• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
'World's loneliest orca' stares motionless at tank gate for 24 hours in heartbreaking footage

Home> News> Animals

Updated 14:42 23 Aug 2024 GMT+1Published 14:25 23 Aug 2024 GMT+1

'World's loneliest orca' stares motionless at tank gate for 24 hours in heartbreaking footage

The video was taken at Mundo Marino, Argentina's largest aquarium

Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton

Heartbreaking footage shows a captive killer whale laying almost motionless in a tiny pool at Mundo Marino, Argentina's largest aquarium.

Kshamenk, 35, was first brought to the site in 1992 after being captured off the Samborombón Bay.

According to aquarium, the then three-year-old orca was discovered beached on the bay by fishermen and was with three other killer whales.

Advert

Kshamenk was then taken to his concrete tank at Mundo Marino in which he has spent the last 32 years.

His tank mate Belen passed away in 2000 aged just 13, which means the last 24 years of Kshamenk's life have been spent in total isolation from his own species.

Since then, the 35-year-old orca has spent every day in a cramped, shallow pool with little room to swim around.

Advert

He is the last remaining captive killer whale in Argentina.

UrgentSeas, a non-profit organization which aims to end marine captivity, is campaigning to free Kshamenk and take him to an open sanctuary with other orcas to socialize with.

On August 12, UrgentSeas captured a heartbreaking 24-hour timelapse video which shows Kshamenk laying motionless with his face pointed directly towards the enclosure's gate as though he's wanting to be let out.

Kshamenk is kept in the same enclosure 24/7. (SWNS/@UrgentSeas)
Kshamenk is kept in the same enclosure 24/7. (SWNS/@UrgentSeas)

Advert

A spokesperson from the organization said: "We continue to work with Argentinian activists and members of Congress to try to highlight and address his cruel world.

"He needs to be removed from his tiny concrete tank and to join other members of his species before it’s too late."

UNILAD has approached Mundo Marino for comment.

Despite the 'Blackfish effect', which was a surge in awareness and activism for captive orcas after the 2013 documentary aired, Kshamenk slipped through the cracks.

Advert

The hard-hitting film documents the controversial captivity of killer whales, and its dangers for both humans and the species.

Activists are calling for the orca's release. (SWNS/@UrgentSeas)
Activists are calling for the orca's release. (SWNS/@UrgentSeas)

Tilikum the killer whale was the focus of documentary, an orca who was kept in a tank at SeaLand in Canada with two much larger female orcas who would regularly attack him.

He was later moved to SeaWorld in Orlando after he and the two other orcas at SeaLand killed a young trainer.

Advert

While in Orlando, Tilikum killed another two people - a tragedy that Blackfish looks further into.

The large mammal died from a bacterial lung infection on January 6, 2017.

Blackfish boasts a near-perfect score of 99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and is currently streaming on Netflix, Hulu and Fubo.

Featured Image Credit: SWNS/@UrgentSeas

Topics: Animal Cruelty, News, World News, Animals

Niamh Shackleton
Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton is an experienced journalist for UNILAD, specialising in topics including mental health and showbiz, as well as anything Henry Cavill and cat related. She has previously worked for OK! Magazine, Caters and Kennedy.

X

@niamhshackleton

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

10 hours ago
11 hours ago
12 hours ago
  • 10 hours ago

    Ex-pilot of B-2 stealth bomber reveals disturbing truth of going to toilet on 44-hour mission

    Air Force colonel Melvin Deaile had to go for a wee every 60 minutes

    News
  • 11 hours ago

    People left stunned as woman breaks down exactly how much it costs to give birth in America

    You could put deposits down on several houses for that!

    News
  • 12 hours ago

    Doctor gives 'deeply concerning' warning after man injected himself with sperm to 'cure back pain'

    A man self-medicated by injecting himself with his own semen to 'cure' his back pain

    News
  • 12 hours ago

    Rosie O’Donnell issues scathing response to all the celebrities who attended Jeff Bezos’ $56,000,000 wedding

    "Seeing all these billionaires gathering in the gross excess of it all. The show of it," she wrote on Instagram.

    Celebrity
  • Horrifying moment orca came to viewing window with dead SeaWorld trainer in its mouth
  • SeaWorld trainer's recorded final moments before being dragged into water by orca
  • Circus bear on hoverboard attacks handler pinning him to the ground as audience members watch
  • Hundreds of cats killed in incredibly controversial competition where people win money for slaughter