“The condition of being imprisoned or confined”
This is the definition of captivity and is the theme of this blog post. Below we delve into orcas in captivity, we will be touching on the history, issues, fate of these animals, how we can educate people, how many orcas are in captivity in 2021 and more.
Captive animals can shed light on biology and physiology that cannot be observed in wild populations. For example psychology, cognition and immunology. Captive studies have also heavily contributed to acoustics and physiology. However advances in technology have allowed scientists to conduct low impact sampling of wild populations and gather the same amount of data as the highly invasive techniques on orcas in captivity.
Please note this blog does contain graphic content and advises sensitive readers to continue with caution.
History of orcas in captivity
Throughout history there have been occasional reports of marine mammals, such as orcas, kept in captivity. However the debate about whether or not this is an ethical issue has only come about in recent times.
A new era of captivity began in the 1930’s with dolphins and belugas in a New York museum. From 1950 to 1970 the rise in aquariums and zoos displaying marine mammals increased rapidly. Synonymous to this, the technology and capabilities of humans to capture, transport and maintain enclosures grew. Scientists also took advantage of available specimens to conduct invasive and easy research.
Public opinion of orcas in captivity
Public opinion shifted in the 1980’s and nongovernment agencies forced the closure of some facilities as animal ethics were of concern. The more we watched orca behaviour in captivity, the more we began to understand how intelligent they are. This was both a discouraging and encouraging reason to keep them under close observation.
Australian and European captive mammals saw a decline due to societal pressures but other countries such as Asia, increased their efforts.
There are no international laws for captivity, unlike whale hunting. Certain countries such as Norway have their own national ban on keeping cetaceans like orcas in captivity, but this cannot carry over to other countries. Each individual government decides on how to administer and enforce such laws.
Issues with keeping an intelligent apex predator in captivity
There are many issues surrounding keeping an intelligent apex predator outside their natural environment. This is increased ten-fold for a large marine mammal.
Not only physical but psychological impacts occur on the animals and only for the gain of human interest and pleasure. The most disappointing issue surrounding captive animals is not providing any education or conservation efforts for the species. It may sound simple but not all “businesses” are managed on strong animal morals and ethics.
Below we will go into a few behaviours developed by orcas in captivity and their natural/wild equivalent.
Premature death
Only two captive orcas have reached the average equivalent of their wild counterparts. Although they receive world-class care and food delivered directly to their mouth, no captive orca has lived its full life expectancy. For females, 85% of them don’t make it past 25. In the wild, a female matriarch can reach over 100 years old and mortality rate is very low in healthy populations.
Dorsal fin collapse
The tallest of all cetacean dorsals is the male killer whale. At 1.8 metres it is supported by fibrous connective tissue! Swimming fast, in a straight line and down to deep water keeps pressure on the fin, causing it to stay straight up. In the wild less than 1% of male orcas will experience dorsal fin collapse, where the fin folds over to one side. No wild females have ever been observed with this.
100% of captive males will have a collapse fin, as well as some females. Restricted mobility, and slow movements causes less pressure, as well as potential psychological changes, chemicals in water, dehydration, medication and the animals diet may all be factors.
Unnatural diet
Orcas feast on a wide variety of prey—from fish and birds to sharks, whales, and even land animals like deer that enter marine environments. Each population has its own diet preferences, with hunting techniques passed down through generations. Some groups specialise in eating mammals, others target specific fish species, and some do both. In the wild, orcas can spend up to 90% of daylight hours foraging and travelling long distances.
In contrast, orca captivity removes these natural behaviours. Handlers feed captive orcas frozen fish, which contains less water than fresh prey and can lead to chronic dehydration. To prevent this, trainers supplement their diet with ice and gelatin. While effective in captivity, this method is highly unnatural and deprives orcas of their instinctive need to hunt and roam.
Oral degradation
Orcas have one set of conical teeth designed to last a lifetime—usually between 40 and 56 teeth, each around 4 inches long. These interlocking teeth are built to grip and tear prey into manageable pieces. In the wild, tooth wear occurs naturally over decades and can be more pronounced when orcas feed on tough prey like sharks.
In orca captivity, diet has no natural effect on dental health. Instead, damage results from the confined environment. Captive orcas often bite metal bars or concrete out of frustration, boredom, or aggression. This behaviour leads to fractured or broken teeth, exposing the pulp to infection and decay. Left untreated, these conditions can become fatal. Keepers attempt to manage the damage through dental procedures—sometimes performed up to three times a day—often without pain relief. Captive orcas have also been seen grinding their teeth on tank surfaces, wearing them down completely. No wild orca has ever been observed with this level of tooth loss.
Forced mother and calf separation
Orcas are known to have very tight family bonds with the older females experiencing menopause to be able to live longer to care for their adult young. Males will spend their entire life with mum, while females only disperse to take care of their own young. Although they are never too far away with the grandmother stepping in regularly to teach culture, techniques and other aspects of life in the ocean.
Marine parks insist on separating mother and calf pairs at a very early age. Only four times in history was it necessary, due to aggression or severe medical interference. Once separated, orca have been observed injuring themselves, becoming “depressed” and showing repetitive and unnatural behaviour.
Separation is detrimental in particular to female calves who will then show aggression or often reject their own calves when they are artificially inseminated.
A wild mother orca carried her dead calf around for 17 days in a display of grief. Her family pod brought food to her and stayed by her side the entire time.
Excessive aggression
In orca captivity, manipulating family structures and forming artificial pods—groups that would never interact in the wild—creates stress and tension. These unnatural living conditions often lead to aggression between tank mates, sometimes resulting in serious injury or even death. Orcas may ram one another, strike with their tails, or most commonly, engage in “raking.”
Raking involves dragging teeth along the skin of another orca, leaving visible scratches. In the wild, raking typically relates to dominance, rough play, or social hierarchy. However, it can also serve a purpose during moments of care. For example, a ‘midwife’ orca may rake during a difficult birth, or a family member might use their teeth to help keep an injured or sick relative afloat. Without hands or arms, orcas rely on their mouths to support one another. But in captivity, this behaviour often shifts from support to violence due to the artificial and constrained social setting.
Orca Dominance
Some individuals become completely covered in rake marks as others assert extreme dominance. These marks are not isolated cases—they are part of a broader pattern of stress-related aggression in confined environments. A quick search reveals numerous disturbing accounts of captivity-related tragedies.
Some captive orcas have lost large sections of skin and flesh, with bone exposed. Others suffer blunt-force injuries so severe that blood pours from their mouths and blowholes. Many lose teeth during violent clashes, and countless orcas endure long-term physical and psychological trauma from constant aggression. These outcomes highlight the stark contrast between life in the wild and life in captivity, where natural behaviours are distorted by artificial conditions.
Unusual Behaviour
Kandu, a matriarch at SeaWorld San Diego bled to death in 1989 after an incident during a performance. For 45 minutes she sprayed blood from her blowhole after fracturing her upper jaw and severing arteries. Her 11 month old calf (who was still drinking mum’s milk) was present for the entire ordeal and swam circles around her lifeless body as it sank to the bottom of the pool. Kandu hurt herself when she tried to ram a “foreign” orca and ended up hitting the tank wall. This was not the first time these two orca had altercations but were still kept together. In the wild these two females would have never been in the same ocean, let alone in the same confined space.
There are many more issues which include lack of mental stimuli, limited space, unusual behaviour and extended UV rays exposure. You can only imagine the compounding impact these issues would have on an orca behaviour in captivity.
Fate of captive whales
The fate of whales and orcas in captivity is not positive. They do not live full lives. They are deprived of crucial family bonds, their inherent cultures and the challenging marine environment they have evolved to not only thrive but dominate in.
How many orca are in captivity in 2025?
55 orca are still in captivity. 24 were wild caught and 31 were captive born. 173 orca have died in captivity since aquariums and zoos started housing them in the 1930’s. 2018 was the most recent capture with 10 caught in Russian waters to be sold to China. The amount of public pressure and a sale that fell through meant the whales were abandoned in small sea pens with no care. A huge effort was undertaken to release them back into the wild over a year after they were caught.
Education
North American zoos and aquariums have over 1 million visitors each year. The rise in Orca popularity came at a time when they first started appearing in tanks. However television programs and movies were also enhancing the whale’s popularity as it reached a wider audience. Captive animals can act as ambassadors to species which are endangered. It is too hard to say if orca would have the same human interest if they were never kept in captivity. But I believe we would still love them just as much.
The rise in expeditions to wild orca populations has taken off in the last decade. Equipped with more knowledge and a greater value on animal ethics a wild orca tour is the better (and should be the only) option to see these apex predators. Not all tours are made equal though.
Choose to experience orcas in the wild
Killer Whale Expeditions in Bremer Bay are a world-class way to watch wild orca. Naturaliste Charters conduct tours daily from December through to April. Each expedition is led by an expert marine biologist and experienced team. Bremer Bay Killer Whales are a perfect look into the wild lives of killer whales, their culture and their strong family bonds.
Information obtained from the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals; Wursig, Thewissen and Kovacs, 2018
Information obtained from Inherently Wild on the subject of Dorsal Fin Collapse
