~ Wealth or Health ~ What´s More Important ? ~

When one considers that Orcas in captivity are a Multi-million pound industry, it is there vital that Marine Parks make every effort to maintain their charges to the highest level in order to maximise and ensure their survival.

They therefore rely on the knowledge and vigilance of the Marine Park trainers and staff that work daily with the mammals, for them to note any changes, either physical, behavioural or otherwise!.
This can include a loss of appetite, lethargy, unwillingness to perform or do regular daily activity.

Many Marine Parks also employ highly skilled specialist veterinary staff who perform regular routine blood tests, etc and who pay particular attention to pregnant females.

Many Marine Parks are also said to use ‘preventative medicine’ in that the animals feed is supplemented with a wide variety of Antibiotics and other such medication on a routine basis.

Management and staff at Marine Parks which keep Orcas believe that their Orcas fare much better than those in the wild, due to lack of threat from Mankind (what a joke), parasites, natural food shortages, pollution and generally because they are in a stable controlled environment with access to prime veterinary care as and when needed, along with a regular, balanced diet, etc.

Think back to that unnatural controlled environment in which they are confined - a small, smooth sided pool, often filled with unnatural seawater (most Parks use a manufactured sea water mix) and mixed with a balance of Chlorine, which is used to supplement the complex filtration system as well as helping to maintain water clarity.
The balance of just how much Chlorine should be added is essential - too much or too little and the water can become irritating and smelly and generally counteract with the animals natural waste products.

I for one cannot imagine any marine mammal being entirely healthy or happy living in a restricted space, being fed a boring controlled diet of defrosted frozen fish and wallowing in a watery cocktail of saline and chemicals.

It is impossible to obtain details of the cause of death for all 153 captive Orca’s to date, this is because, during the early years, such records were often incomplete and/or inconsistent and public access was denied and/or not always made easily available as many Marine parks wished to keep such information and details private, so as not to taint either their Staff’s reputation as well as their Park on a whole.
It would make for a bad reputation and loss of money, if a Park or it’s Staff, was deemed accountable and to blame, as a cause for an Orca’s death.

However in 1985, it has been recorded that data drawn up by ‘marine mammal’ veterinarians ‘Andrew Greenwood’ and ‘David Taylor’, revealed some very interesting research connected with some captive Orca deaths in Aquariums from N. America and in Europe and that was, the high death rate due to bacterial infections.

The pair looked into the cause if death of 32 Orca’s from such aquariums as described above and noted the following:

Pneumonia (bacterial infection of the lung) - 25%
Systemic Mycosis (fungal disease affecting the whole body) - 22%
Other Bacterial Infections - 15.6%
Mediastinal Abscess (bacterial infection of the chest) - 9.4%
Other/Unknown Causes of death - 28%

The results showed that 50% of these Orca’s died due to bacterial infections, particularly in the upper respiratory section - they were also alarmed at the rather unusually high incidence of Systemic Mycosis and found this disease to be more often than not associated with those Orca’s NOT kept in open air pools with natural sea water.

Of course, nobody can say that wild Orcas do not suffer from any such complaints or diseases, as of course they do, it can also be said, that it’s not often that scientists get to perform many autopsies on deceased wild Orca’s, because these animals are more often lost at sea after they have died therefore such autopsies are taken from stranded animals (which in the Orca, is thankfully rare) and on those that are washed up on shore already dead, where at all possible - BUT without a doubt, captivity more than likely play’s a major role in aggravating Orca prone complaints/disorders and in some cases, may even be the sole cause of bringing them on in the first place.

Captive Orca’s have also been known to be parasitic, captivity does not prevent such parasites from occurring no more than a home protects a pet dog or cat from such things as fleas, lice, ticks, etc!.

Below are a few examples of some of the causes of death to a few Orca’s as taken from the ‘Marine Mammal Inventory/Necropsy Reports.

Kilroy - died 1978 in SeaWorld San Diego of gangrenous pneumonia - aged 13 yrs.
Nepo - died 1980 in MarineWorld Africa of acute bronchopneumonia - aged 13 yrs.
Ramu - died 1982 in SeaWorld Florida of cardio pulmonary decomposition - aged 18 yrs.
Winnie - died 2002 in SeaWorld San Antonio of a blocked intestine - aged 26 yrs.
Shamu - died 1971 in SeaWorld San Diego of septicemia pyometra - aged 9 yrs.
Wally - died 1971 in Munchen Aquarium of heart failure - aged 2 yrs.
Kandy - died 1973 in Marineland Canada of acute pneumonia - aged 14 yrs.
Orky II - died 1988 in SeaWorld Sea Diego of acute pneumonia & chronic wasting - aged 29 yrs.
Surfer Girl - died 1979 in MarineWorld Africa of a perforated gastric ulcer - aged 1 yr.
Neptune - died 1983 on Clacton Pier, UK of an appendicitis - aged 6 yrs.
Splash - died 2005 in SeaWorld, San Diego of a perforated stomach - age 15 yrs & 7 mths.
Benkei II - died 1983 at Shirahama Adventure World, Japan of malignant lymphoma - aged 4 yrs.
Nemo - died 1986 at Windsor Safari Park, UK of thrombocytosis - aged 5 yrs.
Hyak II - died 1991 at Vancouver Aquarium of a perforated lung, & pneumonia which was so severe that it caused damage to the brain - which in humans would be consistent with pre-Alzheimer’s lesions - aged 25 yrs.

As mentioned earlier in this feature, because information of the cause of death in many captive Orcas is either non-existent and/or inconsistent, it is very hard to draw up any significant conclusions regarding health and longevity in captive animals compared to those in the wild - HOWEVER, what can be stated quite clearly, is that nearly all of the Orca deaths have not been attributed to “old age” as if often what the Marine Parks would lead people to believe, except for perhaps those who live into their late 20’s.
Above is only a mere example of what some unfortunate animals have died from but it’s fair to state that even by looking at those above examples, there is a lot of premature deaths that has to be said, may never have materialised or formed, if the animal had been free.

It can never be emphasised enough that a high majority of captive Orca deaths have also been linked to pregnant females experiencing problems either through gestation or soon after having given birth, along with a number of calves being miscarried, stillborn or dying during their infancy - in the wild, such complications are quite rare and whilst mortality rates for juveniles still stand’s high, one must surely question whether all these deaths are actually worth such a ‘multi-million pound’ industry that clearly has severe flaws within it’s system, even in the 21st century!.

I will be covering captive breeding in a separate feature coming soon.