| Species | Orca (Orcinus orca) |
|---|---|
| Sex | Male |
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | July 9, 1966 Seattle Marine Aquarium |
| Years active | 1965-1966 |
| Known for | First captive orca to perform with humans |
| Named after | Fishing port of Namu |
Namu (unknown – July 9, 1966) was a male orca unintentionally captured in 1965 from the C1 Pod of the northern resident community. He was the first captive orca to perform with a human in the water. [1] He was the subject of much media attention, including a starring role in the 1966 film Namu, the Killer Whale . Namu's captivity introduced thousands of people to orcas, and soon aquariums all over the world sought to establish captive orcas in their parks.
In June 1965, William Lechkobit discovered a 22-foot (6.7m) male orca in his floating salmon net that had drifted close to shore near Namu, British Columbia. The orca was sold for $8,000 to Ted Griffin, owner of the Seattle Marine Aquarium; [2] [3] it ultimately cost Griffin much more to transport Namu 450 miles (720 km) south to Seattle.
While in captivity, Namu ate 400 pounds of salmon a day. [4] Namu was a popular attraction at the Seattle Marine Aquarium, and Griffin soon captured a female orca to be a companion for Namu. The female, named Shamu, was quickly leased and eventually sold to SeaWorld in San Diego. Namu survived just over one year in captivity and died on July 9, 1966. [5]
Griffin expressed mixed feelings when Namu died, saying he wished Namu had succeeded in a supposed "break for freedom" which had resulted in his death. The necropsy actually evidenced that he had been ill with an "acute bacterial infection, likely contracted from sewage runoff in Elliott Bay" where Griffin had moved him. [6]
Nevertheless, thousands of local fans wanted Griffin to obtain another orca as did aquariums all over the world. [7] [8]
It was later discovered through preserved recordings of his calls that Namu was from C1 Pod, [9] one of the best known northern resident orca pods in British Columbia. He was thus given the alphanumeric code C11. It is suspected that the matriarch, C5, who died in 1995, was his mother. [10] As of February 2010, Namu's presumed sister Koeye (C10) is still alive.
The United Artists film Namu, the Killer Whale (a.k.a. Namu, My Best Friend) was released in 1966 and 'starred' Namu in a fictional story set in the San Juan Islands. [11] The name "Namu" was also later used as a show-name for different orcas in SeaWorld shows.
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.
Keiko was a male orca captured in the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland in 1979. He portrayed Willy in the 1993 film Free Willy. In 1996, Warner Bros. and the International Marine Mammal Project collaborated to return Keiko to the wild. After years of preparing Keiko for reintegration, Keiko was flown to Iceland in 1998 and in 2002, became the first captive orca to be fully released back into the ocean. On 12 December 2003, he died of pneumonia in a bay in Norway at the age of 27.
Shamu was a female orca captured in October 1965 from a southern resident pod. She was sold to SeaWorld San Diego and became a star attraction. Shamu was the fourth orca ever captured, and the second female. She died in August 1971, after about six years of captivity. After her death, the name Shamu continued to be used in SeaWorld "Shamu" shows for different orcas in different SeaWorld parks.
Lolita, also known as Tokitae, is a female captive orca from L Pod of the southern resident community. She has been in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium in the United States since September 24, 1970. Lolita is the second oldest orca in captivity after Corky at SeaWorld San Diego.
A marine mammal park is a commercial theme park or aquarium where marine mammals such as dolphins, beluga whales and sea lions are kept within water tanks and displayed to the public in special shows. A marine mammal park is more elaborate than a dolphinarium, because it also features other marine mammals and offers additional entertainment attractions. It is thus seen as a combination of a public aquarium and an amusement park. Marine mammal parks are different from marine parks, which include natural reserves and marine wildlife sanctuaries such as coral reefs, particularly in Australia.
Namu is a small fishing port, former cannery town and First Nations community on the coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is located about 95 km (59.0 mi) southwest of Bella Coola or 35 km (21.7 mi) SSE of Bella Bella, on the mainland shore of the Inside Passage ferry route directly opposite Hunter Island, and just south of the opening of Burke Channel and King Island. The community's harbour is named Namu Harbour, and a large lake just inland is Namu Lake, which lies in the short drainage basin of the 15 km Namu River, immediately east of which is the small but rugged Namu Range.
Springer, officially named A73, is a wild orca from the Northern Resident Community of orcas which every summer frequent the waters off the northern part of Vancouver Island. In January 2002, Springer, then a calf developmentally equivalent to a human toddler, was discovered alone and emaciated some 250 miles from the territory of her family. Experts identified Springer by her vocal calls that are specific to her family, or "pod," and by examining photographs of her eye patch. They were also able determine where Springer's pod was currently located.
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.
Michael Andrew Bigg was an English-born Canadian marine biologist who is recognized as the founder of modern research on killer whales. With his colleagues, he developed new techniques for studying killer whales and, off British Columbia and Washington, conducted the first population census of the animals anywhere in the world. Bigg's work in wildlife photo-identification enabled the longitudinal study of individual killer whales, their travel patterns, and their social relationships in the wild, and revolutionized the study of cetaceans.
Namu, the Killer Whale is a 1966 American film about a "killer whale" (orca) being studied by a local marine biologist after the murder of his mate and initially feared by local townspeople.
Moby Doll was a male orca captured in 1964 from a southern resident pod. He was the first 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.
The southern resident orcas, also known as the southern resident killer whales (SRKW), are the smallest of four separate, non-interbreeding communities of the exclusively fish-eating ecotype of orca in the northeast portion of the North Pacific Ocean. The fish-eating ecotype was historically given the name 'resident,' but other ecotypes are also resident in the area. The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service listed this distinct population segment of orcas as endangered, effective from 2005, under the Endangered Species Act. In Canada the SRKW are listed as endangered on Species at Risk Act Schedule 1. They are commonly referred to as "fish-eating orcas", "southern residents", or the "SRKW population". Unlike some other resident communities, the SRKW is only one clan (J) that consists of 3 pods with several matrilines within each pod. As of July 2022 there were only 73 individuals in the annual census conducted by the Center for Whale Research. The world's oldest known orca, Granny or J2, had belonged to and led J pod of the SRKW population. J2 was estimated to have been born around 1911, which would mean she would have been 105 years old at the time of her disappearance and death which occurred probably in late 2016. On July 24, 2018, the first calf born in three years died after being alive for only half an hour.
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.
Shamu was the stage name used for several captive performing orcas at SeaWorld as part of their theatrical Shamu show beginning in 1960s. The original Shamu died in 1971, but the name was trademarked by SeaWorld and has been given to different orcas throughout the years.
The Seattle Marine Aquarium was a privately owned aquarium that was opened in 1962 and closed in 1977, and was located on Pier 56 on the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, USA.
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.
Tahlequah, also known as J35, is a killer whale of the Southern Resident community in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. She has given birth to three known offspring, a male (Notch) in 2010, a female (Tali) in 2018, and another male (Phoenix) in 2020. Her second calf, Tali, died shortly after birth and J35 carried her body for 17 days in an apparent show of grief that attracted international attention.
Walter the Whale was a star killer whale (orca) when keeping orcas in captivity had just begun, in the 1960s. At that time, following the death of Namu, the only other established star orca was Shamu. "Walter the Whale" was the orca's advertised name at first, but later she was renamed Skana.
The Yukon Harbor orca capture operation was the first planned, deliberate trapping of a large group of orcas. 15 southern resident orcas were trapped by Ted Griffin and his Seattle Public Aquarium party on 15 February 1967, in Yukon Harbor on the west side of Puget Sound. The first four orcas that had been taken into captivity had been captured singly, and mostly opportunistically. Those four were named Wanda, Moby Doll, Namu, and Shamu—who was then the only surviving one. Through them, interest in orcas had escalated.
| Authority control: National |
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