An orca that once lived with the star of the movie Free Willy has tragically died at a popular amusement park.
Kiska, known as the world's loneliest orca, passed away at Marineland theme park in Niagara Falls, Canada, it was announced today.
Animal activist Phil Demers, who previously worked at the park, said that Kiska was completely alone since 2011, which is considered torture for social creatures like orcas.
Kiska, the last captive orca in Canada and the focus of multiple animal activist protests at Marineland, was captured in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1979 when she was just three years old.
She was taken to an aquarium in Iceland where she lived with four other young orcas, including Keiko, the future star of the Hollywood film Free Willy.
Shortly after, Kiska was sold along with Keiko to Marineland, according to The Whale Sanctuary Project.
Keiko was then re-sold to an entertainment park in Mexico but would later be rescued, rehabilitated and returned to the ocean near Iceland.
At Marineland, Kiska gave birth to five calves - Athena, Hudson, Nova, Kanuck and one who didn’t survive long enough to be named - but all of them died young.
The Whale Sanctuary Project said: "Studies suggest that orcas’ capacity to feel deep, complex emotions rivals or even exceeds the emotional capacity possessed by humans.
"The bond between mother and calf is so deep that it is hard to imagine the grief and trauma of each of Kiska’s losses over the years."
Announcing Kiska's death today, Marineland said in a statement: "Marineland's marine mammal care team and experts did everything possible to support Kiska’s comfort and will mourn her loss."
Animal Justice, a vegan animal rights organisation that fought to help Kiska for over a decade, described the orca's death as "heartbreaking".
Lawyer Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice, said: "It is heartbreaking to know that Kiska will never have the chance to be relocated to a whale sanctuary, and experience the freedom that she so deeply deserved.
"While no other orca will have to suffer the cruelty of captivity in Canada again, we are demanding justice for what Kiska endured at the hands of Marineland.
"We are calling on provincial authorities to make public the results of a post-mortem, and prosecute Marineland for the unlawful distress Kiska clearly experienced throughout her final years."
Michèle Hamers, World Animal Protection’s Wildlife Campaign Manager, said: "World Animal Protection is heartbroken over the death of Kiska, Marineland’s last living orca but thanks to changes to federal legislation, Kiska will be the last Orca to ever be in captivity in Canada.
"The work will not stop here, Marineland, as per our 2022 investigations, seemingly continues to engage in a programming that exploits the animals it continues to own, including dolphins.
"Sadly Marineland continues to escape accountability because of Ontario’s weak animal welfare enforcement, which has resulted in a culture of non compliance of the few regulations that exist in the province.
"May Kiska’s death, re-double our efforts to ensure no more innocent animals die in Canada while being used for entertainment purposes. World Animal Protection applauds the work underway with the Jane Goodall Act which would protect many more species from being used for entertainment in Canada."
After spending over a decade completely alone at Marineland, a video of Kiska banging her head against her tank went viral in 2021.
Another video also emerged of dolphins dancing to Mambo No. 5 for a "dolphin dance party," with cetaceans "jumping out of the water, spinning in the air, and pushing trainers through the water".
At the time, the park was charged with mistreatment, but later crown prosecutors announced they would not pursue the animal cruelty charges.
In a statement released by Animal Justice, the group said: "Crown prosecutor Michal Sokolski stated that there was a reasonable prospect of conviction in the case, but decided that it was not in the public interest to prosecute Marineland, despite clear video footage depicting the dolphin shows."
Earlier this week, videos emerged of Kiska swimming in circles in her tank, with Mr Demers calling for the orca to be released into the ocean.
He said: "As someone who has worked with Kiska, watching her environment and health deteriorate as it has over the past decade has been heartbreaking and gut-wrenching."
