Gender: FemalePod: N/APlace of Capture: Hatajiri Bay, JapanDate of Capture: February 9, 1997Age at C

Gender: FemalePod: N/APlace of Capture: Hatajiri Bay, JapanDate of Capture: February 9, 1997Age at Capture: Approx. 5 years A group of 10 Orcas were captured on February 9, 1997 in Hatajiri Bay in Japan. Five of the whales were released, while the remaining five whales were kept and sold to marine parks. One of the females, known as Ku, was sold to the Taiji Whaling Museum. When she arrived, her health immediately began to deteriorate and she lost weight. She reportedly had several tumors that were removed after being discovered. She was sickly for about a year until she finally began to recover and eat properly. Ku was soon placed with the Museum’s other female, named Nami. However, Nami was an aggressive whale, and the pair were separated as they did not get along. Ku was the friendlier whale who was often used to interact with guests, sometimes being touched by them. In October 2003, Ku was sent to the Port of Nagoya Aquarium on a 5 year breeding loan. Ku was trained for Artificial Insemination and staff hoped she would become pregnant; but she disliked the procedure and it was stopped with her. Ku performed alongside several smaller dolphins and was typically a very friendly whale. In the mid-2000’s, however, she was recorded lunging at a trainer standing on the slideout who had been reaching over into a bucket of fish. In July 2008, Ku began refusing to eat and became very ill. She was moved to the medical pool where she slowly got better and recovered in August. Unfortunately, on September 19, 2008, Ku was found dead at the bottom of the medical pool due to apparent heart failure. She had reportedly contracted a Herpes virus that weakened her immune system. x | x | x | x | x | x | x -- source link

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