Kiska, Marineland’s lone killer whale and last captive orca in Canada, has died

By The Canadian Press on March 10, 2023.

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. – The Ontario government says Kiska, the last captive killer whale in Canada, has died.

A spokesman for the solicitor general says Marineland, a Niagara Falls, Ont., theme park where Kiska lived, told the province the killer whale died on Thursday.

Brent Ross says the province’s Animal Welfare Services officers were on-site as Marineland performed a necropsy on the orca.

Kiska is believed to be 47 years old and was captured in Icelandic waters in 1979.

She was captured alongside Keiko, who became famous in the movie Free Willy, and the pair lived together for a few years at Marineland in the 1980s.

Marineland’s owner declined to comment when reached by phone.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2023.

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