Lovey

Lovey is a 26 year old female orca who lives at Kamogawa Sea World. She was born there on January 11, 1998 to Stella and Bingo. She was the first orca calf to be successfully born in Japan.

Lovey had witnessed the birth of three of her younger sisters, so she already had experience with helping her mother take care of a calf before she gave birth for the first time. She gave birth to her first calf, a male named Earth, on October 13, 2008. Earth moved to Port of Nagoya on December 7, 2015. 

In November 2011, it was announced that she was expecting her second calf. She successfully gave birth to her daughter, Luna, on July 19, 2012. Her younger sister Lara assisted her during labor.

In December 2011, Stella, Bingo and Ran moved to Port of Nagoya and Lovey took over the role of the matriarch and dominant orca. She also performs waterworks with her trainers. 

Rumors started circulating around Spring 2023 that Lovey was pregnant with her third calf via artificial insemination. She likely gave birth on March 16, 2024, after Kamogawa had announced the abrupt closing of the killer whale show that day. They never made an official announcement. They later reopened the killer whale show a few days later, the calf not surviving. The father is unknown. It is not known if the calf was stillborn or passed away shortly after birth.