Another Young Killer Whale Passes Away At SeaWorld After Having A “Brief Mystery Illness”

Another sad day in the world of one of the most majestic species on the planet; the Orcas (aka Killer Whales), as another of their kind dies way before its time. And who’s probably to blame for this tragic loss? Well, Seaworld, obviously.

Kayla, who was a 30-year-old killer whale and was originally born in captivity at Seaworld’s San Antonio location before being transferred around multiple other locations and eventually ending up at Seaworld Orlando has died.

Apparently, vets at the park noticed that the orca appeared uncomfortable over the weekend so they started treating her. According to the Daily Mail, they carried out a full physical exam on the creature and tried their best to fix the issue.

However, despite their “best efforts”, 2 days later Kayla very sadly passed away.

SeaWorld has released this statement about the passing:

“The entire SeaWorld family is deeply saddened by the loss. While today is a difficult day for all of us at SeaWorld, Kayla inspired generations of guests and employees to care and learn more about this amazing species.”

Orcas are known for their incredibly social nature and can mimic human-like responses to loss, in other words, they are very capable of feeling grief just like we do. Due to this, SeaWorld says that it will be “making sure the other orcas are looked after”.

SeaWorld went on to say:

“It is possible the other orcas could be affected socially by her passing, and the orca behaviorists will be monitoring the other whales closely. We don’t, however, anticipate any physical health issues amongst the other orcas.”

For now, Kayla’s death is unofficially being ruled as a “mystery illness”, however, more will be known after a proper post-mortem examination has been carried out on Kayla’s corpse.

Although Kayla was the second oldest captive-born orca, it’s important to remember that 30-years-old is still incredibly too young of an age for an orca to die. In the wild, it’s been known for orcas to live an average of 80-90 years, whereas experts say orcas being kept in captivity/born in captivity only live an average of 25 years. Twenty. Five. Years.

Dr. Naomi Rose, who is a marine-mammal scientist at the Animal Welfare Institue, told the Orlando Sentinel: “That’s like literally being a 30-year-old woman. Dying at 30 is not normal.”

She also went on to say that if Kayla had been out in the open, she would have been in the prime of her life, making her death at the age of 30 absolutely heartbreaking.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few years, you’ll be very aware that SeaWorld has been under very heavy criticism due to its use of marine animals in “entertaining” shows designed for tourists. These criticisms were not helped, of course, by the documentary Blackfish, which shined a very bright light on the theme park itself and how damaging it can actually be for orcas to be kept in captivity.

In fact, John Hargrove, a former SeaWorld orca trainer, spoke to the Daily Mail about his time at the “attraction”, and how it was an absolute ‘abomination’.

In his own words he said:

“They claim captive orcas help educate people, and for years I bought into it. But Kasatka lived in misery, in barbaric and horrific conditions, and died in agony. She lived out her days in a house of horrors – and I was complicit in selling the lie to the public.”

Kasatka was actually a female orca who died back in 2017 at the still-young age of 41, due to being put to sleep following her rough battle with lung disease.

After Hargrove’s latest interview, a spokesperson for SeaWorld was approached for a comment. And what did they tell the Mail?

“These allegations are the same distortions and mischaracterizations that have been made and discredited over the years. No one is more dedicated to the health and wellbeing of our animals than the expert veterinarians and animal care staff working with this family of killer whales every day.”

Yeah okay, SeaWorld, whatever you say.

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