate. All animals included died at one of SeaWorld's three parks, although they did not necessarily spend their entire time in managed care there.

1980-1989

Canuck 2 (M, wild born) - 6 years

Ramu (M, wild born) - 19 years

Baby Shamu 2 (F, captive born) - 12 days

Winston (M, wild born) - 19 years

Kona 2 (F, wild born) - 12 years

Orky 2 (M, wild born) - 26 years

Kandu 5 (F, wild born) - 14 years

1990-1999

Nootka (F, wild born) - 24 years

Kanduke (M, wild born) - approx. 22 years

Kahana (F, wild born) - 13 years

Kenau (F, wild born) - 15 years

Samoa (F, wild born) - 11 years

Nootka 4 (F, wild born) - 15 years

Kotar (M, wild born) - 17 years

Gundrun (F, wild born) - 20 years

Nyar (F, captive born) - 2 years

Katerina (F, captive born) - 10 years

2000-2009

Bjossa (F, wild born) - 24 years

Haida 2 (F, wild born) - 20 years

Winnie (F, wild born) - 25 years

Splash (M, captive born*) - 15 years

Taku (M, captive born) - 14 years

Halyn (F, captive born) - 2 years

*Splash was born at Marineland Canada, not a SeaWorld park

2010-2019

Taima (F, captive born) - 20 years

Sumar (M, captive born) - 12 years

Kalina (F, captive born) - 25 years

Unna (F, captive born) - 18 years

Tilikum (M, wild born) - 35 years

Kyara (F, captive born) - 3 months

Kasatka (F, wild born) - 40 years

Kayla (F, captive born) - 30 years

2020-present

Amaya (F, captive born) - 6 years

Nakai (M, captive born) - 20 years

The average life expectancy of wild orcas is 30 years for males and 50 years for females. It's often stated by activists that SeaWorld's whales usually die when they're under 20, which as you can see above, was undeniably correct. But with each passing year comes great advances in healthcare and husbandry, something that's true of not only orcas but all zoological species. And with that, the life expectancy of orcas in human care has increased, trending toward the expected life span.

1980s

Average age at death, wild born males: 17.5 years

Average age at death, wild born females: 13 years

1990s

Average age at death, wild born males: 19.5 years

Average age at death, wild born females: 16 years

Average age at death, captive born males: No deaths

Average age at death, captive born females: 6 years

2000s

Average age at death, wild born males: No deaths

Average age at death, wild born females: 23 years

Average age at death, captive born males: 14.5 years

Average age at death, captive born females: 2 years (1 death)

2010s

Average age at death, wild born males: 35 years (1 death)

Average age at death, wild born females: 40 years (1 death)

Average age at death, captive born males: 12 years (1 death)

Average age at death, captive born females: 23 years

Are these ages where they should be? No. But you can't deny that it's trending the correct way, particularly over the past 15 or so years. Don’t believe me? SeaWorld currently still owns 18 whales, the oldest of which are:

Ulises, oldest living wild born male: 45 years

Corky 2, oldest living wild born female: 58 years

Kyuquot, oldest living captive born male: 31 years

Orkid, oldest living captive born female: 34 years

[snini-9]

Orcas VS Humans

In the wild, despite centuries of sharing the ocean, there has only been one reliable report of an orca injuring a human being. The attack occurred on September 9, 1972, when 18-year-old Hans Kretschmer was bitten by an orca whilst surfing at Point Sur. Kretschmer noticed some sea lions playing in the waves prior to the attack, leading him to believe the sudden nudge he received was a curious sea lion. When he turned to look at the instigator, he realised he was terribly mistaken. A six-meter-long killer whale had bitten down on his leg with incredible force. In an attempt to defend himself, Kretschmer punched the animal repeatedly, causing it to suddenly let him go. Once free, the shock-ridden surfer desperately swam 40 meters to shore, a swim which he survived. Upon seeking medical attention, Kretschmer’s doctor commented: “it looks like someone chopped your leg with a sharp axe.”

​

The injury he sustained was just as graphic with three teeth penetrating bone: narrowly missing a major artery with surgical precision. It required 100 stitches to fix. Although Hans Kretschmer holds the title as the only human being to be seriously injured by a wild orca, there have been five other incidents between humans and wild orcas.

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In the early 1910s, a pod of Antarctic type B killer whales, otherwise known as pack ice orcas, attempted to tip an ice floe on which a Terra Nova Expedition photographer and a sledge dog team were standing. Pack ice orcas specialize in hunting seals by wave-washing them off ice floes. Witnesses theorized the orcas mistakenly identified the barking dogs as a family of seals and initiated their unique hunting technique. Fortunately, no one was injured.

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A few months before the attack on Hans Kretschmer in September 1972, Dougal Robertson’s 43-foot wooden schooner, named Lucette (Lucy), was damaged by a pod of killer whales and sunk 200 miles west of the Galapagos Islands on June 15, 1972. Everyone on board managed to escape on an inflatable life raft and a solid-hull dinghy. After 38 days as castaways, the small group of people was sighted and rescued by the Japanese fishing trawler Tokamaru. No one was injured.

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Almost 33 years later, in August 2005, 12-year-old Ellis Miller was swimming in 4ft deep water in Helm Bay, near Ketchikan, Alaska, when he was nudged by a 25ft transient killer whale. The whale bumped Miller on the left side of his chest and shoulder, then arched around him before returning to deeper waters. Experts believe the orca mistakenly identified the boy as a splashing harbor seal (which frequent the bay’s waters) then realized its mistake and aborted the attack. Miller did not sustain any injuries.

​Reconstruction of the attack on Ellis Miller

In 2011, two crew members of the BBC’s documentary Frozen Planet were targeted by a group of orcas who attempted to swamp their 18-foot zodiac boat with a wave washing technique. The crew filmed over 20 different attacks on seals using this technique within a 14-day period, unaware the pod would test it out on them too. The orcas were described as very tolerant to the filmmakers’ presence, and their attacks on seals were described as training exercises for young calves in the group. Perhaps the pod was making use of this new, more challenging “ice floe” to test their attentive youngsters. Regardless, no one was injured. Watch the incident below:

​https://youtu.be/SBRu3LGceAg

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The most recent incident occurred on February 10, 2014. Whilst free diving in Horahora Estuary, near Whangarei in northern New Zealand, 23-year old Levi Gavin was suddenly approached by an orca who grabbed a catch bag (filled with crayfish) attached to his arm and pulled him beneath the surface. Gavin was dragged for 40 seconds when the rope attaching his arm to the bag finally became loose and he was able to escape. Although his arm became numb, he managed to float to the surface by removing his weighted belt and was aided by his cousin who brought him to some nearby rocks. Once his arm regained feeling and strength, Gavin went to Whangarei Hospital where it was established he did not sustain an injury during the attack.

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Because of the stress involved in being deprived of everything that is natural and important in captivity, orcas have been held responsible for hundreds of attacks, tens of injuries, and the deaths of four humans. Six incidents have occurred in the wild over a period of around 100 years (1910s – 2014), none of which proved fatal. Yet, within less than a fifth of that time (1991 – 2010), 82 aggressive incidents occurred in captivity, four of which proved fatal, at least 9 others causing serious injuries from torn ligaments to broken bones and internal bleeding.

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One of the most infamous captive orca attacks occurred at SeaWorld San Diego in November 2006. Kasatka, a 17ft long, 29-year-old, female orca attacked Kenneth Peters – the marine park’s most experienced trainer. Peters was working with Kasatka during a Shamu Show and dived into the pool to perform a water work behavior. He reached a depth of 10-15ft and was waiting for Kasatka to touch his foot when he heard a loud distress vocalization. He later learned this loud call came from Kasatka’s almost-two-year-old calf, Kalia, who was calling for her mother whilst separated in a different pool. Upon hearing her daughter’s call, Kasatka turned on Peters and grabbed both of his feet in her jaws. She held him underwater for almost a minute, violently rag-dolling him beneath the surface, before slowly bringing him to the surface, spiraling upward and blowing bubbles as she rose.

​

Every time Peters’ colleagues slapped the water (a signal for Kasatka to return to the stage) she would only bite down on Peters harder. She responded the same way if Peters tried to pull his foot out of her mouth. Kasatka was keeping him out of reach of the other trainers and away from the sides of the pool. She then pulled him beneath the surface again, thrashed him around, and took him all the way to the bottom of the 36ft deep pool where she laid against him and held him there for around a minute. Once Peters had gone limp, Kasatka finally brought him to the surface again. She released Peters and he managed to make it over a net (which Kasatka also crossed, coming after Peters) and escaped the pool via the slide-out area. Kasatka had broken Peters’ left foot during the attack and he sustained multiple puncture wounds. Regardless, he escaped with his life. Watch the footage of the incident in its entirety below:

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https://youtu.be/RhVbH2NEeLM

Kenneth Peters claims Kasatka’s “aggression had come as a total surprise”. The attack occurred as a result of Kalia’s distress call, who had been separated from her mother briefly so Kasatka could entertain an audience of around 500 people. According to SeaWorld’s own animal profiles, Kasatka finds “being separated from other whales/calf” aversive. As SeaWorld San Diego’s most experienced orca trainer, who had worked with Kasatka for many years, Peters would’ve been more than aware of this fact. Yet, he and his colleagues demonstrated a complete disregard for Kasatka’s triggers and he almost lost his life as a result.

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The heightened level of aggression towards humans in captivity is a clear indicator of how unnatural and unnecessarily dangerous orca captivity is. Here’s a collection of orca attacks caught on camera at marine parks:

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https://youtu.be/Q2ZD4lcJ7EI

Shamu, the original, attacking Annette Eckis at SeaWorld San Diego (April 1971). She recalls the incident almost 40 years later.

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https://youtu.be/BKiGAW2YQm8

Orky 2 crashing into John Silick at SeaWorld San Diego (1987).

​https://youtu.be/Ne4BiacbDNw

Taku displacing a trainer in the water at SeaWorld Orlando (1994).

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https://youtu.be/v3Bfpv7xUzc

Orkid and Splash attacking Tamarie Tollison at SeaWorld San Diego (2002).

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https://youtu.be/j9qtdavR3_Q

Kyuquot attacking Steve Aibel at SeaWorld San Antonio (2003).

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https://youtu.be/Pl1KpCfb0xo

Ku lunges at her trainer at Port of Nagoya Aquarium (Mid-2000s).

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https://youtu.be/hTXE653JPOg

Orkid attacking Brian Rokeach at SeaWorld San Diego (2006).

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https://youtu.be/Yu_yxLXFEo4

Freya attacking a trainer during a show at Marineland Antibes (2008).

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https://youtu.be/b3dRREXe9eo

Shouka repeatedly lunges at her trainer at Six Flags Vallejo (2012).

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https://youtu.be/TipAIojZGNs

Lolita lunges at guests at Miami Seaquarium (2012).