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The orca, also called killer whale, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus Orcinus and is recognizable by its black-and-white patterned body. A cosmopolitan species, orcas can be found in all of the world's oceans in a variety of marine environments, from Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas.
Mark Critch is a Canadian comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work on the comedy series This Hour Has 22 Minutes, initially as a writer and then as a regular cast member beginning in 2003.
Free Willy is a 1993 American family drama film, directed by Simon Wincer, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Jennie Lew Tugend, written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman from a story by Walker and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures under their Family Entertainment imprint. The film stars Jason James Richter in his feature film debut, Lori Petty, Jayne Atkinson, August Schellenberg, and Michael Madsen with the eponymous character, Willy, played by Keiko. The story is about an orphaned boy who befriends a captive orca, Willy, at an ailing amusement park. When he discovers that the park owners plan to dispose of Willy, he hatches a scheme to break him out of captivity.
Corky II, often referred to as just Corky, is a female captive orca from the A5 Pod of northern resident orcas. At approximately the age of four, Corky was captured from Pender Harbour off the coast of British Columbia on December 11, 1969. She has lived at SeaWorld San Diego in San Diego, California since 1987. As of 2022, she is the oldest and longest kept captive orca.
Marineland, is a themed zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The park has performing marine animal shows, exhibits of marine and land animals, and amusement rides. It keeps dolphins, sea lions, and beluga whales. Until 2023, the park also kept walruses and orcas. The park also keeps bears, deer, and other land animals. It was founded and operated by John Holer, a Slovenian immigrant, from 1961 until his death in 2018. It is privately owned and operated by his family.
Orca is a 1977 American thriller film directed by Michael Anderson and produced by Dino De Laurentiis, starring Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling and Will Sampson. The film follows a male orca tracking down and getting revenge on a boat captain for killing the whale's pregnant mate and their unborn calf.
Silver Donald Cameron was a Canadian journalist, author, playwright, and university teacher whose writing focused on social justice, nature, and the environment. His 15 books of non-fiction dealt with everything from history and politics to education and community development.
Michael Eklund is a Canadian television and film actor who is known for playing the role of the villain or antihero. His characters are often described as being "creepy".
Kevin McNulty is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in Ernest Goes to School, Timecop, Fantastic Four, Snakes on a Plane, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and as Mel Ivarson on rural airline drama series Arctic Air.
Dozens of orcas are held in captivity for breeding or performance purposes. The practice of capturing and displaying orcas in exhibitions began in the 1960s, and they soon became popular attractions at public aquariums and aquatic theme parks due to their intelligence, trainability, striking appearance, playfulness, and sheer size. As of January 9, 2023, there were 55 orcas in captivity worldwide, 29 of which were captive-born. At that time, there were 18 orcas in the SeaWorld parks.
Orcas, also known as Killer whales, have appeared in several movies and many documentaries.
Captured in 1964, Moby Doll was the first orca to survive in captivity for more than two days, and the second to be displayed in a public aquarium exhibit. The availability, for the first time, of an orca that could be studied at close quarters alive initiated pioneering research. From a recording of Moby Doll's calls, he was years later identified as a member of J Pod of the southern resident orcas.
Edward Irving "Ted" Griffin is an American former aquarium owner and entrepreneur who was the first man to ever swim with a killer whale in a public exhibition, with the whale named Namu. He is best known for capturing, performing with, and selling a number of orcas during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Ian Ferguson is a Canadian author and playwright.
Tilikum, nicknamed Tilly, was a captive male orca who spent most of his life at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida. He was captured in Iceland in 1983; about a year later, he was transferred to Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia. He was subsequently transferred in 1992 to SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, where he sired 21 calves throughout his life.
Moira Walley-Beckett is a Canadian television actress, producer, and writer. She was a writer and producer for the AMC drama Breaking Bad and the creator of two television series, Flesh and Bone and Anne with an E.
Alexandra Bryant Hubbard Morton is an American and Canadian marine biologist best known for her 30-year study of wild killer whales in the Broughton Archipelago in British Columbia. Since the 1990s, her work has shifted toward the study of the impact of salmon farming on Canadian wild salmon.
Shylock is a monologue in one 80-minute act written by Canadian playwright Mark Leiren-Young. It premiered at Bard on the Beach on August 5, 1996, where it was directed by John Juliani and starred popular Canadian radio host, David Berner. Its American debut was in 1998 at Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre where it was directed by Deborah Block, starred William Leach and was “Barrymore Recommended.” It has since been produced at theatres, Shakespeare Festivals and Fringes throughout Canada and the US, was translated for a production in Denmark and has been staged twice by the original actor, Berner, in Venice. A Czech translation by Jitka Sloupova ran in Prague from 2016-2019 at Divadlo Na Jezerce and starred Milan Kňažko.
Granny, also known as J2, was a female orca of the J pod of southern resident orcas notable for her long life. Early estimates placed her birth in 1911, putting her at 105 years old at the time of her death. However, this estimate was later revealed to have been based on mistaken information and more recent studies put her at 65-80 years old. If she was 105, she would have been the oldest known orca at the time of her death. Granny lived in the northeast Pacific Ocean and coastal bays of Washington state and British Columbia. She was last seen on October 12, 2016, and was considered deceased by The Center for Whale Research in January 2017.
Moby Doll's impact in scientific research was enormous and in a sense unrepeatable. He was the first ever killer whale (orca) to be studied at close quarters alive, initiating pioneering research about his very misunderstood species. Few other individual animals have ever changed the way their species was perceived more than Moby Doll.
References
- ↑ "Mark Leiren-Young" Archived 2015-05-29 at the Wayback Machine . University of Victoria, 2015.
- ↑ "Mark Leiren-Young Biography". Stampede Queen, 2012.
- ↑ "Mark Leiren-Young honoured at Barcelona film festival". The Georgia Straight , June 10, 2008.
- ↑ "Mark Leiren-Young Biography". Simple Movie, 2009.
- ↑ "Leiren-Young wins Leacock Medal". The Globe and Mail , April 30, 2009.
- ↑ "About Mark Leiren-Young". Mark Leiren-Young Official Site, 2015.
- ↑ "Mr. Dress-Up: Mark Leiren-Young chronicles his days in costume". The National Post , June 3, 2013.
- ↑ "Reel West magazine appoints Mark Leiren-Young as editor". Masthead Online, October 7, 2014.
- ↑ "Funny Writing Secrets Revealed". University of Victoria, August 28, 2014.
- ↑ "Home". skaana.org.
- ↑ How Much is a Whale Worth?. YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-11.
- ↑ "Orcaholic - MLY". leiren-young.com. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
- ↑ "Mark Leiren-Young Biography". The Internet Movie Database, 1990-2015.
