Finna

Finna was a 20 year old male Icelandic killer whale that lived at the Vancouver Aquarium. He was captured on the 19th of November, 1980 and died on the 6th of October, 1997.

## Into Captivity

On the 14th of November, 1980, a young whale was caught in Reydarfjördur, Iceland, and was moved to the Hafnarfjörður Aquarium directly after. Somehow, the young whale was sexed a female, with the claim that "there was a lack of knowledge of killer whales at the time". While waiting to be sold, it is believed they met the other whales Benkei II, Ulises, Vigga, and Bjossa. They were also caught in 1980 and waiting to be sold.

All but Ulises, who was sold to a park in Spain, were moved to the Vancouver Aquarium not long after. It was later discovered that the young so called "female" was a male after displaying sexual behaviors, however he was named "Finna" before this was found. Although the park bought four whales, two, Vigga and Benkei II, were thought to be males which lead them being placed on the market again. They were eventually shipped away, which left behind Finna and the other whale, known as Bjossa, behind for the purpose of breeding with the aquarium's other whale. They eventually met him, known as "Hyak II", who had been living at the park alone since Skana's death earlier that year. This left the aquarium in search of more whales. Finna eventually met a Pacific White Sided Dolphin named Whitewings, who could be seen with mainly Bjossa. Together, they all started performing in shows.

Sometimes in the 80s, however, Finna suffered an injury on his underside. Nothing was ever released related to the mark, leading people confused on what it could possibly be. Eventually, the wound healed.

## Pod Mates

Despite Hyak II being a male, him and Finna formed a close bond and were seen in a "mother-daughter" position. The two were completely unrelated, and were often seen together in shows along with Bjossa. In 1988, Hyak sired his first calf with Bjossa, but unfortunately they died only a couple of weeks after birth. Finna was seen with a calf in a news article not long after the birth, meaning he could of been present for the arrival. Unfortunately, Finna suffered a loss when Hyak passed away in May of 1991. Later in the year, Bjossa gave birth to her second calf, also sired by Hyak. Finna was able to meet her before she was moved to live with pacific white sided dolphins in the following month. The calf was confirmed to be a female and was named "K'yosha." She later died in January of 1992, leaving Vancouver to see if Bjossa could conceive with Finna.

## Bjossa's Last Calf

On the 8th of March, 1995, Bjossa gave birth to her final calf. All seemed well, until it was realized the calf was struggling to swim. 7 minutes after being born, the calf died after it couldn't inhale a breath of air. The cause of this was from a ruptured umbilical cord, something nobody could of prevented. Bjossa was left to be with the calf's body for a couple of days, and Finna presumably met her after the death, as he was in the back pool during the birth. After this, she was put on birth control, hoping that she could move to be with other females in spite of being a successful mother. This would leave Finna alone, so accordingly, he would be moved along with her or to another park. Sometime on the 22nd of September, 1997, however, a park veterinarian noticed a bump on his side. The next day, Finna stopped doing shows and was treating for his pain.

## Death and Personality

On the 6th of October, 1997, Finna passed away. After his death, a small poolside tribute was held for him, along with a scholarship for killer whale research listed in Finna's name. Bjossa reacted calmly, she seemed to feel a bit left out and alone, not responding to calls from the trainers if at all. A necropsy was preformed and the cause is listed as Pneumonia and an infection. This left Bjossa alone for around two years before being shipped to SeaWorld San Diego in April of 2001. Exactly 4 years and two days later from Finna's death, Bjossa passed away.

Finna was a very playful and curious male, and despite his size, he could get some height on his behaviors. He did well in shows and could be seen with pacific white sided dolphins as well. Finna was never aggressive to trainers or even other whales. His dorsal collapsed to his left, but before this, he could sometimes be recognized by a noticeable "notch" near the top of it. His eye patches had dips at the bottom, and curves at the front. At 11,000 pounds, Finna was one of the worlds largest captive killer whales.

## Gallery

**If you are going to use any of these photos, please credit the photographer and/or the provider. *PLEASE REFER BACK TO THIS WIKI. NOT ALL PHOTOS CAN BE USED!!***

Many photos can be found from Inherently Wild.

    **Photos by the Vancouver Aquarium.**

    **Photo provided by Blackmoon2101.**

    **Photo by the Vancouver Aquarium, scanned by Valentin666 on Flickr.**

    **Photo by Associated Press.**

    **Photo by Finn Larsen.**

        **Photos provided by Katerina Studios.**

    **Photo via the Edmonton Journal.**

**Photo by the Vancouver Aquarium from the book "*Dans le sillage des orques*"(*In the Wake of the Orcas*).**

    **Photos via the Vancouver Sun.**

## References/Sources

1. ↑ "Killer whales doing lots of nattering" - *30th of December, 1980*
2. ↑ "The last laugh" - *26th of January, 1981*
3. ↑ "Hi, my name is Hyak" - *14th of January, 1981*
4. ↑ "Hyak's flipped over the new females" - *16th of January, 1981*
5. ↑ "Toothy Grin" - *16th of February, 1981*
6. ↑ "Spectators cheer killer whale birth" - *14th of November, 1988*
7. ↑ "Killer whale's death revives captivity row" - *7th of October, 1997*
8. ↑ "Killer whale dies at Vancouver aquarium" - *7th of October, 1997*
9. ↑ "Wanted -- Captive Female Orca -- Vancouver, B.C., Is On The Leading Edge Of The Environmental Movement To Save Whales, A Fact That Makes The City Aquarium 's Search For Another Orca Particularly Touchy" - *21st of December, 1997*