Kiska, the world’s loneliest whale, was caught on camera banging her head against the side of her enclosure at a marine park in Canada.
The distressing video went viral on social media right away after it was shared.
Kiska is the loneliest whale in the world because she is the only whale that is still inside the MarineLand in Ontario, Canada.
In the video, she could be seen banging her enclosure.
Phil Demers, an anti-captivity activist, was the one who captured the footage.
Demers used to work at the park but he left after changing his mind.
He now works to raise awareness of captive sea mammals and what they have to go through considering they usually have no one around them.
While sharing the video, they said:
This video was taken on Sept 4th, 2021. Anti-captivity activists entered MarineLand and observed Kiska, their last surviving orca bashing her head against the wall. Please watch and share. This cruelty must end. #FreeKiska.
While sharing a second video, they said:
Another angle. This is dangerous and self harming behaviour. Kiska is in distress.
Kiska is now 44 years old and has been living in captivity since she was captured in 1979 off the coast of Iceland.
Kiska has been completely alone inside her enclosures since 2011.
All other orcas that were with her died.
Her 5 offspring have also passed away.
Talking about Kiska, Demers said:
I want to see Kiska taken to an interim facility with other orcas until the Whale Sanctuary Project (in Nova Scotia) is built. Visitors can support find the Whale Sanctuary as well as support animal abuse whistleblowers at The Whale Sanctuary Project.
Rob Lott, the end captivity campaigner for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, said that the behavior of Kiska is caused by stress.
Kiska was raised in an artificial and concrete environment and has been inside it for the last 4 decades.
Talking about Kiska, he said:
Sadly, this isn’t unique and the repetitive, self-inflicted behaviour shown by Kiska has been seen in other captive orcas where years of boredom in barren, featureless tanks with little or no stimulation manifests itself this way. Chronic stress can compromise captive orcas’ immune systems and physiology causing illness and sometimes death. Kiska has been without an orca companion since 2011 and is deprived of every aspect of the social culture she would have experienced in the wild. Orcas, and indeed all whales and dolphins, are extremely poor candidates for life in captivity.
MarineLand have not released a comment about the video that is viral on social media right now.
