Kiska: In Memoriam

Abstract

Editorial| October 01 2023 Kiska: In Memoriam Journal of Animal Ethics (2023) 13 (2): v–vi. https://doi.org/10.5406/21601267.13.2.01 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Kiska: In Memoriam. Journal of Animal Ethics 1 October 2023; 13 (2): v–vi. doi: https://doi.org/10.5406/21601267.13.2.01 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveUniversity of Illinois PressJournal of Animal Ethics Search Advanced Search On March 10, 2023, MarineLand Canada announced the death of Kiska the orca. She was the last orca held captive in Canada. Referred to as the “world's loneliest orca” Kiska had lived alone in her tank for the last 12 years after more than 4 decades in captivity. She was captured in 1979 in the North Atlantic Ocean. During 40 years of captivity, she had birthed five calves, none of whom survived. She died of a bacterial infection at the estimated age of 47 (Trethewey, 2023).Orcas are highly intelligent, socially complex, autonomous animals who possess large, elaborate brains. Scientific evidence has shown “unequivocally that flourishing is impossible for cetaceans [whales and dolphins] in captivity. Cetacean nature and captivity are fundamentally incompatible” (Marino, 2018, p. 208). Video footage of Kiska revealed the zoochosis behavior induced by captivity as “repetitive and lethargic. When not swimming in slow circles or... You do not currently have access to this content.