News 2014

1/14/14-Wikie's calf is a male!

1/21/14-Two of the Russian orcas have been moved to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China.

2/3/14-Takara's calf has been named Kamea! The name means "Precious One" in Hawaiian.

3/28/14-Miami Seaquarium is being sold to Parques Reunidos. This is the same company that owns Marineland Antibes. The aquarium says they have no plans for anything major changing as of now, but you may start to see updates to the park within the next year. There is also no changes planned regarding Lolita, but since the company already has 7 orcas (6 at Marineland and 1 at SeaWorld California) there could always be changes in the future. Here is an article about the sale along with a video.

3/29/14-On June 21, SeaWorld's new nighttime Shamu show will open and will be called Shamu's Celebration: Light Up The Night. SeaWorld Orlando's One Ocean show returns April 11 after a pause for maintenance in the show tank.

4/5/14-SeaWorld Orlando is running rehearsals for One Ocean between 4/4/14-4/10/14 in preparation for the show's return.

4/17/14-Wikie's calf has been named Keijo! Keijo means "elf" or "supernatural being" in Finnish.

4/20/14-Kalia is pregnant! This is something we have suspected for the past few months, but were not sure if she was just growing or pregnant. Here is an ultrasound video taken on April 6 showing the fetus. The father may be Ulises and she is due around December 2014.

4/29/14-SeaWorld has confirmed that Kalia is pregnant and due in December. They say that Kalia has mated with Ulises and had been artificially inseminated using his semen.

5/8/14-It has been confirmed that 6 orcas were captured in Russia in 2013 rather than 7.

5/18/14-The Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium has reported that Bingo is ill. Early indications show that it looks to be a lung infection and that he has been ill since around April. The public has not been allowed to view the orcas due to his health. Wishing Bingo to get well soon!

7/16/14-This is possibly the orca tank Narnia and her mate will be housed in. It could be the dolphin tank but as of now it has not been confirmed.

7/23/14-Here are some pictures of the Primorsky Oceanarium. There has been a lot of talk the past year and a half that they may try to obtain Russian orcas. The facility is still being built, but some of the tanks look finished or near finished. There are also murals or a backdrop of some kind with orcas on them towards the end of the album.

7/28/14-Shanghai Polar Ocean World is showing what may be a killer whale stadium in concept art pictured here. There are more pictures throughout the album.

7/31/14-Kiska at Marineland Canada appears to be having health issues. She has what is known as a peanut head. This often signifies an animal who is unhealthy. Her dorsal fin is also showing signs of deterioration. 

8/2/14-Sadly, I have to announce that Bingo at Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium has passed away. They announced the sad news today. Bingo had been ill over the past few months and despite their best efforts, did not get any better. Rest in peace Bingo.

8/8/14-Two orcas have been captured in Russia. Here is an update from "Russian Orcas".

Two orcas taken in illegal capture in Russia: We have news today that two killer whales were captured in recent weeks in Nikolaya Gulf, in the southwestern Sea of Okhotsk, the Russian Far East. The captors are reporting that the orcas were actually taken in 2013 and spent the winter in Nikolaya Gulf. This is impossible because the Gulf is completely frozen in winter. Word is that the orcas are being transported toward Komsomolsk-on-Amur, 356 km NE of Khabarovsk. Final destination is unknown.

“These captures appear to be illegal,” says Erich Hoyt, WDC research fellow and co-director of the Far East Russia Orca Project which has been studying orcas in the Kamchatka area for 15 years. “No quotas have yet been issued for orca captures in 2014, following disagreements between the Russian Federal Fisheries and the scientific advisory board in Russia who recommended zero captures. Without a quota which is necessary to get a permit, the captures would be illegal.”

8/15/14-SeaWorld has announced a major expansion at all 3 SeaWorld Parks. They will be adding a first-of-its-kind new killer whale environment that will be 50 ft deep and 1.5 acres in area. It will be more than 350 ft in length and will have 40 ft underwater viewing areas. Construction will begin in San Diego in 2015 and is expected to open in 2018. Orlando's is expected to open in 2019 and San Antonio following in 2020. Here is some concept art and information about "Blue World Project". SeaWorld will also be donating $10 million to help the endangered Southern Resident Orca Community as part of the project.

Update: Aimee Becka and Jim Atchison were interviewed recently and gave a time frame for just how long this project has been in the works. The first drawings of this project began in 2010, with conceptual work beginning over a year ago. A project of this size requires a minimum of 36 months of planning, design and construction.

8/20/14-The official Russian capture quota has been released. They are allowed to capture up to 10 orcas. It is unknown if the two illegally captured orcas will be included in the quota or not.

9/8/14-The two orcas who had been captured in Russia in July 2014 have now been moved to China. In addition, it is now known that two more orcas were captured in July. All four were captured before the quota was released that allowed Russia to capture 10 orcas. It is still not known if these four will be included in this quota since they were captured illegally. More information can be found on our Facebook page.

9/11/14-We have shared pictures of a model of the Moskvarium on our Facebook page. The aquarium is nearing completion. This is the aquarium that Narnia and a male orca are housed at.

10/24/14-The San Antonio Express-News released an article about SeaWorld San Antonio's expansion plans. While it mainly points to SeaWorld starting work on the new dolphin habitat, it also mentions the orca habitat expansion. I am not sure if they plan to start construction on the Blue World Project in February as well or if they are only working on the dolphin habitat and Express-News just added information on the orca expansion as well. We have heard that San Antonio's Blue World Project will be the most difficult and take the most time partly because of the rough terrain they will have to deal with. This could lead to them starting earlier, but we may have to wait and see if they do any construction near Shamu Stadium early next year to find out. Here is the post by Express-News:

SeaWorld San Antonio plans to add room, starting next February, for new orca and dolphin habitats, part of a $30 million project. The West Side theme park filed architectural plans with the state earlier this week, indicating a February 2015 start date for an estimated $30 million project. The work will include an expansion and renovation of an existing animal exhibit, new buildings and an underwater viewing facility. Renovations also will impact a gift shop, orientation room, merchandise and photo sales areas, and “a fish prep room.” SeaWorld San Antonio next spring will start construction on a new dolphin habitat in the northern part of the park. The changes, which SeaWorld will unveil in 2016, will feature a coastal theme. Courtesy SeaWorld Entertainment Inc.

10/27/14-A video and several pictures of Narnia and her male companion have been released to the public. Below is the video. Here is a link  to the pictures.

11/6/14-Narnia's male companion has been named Nord.

11/9/14-Kamogawa Sea World has announced that they have been training their orcas for artificial insemination. They currently have 4 orcas at their facility and 3 on a breeding loan to the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium. All of their whales are related, though only 1 of the 7 is a male and he is still too young to breed. Because they no longer have any compatible males to breed with their females, they will likely be looking to the unrelated SeaWorld in the U.S. for breeding. Here is a link to the article in Japanese.

12/2/14-Kalia gave birth! She gave birth at 12:34pm today. 

12/18/14-SeaWorld has confirmed that Kalia's calf is a female and that the father is Ulises.

12/20/14-It looks like Narnia, Nord and another killer whale have been transferred to their permanent tank in the newly completed Moskvarium. A video has been released showing Narnia and another young killer whale at the new facility. In the video, one of the trainers refers to an unknown orca as Malishka (meaning "little girl" in Russian). She also says that the orca weighs approximately 1.1 tons or 2,200 lbs. So far this is the first report of this calf. Her name has not been confirmed, nor when she was captured. She looks to be only 4-5 years old.

12/21/14-It has been confirmed that a third orca has joined Narnia and Nord. The female calf has been named Malishka, but will perform under the name Juliet next year. She has become close with Narnia and Nord. Narnia has been caring for her. There is still no word on when she was captured or her age.

Edit: Malishka's official name is Naja.