#marineland
Oh man. I was afraid of this :/ This just makes me really sad. He never would have died by FLOOD in the ocean. I’m scared he’s only going to be the first.
Rest in Peace Valentin.
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Gender:Male
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at Marineland Antibes, France
Date of Capture: Born March 16, 2011
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: Marineland Antibes, France
On March 16, 2011, captive-born female Wikie gave birth to her first calf at Marineland Antibes. Originally thought to be female, the calf was named Moana. However, it was soon discovered that Moana was male, but his name simply stuck.
Moana’s father is the Icelandic male Ulises via Artificial Insemination, making Moana the third successful calf born through A.I.
Before he even turned 1, Moana was already learning and mastering complex behaviors thanks to his close observation of his older tank mates. While Moana has been introduced to all of his tank mates, he prefers to stay close to his mother, Wikie.
Today, Moana is 4 years old and still resides at Marineland Antibes in France.
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Gender:Male
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at SeaWorld of Florida
Date of Capture: Born August 25, 2002
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: SeaWorld of California
On August 25, 2002, Icelandic female Katina gave birth to her fifth calf at SeaWorld Orlando; a male known as Ikaika, sired by the Icelandic male Tilikum. When Ikaika was born, he became very quick friends with his older brother, Taku. He also became a favorite along park guests, as he was very interested in interacting in the underwater viewing area.
In September 2006, Katina gave birth to her sixth calf, a female named Nalani. However, Katina had mated with her son, Taku, which produced Nalani. About 9 days after her birth, Katina began showing less interest in her new calf and seemed to focus her interest on her sons, Taku and Ikaika. All three whales appeared to show some levels of aggression towards Nalani.
In Ikaika’s case, his aggression was often of a sexual nature in which he would attempt to mate with newborn Nalani. SeaWorld decided it best to place them on Valium in order to calm them down, as well as separate Taku and Ikaika from their mother. However, Nalani was less that 2 weeks old, and Valium is not recommended for pregnant or nursing females, as it can cause birth defects and interfere with the development of a nursing neonate. It was only after both Taku and Ikaika were moved to separate parks that Katina began properly caring for Nalani as she had with her other calves.
While Taku was sent to the Texas park, Ikaika was sent to Marineland Ontario in Canada on a “breeding loan” in November 2006, despite his being only 4 years old at the time. Male Orca are known to reach sexual maturity somewhere around 15 years old. When he arrived, he met three female Orca - Kiska, Nootka V, and Kiska’s calf Athena.
Unfortunately, Nootka V died in 2008 and Athena followed in 2009, leaving just Kiska and Ikaika at the park. Kiska reportedly became depressed after the death of her tankmate and calf, though Ikaika was still young and playful, bothering Kiska in an attempt to engage her in play, but Kiska was not interested. While he was with her, Ikaika was known to bite/rake Kiska, and so the pair had to be separated until Kiska recovered.
However, in November 2011, SeaWorld expressed concern over the quality of care Ikaika was receiving at Marineland, and requested that he be sent back to their park. When Marineland refused, SeaWorld took them to court in an attempt to regain custody; claiming that Marineland was not meeting their veterinary care, husbandry care, or training obligations while Ikaika was in their facility. SeaWorld won the case and Ikaika was returned to their care and transferred to the San Diego park that same month. Upon his arrival at the park, Ikaika was raked and attacked at first, but eventually befriended Corky II, Ulises, and Orkid.
Today, Ikaika is 12 years old and remains at the San Diego park where he performs daily.
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Gender:Female
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at Marineland Antibes, France
Date of Capture: Born June 1, 2001
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: Marineland Antibes, France
On June 1, 2001, the Icelandic female Sharkan gave birth to her third calf at Marineland Antibes in France; a female later known as Wikie and sired by the Icelandic male Kim II. Unfortunately, Sharkan died at the start of 2009.
Later on in 2009, Wikie became the youngest whale ever to be successfully Artificially Inseminated at the age of just 8 years old with semen from the Icelandic male Ulises, who currently resides at SeaWorld of California. Also in that same year, Wikie was involved in an incident where she pushed a trainer underwater, just before waterworks were stopped at the park.
In 2011, Wikie gave birth to her first calf. At first it was thought the calf was female and was named Moana, but it was later announced that Moana was a male but would keep his name. Moana was the first Orca born through AI in Europe, and the 3rd in the world.
Right after Moana, however, Wikie became pregnant again and gave birth in November 2013 to another male who was later known as Keijo. It is believed that his father is Valentin, who happens to be Wikie’s half brother as they share the same father.
In May 2014, a video was posted to YouTube showing Wikie, Moana, and Keijo at the slideout. In the video, Keijo is lying on the slideout while Wikie continuously blocks him from re-entering the water, as well as coming onto the slideout twice, pushing Keijo further back towards the railing. This is most likely a learned behavior on Wikie’s part, as there is photo evidence of Sharkan forcing Wikie onto the slideout as a calf. It’s unknown why Sharkan ever displayed this behavior in the first place, however, as no wild populations have ever been observed purposely beaching their own calves.
Today, Wikie is 13 years old and still resides at Marineland Antibes with her two sons.
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Gender:Male
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at Marineland Antibes, France
Date of Capture: Born February 23, 1999
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: Marineland Antibes, France
On February 23, 1999, Icelandic female Sharkan gave birth to her second calf, a male named Inouk sired by the Icelandic male Kim II.
Inouk was very close with his mother, and even assisted with the birth of his sister, Wikie - a duty normally performed by the dominant female of a pod. Unfortunately, Sharkan died in 2009, leaving Inouk to take over as the main waterworks whale until waterworks were stopped with all whales.
Since Sharkan’s death, Inouk has become close to his sister Wikie and her calves, two males named Moana and Keijo, and he can often be seen with them. He has never displayed any aggression towards his trainers, and interacts with guests often in the underwater viewing area.
Today, Inouk is 16 years old and despite his age, his dorsal has not sprouted and overall can easily be mistaken for a female Orca. It is believed that his growth is stunted.
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Gender:Female
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at Marineland Antibes, France
Date of Capture: Born on February 25, 1993
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: SeaWorld of California
On February 25, 1993, Icelandic female Sharkan gave birth to her first calf at Marineland Antibes, a female named Shouka, sired by the Icelandic male Kim II. While Sharkan was a good mother to her daughter, Shouka spent most of her time with her father, Kim II, and the two became very close.
However, staff at Marineland became concerned that the two might mate and produce a calf, so the decision was made to move Shouka to Six Flags Great Adventure in 2002 but was moved again in 2004 to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California.
Shouka was mostly kept alone at this park, apart from two Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins named Cupid and Merlin. The Argentinian male, Kshamenk, was supposed to join her in 2002, but the Argentinian government denied the move.
Shouka was a good performer but was also very dominant at Marineland, which has stayed with her and caused her to be separated from both Merlin and Cupid. This, however, presented a legal issue, as Orcas are required to be housed with at least one other Orca or cetacean species. After trying to send her to Marineland Ontario to be a companion to the Icelandic female Kiska, Six Flags decided to send her instead to SeaWorld San Diego on a breeding loan in August 2012.
In July, just a month before her move, Shouka was recorded by a park guest lunging repeatedly at a trainer. This resulted in her trainer being lifted into the air and thrown back through an open door that leads to the back of the stage. This was the first incident Shouka had been recorded being involved in, and the rest of the show was cancelled immediately afterwards.
When Shouka arrived at SeaWorld in August, she met many of the whales, including Corky II and the captive born male Keet, who has apparently attempted mating with Shouka various times. The two seem to get along well and can often be seen together.
Today, Shouka is 22 years old but does not have any calves of her own.
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Gender:Male
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at Marineland Antibes, France
Date of Capture: Born November 20, 2013
Age at Capture: Captive born
Current Location: Marineland Antibes, France
On November 20, 2013, captive-born female Wikie gave birth to her second calf; a male named Keijo. His father has never been confirmed, though it is believed that Keijo’s father is his uncle Valentin, which would mean Keijo is inbred.
Despite this, Keijo is an active calf who spends a lot of time with his mother and older half-brother, Moana. He is often seen copying the older whales during shows. However, some troubling behavior has been observed between Wikie and Keijo in the past.
On May 26, 2014, a video was uploaded to YouTube showing Keijo on the slideout. When he attempts to reenter the water, Wikie comes out of the pool and pushes him further onto the slideout. Wikie repeats this at least 2 times throughout the video. This behavior is most likely a learned behavior, as there is photo evidence of Wikie being forced onto the slideout by her own mother, Sharkan. It is unknown why Sharkan ever displayed this behavior in the first place as no wild populations have ever been observed purposely forcing their calves to beach themselves.
Today, Keijo is 1 year old and still resides at Marineland Antibes with his mother, half-brother, and two uncles.
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Gender:Female
Pod: N/A (Mother was Kiska)
Place of Capture: Captive born
Date of Capture: Born August 8, 2004
Age at Capture: Captive born
On August 8, 2004, Icelandic female Kiska gave birth to her fifth calf and first daughter, sired by Kandu VII, at Marineland Canada.
Later known as Athena, as she was born during the Summer Olympics in Athens, she was healthy and very curious. Athena could often be seen interacting with guests in the underwater viewing areas.
She would sometimes copy the behaviors she saw Kiska and another whale, Ikaika, performing, as she was young and did not know as many behaviors as the older whales.
Unfortunately, Athena died sometime in 2009. Her cause of death has never been released.
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Gender:Female
Pod: N/A (Mother was Nootka V)
Place of Capture: Captive born
Date of Capture: Born April 7, 2004
Age at Capture: Captive born
On April 7, 2004, Icelandic female Nootka V gave birth to her sixth calf, a female sired by Kandu VII, at Marineland Canada.
Not much is known about her, but it is believed that the calf was nicknamed April. However, she reportedly had trouble nursing properly from Nootka V.
Unfortunately, sometime in April or May of 2004, April died due to malnutrition at less than a month old.
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Gender:N/A
Pod: N/A (Mother was Freya)
Place of Capture:N/A
Date of Capture:N/A
Age at Capture:N/A
Stillborn calf born to Freya, sired by Kim II, at Marineland Antibes in France sometime in April 2003.
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Gender:N/A
Pod: N/A (Mother was Freya)
Place of Capture:N/A
Date of Capture:N/A
Age at Capture:N/A
Stillborn calf born to Freya, sired by Kim II, at Marineland Antibes in France sometime in March 2001.
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Gender:Male
Pod: N/A (Mother was Nootka V)
Place of Capture: Captive born
Date of Capture: Born December 18, 1999
Age at Capture: Captive born
On December 18, 1999, Icelandic female Nootka V gave birth to her fifth calf, a male sired by Kandu VII, at Marineland Ontario.
Later known as Algonquin, he was the second calf to be born in the new tank complex known as Friendship Cove. Not long after, he bonded with his half-brother Hudson, who was just 1 year older than Algonquin.
Algonquin was described as curious and people-oriented, which made him a rather poor performer. He preferred spending time interacting with guests through the underwater viewing windows as well as hunting sea gulls with Hudson.
Unfortunately, he was reportedly found dead at the bottom of the tank on August 13, 2002. His official cause of death was due to a Twisted Intestine.
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Gender:Male
Pod: N/A (Mother was Kiska)
Place of Capture: Captive born
Date of Capture: Born September 15, 1998
Age at Capture: Captive born
On September 15, 1998, Icelandic female Kiska gave birth to her fourth calf, a male sired by Kandu VII, at Marineland Ontario. Later named Hudson, he was the first calf to be born in the new tank complex known as Friendship Cove.
In 1999, after the birth of his half-brother Algonquin, the two became very close and spent a lot of time together.
When Algonquin died in 2002, Hudson became less active, but more focused on trainers. Though Nootka V, Algonquin’s mother, became unusually aggressive towards Hudson after Algonquin’s death.
As a result of this aggression, Hudson apparently fell out of the tank during a staff Christmas party. He suffered a few rakes and scars, but was placed in a stretcher and back into the pool where he was separated from the females and kept with his father, Kandu VII.
During the summer of 2003, Hudson was moved to the old Orca tank, King Waldorf Theatre, in order to improve his performance skills. However, his half-sister, Neocia, was quite dominant and aggressive towards Hudson, so he was sent back to Friendship Cove.
Once there, he was reunited with Kandu VII, and later on, Kiska and Nootka V.
Hudson was described as a good performer, but liked to grab things around him which made it dangerous to perform waterworks with him. He was also allegedly trained for Artificial Insemination by the time he was 6, and semen was apparently collected from him, though there are no reliable sources to confirm this.
Unfortunately, on October 20, 2004, Hudson died suddenly due to Meningitis at only 6 years old.
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Gender:Female
Pod: N/A (Mother was Nootka V)
Place of Capture: Captive born
Date of Capture: Born May 27, 1998
Age at Capture: Captive born
On May 27, 1998, Icelandic female Nootka V gave birth to her fourth calf, a female sired by Kandu VII, at Marineland Ontario in King Waldorf Theatre.
The calf met it’s full sister Neocia and seemed to be doing well. All of the other whales had already been moved to the new tank, Friendship Cove. Nootka V, her calf, and Neocia were set to be moved to Friendship Cove after the end of the summer season.
Unfortunately, the calf died on June 7, 1998 due to unknown causes at only 11 days old.
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Gender:Male
Pod: N/A (Mother was Kiska)
Place of Capture: Captive born
Date of Capture: Born November 6, 1996
Age at Capture: Captive born
On November 6, 1996, Icelandic female Kiska gave birth to her third calf, a male sired by Kandu VII, at Marineland Ontario. The calf, later known as Nova, was born in the old stadium, King Waldorf Theatre, where all the others had been born.
Because of overcrowding in the stadium, Nova and the other calves were moved to an indoor pool known as the “warehouse”, which is completely devoid of natural sunlight and fresh air.
In 1998, the new tank, known as Friendship Cove, was built and Nova, along with a few others, was reunited with his family. However, some of the whales were moved back to King Waldorf Theatre in the summer for shows.
A young female named Neocia was moved with Nova, but due to Neocia’s aggressive and dominant behavior, she was kept alone and Nova was sent back to Friendship Cove.
Unfortunately, on August 20, 2001, Nova died due to both Pneumonia and Starvation. Marineland, however, denied his death for many months.
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Gender:Female
Pod: N/A (Mother was Nootka V)
Place of Capture: Captive born
Date of Capture: Born April 21, 1996
Age at Capture: Captive born
On April 21, 1996, Icelandic female Nootka V gave birth to her third calf at Marineland Ontario. The female, sired by Kandu VII, was known as Malik, as well as “E-Day”.
However, she suffered from a weakened immune system, and was especially susceptible to seemingly harmless illnesses.
Nootka V would often attack Malik, resulting in their permanent separation when Malik was 13 months old. Malik was then moved to the “warehouse” - an indoor pool completely devoid of natural sunlight and fresh air. Here, she was kept with a number of other young whales.
In 1998, when the construction for the new pool, Friendship Cove, was completed, Malik was immediately sent there with other whales. She was mostly kept with her father, who reportedly treated her gently and was a good companion for her.
Unfortunately, on March 4, 2000, Malik died due to Immune System Deficiency.
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Gender:Male
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Born at Marineland Antibes, France
Date of Capture: Born February 13, 1996
Age at Capture: Captive born
On February 13, 1996, Icelandic female Freya gave birth to her only living calf at Marineland Antibes in France; a male named Valentin sired by Kim II. Freya had previously had two stillbirths prior to Valentin’s birth, and proceeded to have two more stillbirths afterwards.
Valentin was very close with his mother and half-sister Shouka before Shouka was moved to America. He could often be seen performing with his mother, Freya, but didn’t seem to care for interacting with the public at the underwater viewing area.
As he grew, Valentin’s dorsal had remained somewhat straighter and more erect than other captive males, possibly due to Marineland Antibes large 11 million-gallon tank complex for the whales. He was also known for a strange marking on his chin. It is unclear what it was, but it had been present for many years and did not seem to get better or worse.
Valentin is also believed to be the father of Keijo, a calf born in 2013 to Valentin’s half-sister, Wikie; meaning that Valentin would be both Keijo’s uncle and his father. However, Keijo seems healthy and appears to be doing well.
On June 20, 2015, the park was dealt a heavy blow when Freya died suddenly after a long battle with an unknown illness. Since Freya was the matriarch of the Marineland France park, it was unclear how her death would affect the social structure of the remaining 5 Orca. The fact that Valentin had been closest to his mother was particularly worrying, as wild male Orca sometimes don’t fare well after their mothers death.
On October 3rd, massive flash-flooding devastated the south of France. It also wiped out nearly 90% of the filtration and electrical systems at Marineland, causing many of the parks animals to die and turning the Orca tanks a murky greenish-black color due to mud and various other debris, possibly including toxic chemicals and substances like gasoline. It was soon learned that Marineland, despite having been flooded and closed in the past, did not have any emergency plans.
Unfortunately, on October 12, 2015, Valentin died suddenly due to Intestinal Volvulus (twisted intestine) at just 19 years old. He had not shown symptoms of the illness until a few hours before his death.
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Gender:Female
Pod:N/A
Place of Capture: Stokkseyri, Iceland
Date of Capture: October 1982
Age at Capture: Approx. 1 year
Sometime in October 1982, a group of five whales were captured off the coast of Stokkseyri, Iceland. They were immediately transferred to the Hafnarfjordur Aquarium where they were trained and put up for sale.
By March of 1983, a young female, later known as Freya, was purchased by Marineland Antibes in France, along with Kim II - a male she had been captured with. When they arrived at the park, they met Betty, the resident female who displaced Freya and showed dominance over her. However, they soon began to get along until Betty’s death in 1987, resulting in Freya becoming the dominant whale at the park.
In 1986, Freya had Pleurisy (inflammation of the tissues that line the lungs and chest cavity). While having x-rays taken, she suffered a radiation burn that took 3 years to heal and left a permanent, circular white scar.
Marineland soon purchased two new whales named Sharkan and Tanouk in 1990. Freya was pregnant by Kim II before they arrived, but in 1991, Freya delivered a stillborn. She had another stillborn in 1993, and was put on medication due to possible depression caused by the loss of her calves. The same year, Sharkan gave birth to a female calf named Shouka.
In February of 1996, Freya gave birth to her first and only live calf, a male named Valentin whom she was very close with. Freya went on to have two more stillbirths - one in 2001 and another in 2003.
Afterwards, she was placed on birth control and kept on medication for her depression. She was later taken off birth control in hopes of being artificially inseminated, but she never became pregnant.
While Freya lived a life in captivity mostly without incident, she was involved in an incident with one trainer in 2008, in which she repeatedly attempted to submerge him underwater and pushed him around the tank. At one point in a video taken by a park guest, the trainer can be seen with his hands in Freya’s mouth, though he was able to exit the tank without any serious injuries.
On June 20, 2015, Freya died suddenly after a lengthy battle with an illness - though the illness that caused her death has not been disclosed to the public. Unfortunately, four months later on October 12, Valentin, Freya’s only living calf, also died due to Intestinal Volulus (twisted intestines).
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