Ku

Ku on May 1st, 2008. Photo provided by botanicomt.

Ku (*pronounced KOO*), or クー, was an approximately 16-year-old female Japanese transient killer whale who lived at the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium. She was a part of the last capture of wild killer whales in Japan on February 7th, 1997 from Hatajiri Bay in Taiji at approximately 5 years old. Ku passed away due to heart failure in association with disseminated mycosis, a widespread fungal infection, on September 19th, 2008 at the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium. Ku was the first killer whale kept at Nagoya.

## Early Life and Capture

On February 7th, 1997, a pod of ten killer whales was driven into Hatajiri Bay (Taiji's famous cove ) in Taiji, Japan. The following day, five whales, two males and three females, were taken into captivity. The remaining five orcas were driven back out to sea after refusing to leave their pod.

Ku and another whale, Asuka, were taken to the Taiji Whale Museum while the rest of the whales went to the Nanki Shirahama Adventure World. On March 5th, Asuka was transferred to Izu-Mito Sea Paradise.

## Life at the Taiji Whale Museum

For the first several weeks after her capture, Ku refused to eat. Eventually, she began to accept fish. She was housed in a 9 meter long pen with several other dolphins, but was kept separated from the museum's other killer whale, Nami.  Ku fell ill in mid-July of 1997, but began eating again by the end of that month.

In late April of that year, a small tumor was found on Ku's tail fluke. It was removed, but left a permanent scar.

In early 1998, the museum attempted to house Ku and Nami together, but separated them again after the two whales fought. The museum then experimented with housing Ku with other species, including false killer whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, and bottlenose dolphins.  The following year, she was moved into a larger enclosure and had settled into cohabbing with Pacific white-sided and bottlenose dolphins.  At some point during her stay at the Taiji Whale Museum, she swallowed a stone, a behavior that Nami would also exhibit.

## Life at the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium

On October 29th, 2003, Ku was moved to the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium on a five year loan from the Taiji Whale Museum, the purpose of which was to study the killer whale reproductive system. One of the bottlenose dolphins Ku lived with while at the museum was transferred with her.  She made her public debut on January 2nd, 2004.  While at the aquarium, Ku was trained for artificial insemination.

## Death

In late July of 2008, Ku fell ill and stopped eating. She was moved into a medical pool on the 23rd, and tests revealed inflammation and a high white blood cell count. She started to recover, but became ill again by September. Ku passed away at 7:55 AM on September 19th, 2008 while receiving treatment for herpesvirus. Upon necropsy, it was revealed that she was suffering from disseminated mucormycosis and pulmonary aspergillosis associated with herpesvirus infection. Ku's body condition was noted as being "slightly poor."

## Behavioral Incidents

In the mid-2000's, Ku lunged at a trainer during a show.

## Galleries

* **Photos** of Ku
* **Videos** of Ku

## Transfer History

**Ku's Transfer History**
 Taiji Whale Museum, Japan

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Abdo W, Kawachi T, Sakai H, Fukushi H, Kano R, Shibahara T, Shirouzu H, Kakizoe Y, Tuji H, Yanai T. Disseminated mycosis in a killer whale (Orcinus orca). J Vet Diagn Invest. 2012 Jan;24(1):211-8. doi: 10.1177/1040638711416969. Epub 2011 Oct 10. PMID: 22362957.
2. ↑ "太地シャチ捕獲事件"
3. ↑ 'Progress and latest information since March'
4. ↑ 'Progress report for May and June'
5. ↑ 'Progress since July and latest information'
6. ↑ 'The 23rd Marine Mammal Technician Study Group'
7. ↑ '1 year anniversary of capture'
8. ↑ '2 years have passed since capture'
9. ↑ 'Ku-chan test'
10. ↑ 'Transport and delivery of killer whales'
11. ↑ 'Killer whale "Ku" to open to the public'
12. ↑ '「じゃんぷみたいよう」　シャチの「クー」に励まし続々'
13. ↑ 'シャチの「クー」死亡　２４時間看病実らず'
14. ↑ "A killer whale attacks a trainer" on YouTube