captive-orca-of-japan-blog

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A brief description of Earth’s move to Nagoya. The entire move took 8 hours, but he is said to be in good condition and integrating into the new environment. Stella and Lynn currently reside there. He has not seen Stella since she was moved to Nagoya in 2011. This is his first time meeting Lynn.

A more detailed account of his interactions with Stella and Lynn can be found here: http://guyoo.jimdo.com/2015/12/10/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E3%81%AE%E5%88%9D%E6%97%A5/

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Kamogawa Sea World has posted a video showing Ran (recently moved from Nagoya to Kamogawa) interacting with Lovey, Lara, and Luna. Ran was moved in December 2011 on a loan to Nagoya, so had not met Luna (born in 2012). 

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Killer whale Ran was recently moved to Kamogawa Sea World, while Earth was moved to Port of Nagoya Aquarium. Yomiuri reports that Ran will be artificially inseminated with semen from a United States whale. Originally, Bingo (deceased), Ran, and Stella were moved from Kamogawa to Nagoya on a 5-year loan. They arrived in December 2011.

Earth joins Stella (his grandmother) and her daughter Lynn. He is currently the only male captive orca in Japan and is related to all females at Kamogawa and Nagoya. Ran joins Lovey, Luna, and Lara in Kamogawa.

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Instragram user kamotabi uploaded this image taken at Kamogawa Sea World. Appears to be Lovey (behind, balancing the fish) and Luna. Gives you a chance to see Lovey’s teeth. Perhaps Luna’s are being worn a bit too?

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Picture via Instagram user yumeno_44, posted September 2, 2015.

Ran (II) at the Nagoya aquarium appears to have a scrape on her chin. 

Ran resides at the aquarium with her mother Stella and younger sister Lynn, on a loan from Kamogawa Sea World.

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Video uploaded by YouTube user 雲雀綺羅. Unknown aquarium. The video was posted on August 30, 2015, but it is unknown when exactly it was taken. Title is イルカ (”iruka”), the Japanese word for dolphin written in katakana.

Shows belugas engaging in repetitive behavior. However, while cetaceans have been known to lie at the bottom of their tanks, the one in this video seems...oddly positioned and very still.

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Screenshot from the a YouTube video posted by Yama Karinin やまかんりにん on August 23 2015 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhbKwyQIT5U

At the Nagoya aquarium. Lynn has a scratch near and partially over her eyepatch.

The video focuses on Stella. Similar to her family at the Kamogawa park, she goes onto the slideout for a period of time--not during a show. Includes a close up of her eye and a chance to see her teeth’s current condition. 

Her daughter, Lynn, joins her for a bit. You can see her teeth as well. Ran (II) can be seen in the background.

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A video posted by YouTube user JIBA ニャンコ in May. Kamogawa orca seemingly decide not to go along with the show routine.

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Introduction

Greetings!

This blog will focus on captive killers whales in Japan, including living and deceased whales. Due to the burgeoning situation in Russia and China, it is likely that I will share details on those orca, primarily from other blogs. The same applies to the other parks that hold killer whales.

Very basic background: Currently, two parks in Japan host orca: Kamogawa Sea World (no relation to the US parks) and Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium (which holds loaned Kamogawa whales). At the Kamogawa location are Lovey (F), her sister Lara, and Lovey’s offspring Earth (M) and Luna (F). Lovey and Lara’s mother, Stella, resides at Nagoya with her daughters Ran (II) and Lynn.

Kamogawa has recently become involved in an AI program, apparently partnered with the US SeaWorld. After the deaths of the park’s only adult males, Bingo and Oscar, the park has just the juvenile Earth, who is related to the other females anyway,

I will try to keep posts regular, but the flow of information is, generally speaking, relatively slow. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to use the Ask button at the bottom of the page or the Submit button at the top.