Wanda

Wanda's body. Photo provided by Marineland of the Pacific.

Wanda *(pronounced wahn-DAH)* was an adult female Offshore killer whale who briefly lived at Marineland of the Pacific. She was the first ever killer whale kept in captivity. She was captured on November 18th, 1961 from Newport Harbor, California at approximately 25 years old. Wanda passed away on November 20th, 1961 due to pneumonia and gastroenteritis along with various other health issues.

## Capture

On November 17th, 1961, a female killer whale was spotted in the basin of Newport Harbor. As described by early reports she had been in the area for several days. That day a group of people from Marineland of the Pacific sighted the animal and in the following morning by 6:30am arrangements had been made to capture her. The team employed typical methods used to capture cetaceans, but due to the killer whale's behaviour, they failed.

Instead it was decided to use a 1200ft long by 75ft deep net to capture the animal. They successfully captured her within it, but after bunching the floats the animal escaped. After a full day of struggling, by 3:00pm the female killer whale was successfully caught and secured alongside the ship's hull.

## Marineland of the Pacific

By 10:00pm, she was placed into Marineland's 100x50x19ft oval fish tank. Wanda was observed to first strike herself on one of the tank's walls before beginning to swim slowly around the tank's confines. The morning after her capture she was found holding a freshly-killed ocean sunfish. She showed no interest in eating her kill however, and the remainder of the day was spent trying to induce her appetite.

## Death

At 8:30am, on November 20th, 1961, Wanda was observed speed-swimming around her tank and repeatedly striking her body on its sides several times. Following this behaviour she swam into a flume way and passed away.

She was removed from the tank and from there Marineland staff obtained a variety of measurements and a necropsy was performed by pathologists from Los Angeles County Livestock Department. They deemed her death was due to acute gastroenteritis and pneumonia. They believed the former condition was in conjuction with a massive nematode (roundworm) infestation in her first and secondary stomach compartments. Stress from both capture and confinement was also attributed to her cause of death.

Wanda was also found to have an advanced atherosclerosis, a build up of cholesterol or other substances, in both her heart and major blood vessels. During the dissection, a fracture on the right ramus of the lower jaw was found. It was a splintered fracture and those performing the dissection concluded it would've been a discomfort to live with, however, it was found to not have contributed to the significant tooth wear.

## Trivia

* In the days following her capture, newspapers published accounts of the capture. People watching the capture take place were reported to cheer each time Wanda evaded her captors.
* Wanda is frequently referred to as "the Newport specimen".
* In a 2006 study, Wanda was detirmined to have been an Offshore killer whale.

## References

1. ↑ Marineland of the Pacific Historial Society: "Newport Specimen" November, 1961
2. ↑ *Tooth Wear as a Correlate of Described Feeding Behavior by the Killer Whale, with Notes on a Captive Specimen*
3. ↑ Genetic analysis of killer whale (Orcinus orca) historical bone and tooth samples to identify western US ecotypes