page_title: List of captive killer whales
hierarchical_section_title: List of captive killer whales
caption_attribution_description: Orca show at Sea World San Diego
context_page_description: They soon became popular attractions at public aquariums and aquatic theme parks due to their intelligence, trainability, striking appearance, playfulness in captivity and sheer size. As of February 2019, captive orcas reside at facilities in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
  The first North Eastern Pacific orca, Wanda, was captured in November 1961 by a collecting crew from Marineland of the Pacific, and over the next 15 years, around 60 or 70 orcas were taken from Pacific waters for this purpose.
  When the US Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 effectively stopped the capture of Pacific orcas, captures were made in Icelandic waters. Since 2010, captures have been made in Russian waters. However, facilities in the United States such as SeaWorld have not collected wild orcas in over 35 years.
  27 of the 34 orcas on display in the US, Canada, Argentina, Spain, and France were born in captivity. 6 of the 7 displayed in Japan are captive-born. An additional 13 orcas reported in China and Russia were captured in Russian waters.
  Kalina, born in September 1985, was the first captive-born orca calf to survive more than a few days.
context_section_description: This article gives a list of captive killer whales, or orcas, large predatory cetaceans that were first captured live and displayed in exhibitions in the 1960s, or were subsequently born in zoological facilities. They soon became popular attractions at public aquariums and aquatic theme parks due to their intelligence, trainability, striking appearance, playfulness in captivity and sheer size. As of February 2019,  captive orcas reside at facilities in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
  The first North Eastern Pacific orca, Wanda, was captured in November 1961 by a collecting crew from Marineland of the Pacific, and over the next 15 years, around 60 or 70 orcas were taken from Pacific waters for this purpose.
  When the US Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 effectively stopped the capture of Pacific orcas, captures were made in Icelandic waters. Since 2010, captures have been made in Russian waters. However, facilities in the United States such as SeaWorld have not collected wild orcas in over 35 years.
  27 of the 34 orcas on display in the US, Canada, Argentina, Spain, and France were born in captivity. 6 of the 7 displayed in Japan are captive-born. An additional 13 orcas reported in China and Russia were captured in Russian waters.
  Kalina, born in September 1985, was the first captive-born orca calf to survive more than a few days. In September 2001, Kasatka gave birth to Nakai, the first orca conceived through artificial insemination, at SeaWorld San Diego. This technique lets park owners maintain a more healthy genetic mix in the small groups of orcas at each park, while avoiding the stress of moving orcas for breeding purposes.
caption: Orca show at SeaWorld San Diego.
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