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Stumpy X163

First Sighted: 1996 Estimated Birth year: 1995 Location:  Tysfjord, Norway Sighted with Pods: NE15 / NR / NKW‐H / NKW‐V / NKW‐AZ 

Why is she so important?: Stumpy is assumed to have been hit by a boat as a calf (under a year old) She has injuries to her dorsal, spinal deformity and injuries to her left side of her rib cage. It is possible she was born with some of these deformity’s.

Due to these disabilities, she is unable to dive or swim as fast as other killer whales, her growth is stunted as she is still (aged 20) the same size as a small calf. Also judging from the pitch of her blow - her lung capacity must be abnormally small. (Killer Whales with a Conscience 2013)

(Stumpy and a member of the NKW-AZ group) When she was first sighted in 1996 she was with her presumed mother. They were with the NE15 pod and neither were a previously sighted member of that pod. 

(Stumpy in 1996)  She was seven years old when she was re-sighted in 2002. Researchers were delighted to discover she had survived but were surprised to discover her mother had disappeared. She was then re-sighted over a period of three years with different pods (NKW-H/NKW-V) who were caring for her. A study published in 2004 (Stenerson & Similä) stated she had been sighted with a provisioned by no less than five groups.

(Stumpy being provisioned, a salmon was captured and bitten in half for her to eat)   “ I observed her participating in the search of and catching of fish but she was seen often close to a big male, who may have been provisioning her or providing her with protection. “  -  Heike Vester

(Stumpy in 2012)  In 2012 she was sighted with the NKW‐AZ pod. She is now Seventeen years old and was confirmed a female as her dorsal had not sprouted. 

If they’re even distantly related, helping Stumpy would mean protecting at least some of their own genes, even though it comes at quite a cost when fish are in short supply. This is why Stumpy is so important, they show the killer whales pro-social behavior. They are caring for her even though in most other animal society’s its survival of the fittest. Leave the weak to die as they are not able to sustain the species. 

Physiological evidence supports this idea. In 2006, specialized ‘spindle’ cells previously thought unique to primates were found in Killer Whale brains. (Whale Brains). These cells are located in the area responsible for speech, social organisation and empathy, and are credited with allowing us to feel love.

“Maybe killer whales are even more similar to us than we suspected." 

 -  Heike Vester

Featured in: Killer Whales Beneath the Surface, 2012 BBC

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Apologies guys, The majority of my informational Stumpy X163 posts were removed for violating tumblrs new rules, I have appealed so hopefully they should be back soon. 

One post isn’t giving me the option to appeal though so I will remake it when I find time.

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After watching @sophira-lou ‘s video of her adorable plumpkin, I decided to pumpkifie one of my favorite creatures.

The design has a few things I’m not too happy with but overall a really like how it turned out.

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Hi Stumpy, thank you for answering my questions. Could you please upload more pictures of pages from Mark Simmons book Killing Keiko, I''m interested in what he has to say about the project and other people who were involved.

Would you like to read it? I have a copy, just send me a non anon message and I can link it to you :)

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“Hello? Yes, this whale looks very suspicious. I think he may be trying to get inside a part of the sea that’s not his. Just come quickly.”

So now white people are calling the cops on whales, SMH.

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Keiko’s animatronic double.

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Hi Stumpy, I have a few questions about Keiko. Did Keiko mate due to the rake marks he had in Norway or were they from being rejected? Do you have any other sources aside from Freeing Keiko, Death at Seaworld and orcanetwork about the Oregon Aquarium shutting down the tanks filters leaving Keiko swimming in his own waste and the aquarium owing money to the FWKF because I cant find any? Also could you explain peanut head and if Keiko didnt feed he would look like he did in mexico, please compare?

Hey Anon,This ask may have been here awhile, I don’t seem to get message alerts anymore so I hope if this is too late you were able to get answers elsewhere, If not then I hope this helps (and I will post in case anyone else)I haven’t heard of Keiko receiving rake marks but current research doesn’t suggest Orca’s rake each other when they’re mating so if he did have any it was likely the result of a rejection. If you have three sources stating that tank filters were shut down then I would say unless they all have the same singular source that can’t be verified that probably happened. Oregon Aquarium owing money to the FWKF is weird, they are a foundation that was dependent on donations not payment?Peanut head happens when an Orca is malnourished for some time which didn’t happen to Keiko after he left Mexico. It is possible that Keiko did not feed at all during the time he was independent ofhuman care. Newly captured killer whales are able to live without food for severalweeks before eating dead fish (Hoyt 1998)  However, this seems unlikely given the healthy appearance and behavior of Keiko when he was first observed in Norway, as well as the fact that a veterinarian, based on girth measurements, blood samples and photographs, concluded that the whale had fed (Cornell 2002).  -  X

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Beluga in the Thames?! 

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What if instead of gilly weed Harry had showed up to the black lake challenge in muggle scuba gear like “like where’s your advanced magic now bitches? Got me a free fishing knife with this thing”

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Out on the town !

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The life of a bookworm.

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Since there’s been so much chatter about rake-mark related items, I wanted share this clip of what Seaworld is telling people about rake marks.

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Background Slytherin Part II

The story so far, continued (click here for Part I)

I haven’t edited anything cos I think it’s interesting to see how my style developed & improved along the way, and also I’m super lazy 🐍

Look out this #SlytherinSunday for a Very Special Announcement… 😮 xx

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Also just read why UK Standards was quoting for five orca and not one- which I always thought was a weird number  “. The EAAM minimum provision allows up to five bottlenose dolphins to be held, although it was envisaged that this would allow a starting group of three animals to breed. These group sizes are typical of those observed for this species in the wild.

14. A similar minimum provision for killer whales seems sensible, with the minimum pool containing sufficient volume for up to five animals, the smallest typical pod size observed for this species in the wild.”