Kiska

Kiska. Photo provided by BrochJam.

Kiska *(pronounced KEE-skah)* was an approximately 46-year-old female Icelandic killer whale who lived at Marineland of Canada. She was captured in early October 1979 from Ingólfshöfði, Iceland at approximately 3 years old. Kiska passed away due to an unspecified bacterial infection on March 9th, 2023 at Marineland of Canada. She was the last captive killer whale in Canada and marked the official end of killer whale captivity in the country. During her life, Kiska had 5 calves, although none of them survived for more than a few years.

## Capture and Early Life

Kiska was an Icelandic killer whale who was likely born sometime around 1976. She was captured at about 3 years old, sometime in early October of 1979 near Ingólfshöfði, Iceland. Shortly after her capture, Kiska was moved to the Hafnarfjörður Aquarium where she was given the name Agnes. There, she met Dzul-Ha, another killer whale who had been captured in July of that same year. In November of 1979, four other killer whales joined Kiska and Dzul-Ha at the aquarium. They were Keiko, Caren, King, and an unnamed female. At the end of November, Kiska, Keiko, the unnamed female, and Caren were purchased by Marineland Ontario and sent to Canada.

## Life at MarineLand

Upon arrival at Marineland Ontario, Kiska and the other three Icelandic killer whales were moved to a holding pool and her name was changed from Agnes to Kiska. King arrived a month later. At that time, Marineland already had killer whales living in their park, two Bigg's killer whales named Kanduke and Nootka, but they were kept in a separate habitat and were not immediately introduced to the newcomers. A few months later, sometime in January, the unnamed female passed away from acute enterotoxaemia. Only a few weeks after that, both King and Caren were sent to Kamogawa Sea World, leaving Kiska and Keiko behind at Marineland.

Sometime in the following months, possibly around June, Kiska and Keiko were moved to King Waldorf Stadium, where they met Kanduke and Nootka. The two young whales were trained and began performing in shows.

At Marineland, Kiska gave birth to her first calf, a male born on August 24, 1992. He only survived for 2 months. Her second calf was a male named Kanuck who was born on August 28, 1994 and died sometime in 1998. Her third calf was a male named Nova who was born on November 6, 1996 and died on August 20, 2001. Her fourth calf was a male named Hudson who was born on September 15, 1998 and died at age 6 in October 20, 2004. Hudson was her longest-living calf. Her last calf was a female named Athena who was born on August 8, 2004. Athena died in Spring of 2009. It has been thought that Kiska's mate, Kandu VII, may had passed down genes that resulted in multiple of his calves been born with illnesses.

In 2006, a young male orca named Ikaika was transferred form SeaWorld Orlando to Marineland. He had lived with Kiska, her daughter Athena, and Nootka V. When Nootka and Athena eventually passed away, Ikaika became Kiska's only companion. Ikaika would sometimes harass her which often led to separation between the two. In November of 2011, SeaWorld demanded to return Ikaika after learning of Marineland's mistreatment towards him. After a long custody battle, Ikaika was moved to SeaWorld San Diego, leaving Kiska the only living orca at Marineland Canada.

## Appearance

Kiska had many small dark freckles on either side of her lower jaw, with a noticeably larger one visible on the right side roughly a quarter way down the jaw. The eye patch on her right side contained a large dark freckle at the top and a dark "finger" of black extending into it above her eye. She had a spike of white under her left "armpit". On her left side, Kiska's mouth notch had two points. Save for a few back teeth, nearly all of Kiska's teeth were worn down to the gums and most had drill holes. Her dorsal fin tilted to the left with a particularly warped posterior edge.

## Death

On the afternoon of March 10th, 2023, various media outlets began reporting the death of Kiska, Marineland's last surviving killer whale. Kiska passed away on March 9th, 2023, and according to CHCH, was buried after a necropsy had been performed. The aquarium did not release a public statement about Kiska's passing until March 15th, 2023, when they confirmed her death in a post shared on Instagram. According to Marineland, Kiska passed away "peacefully" from an unspecified bacterial infection. The results from the necropsy have yet to be be made public.

## Transfer History

**Kiska's Transfer History**
 Capture Boat (Guðrún), Iceland
 Hafnarfjörður Aquarium, Iceland

## Trivia

* While in Iceland, Kiska was given the name Agnes.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.chch.com/marinelands-final-captive-orca-kiska-has-died-at-age-47/
2. ↑ Háhyrningar eru gáfuð og góðlynd dýr. Vísir, October 1979.