JAKARTA- This is the sad story of Kiska, the loneliest orca in the world who finally died in a tank.

The last Canadian orca living in captivity has died, according to several news sites.

An orca named Kiska died on Thursday (03/09/2023) at Marineland Ontario, where he had been living for decades since his arrest, Brent Ross, spokesman for the provincial Attorney General’s Department of Canada, confirmed to Reuters.

Ross added that “the autopsy was performed by professionals held by Marineland,” although officials have yet to release Kiska’s cause of death.

Kiska would be around 47 at the time of her death, according to the publication.

“The Marine Mammal Care Team and experts at Marineland are doing everything possible to support Kiska’s comfort and will mourn her loss,” a Marineland spokesperson told the New York Post.

The outlet also noted that the theme park released a separate statement indicating that his health had been declining for weeks.

Kiska had been captured in Icelandic waters in 1979 with the orca Keiko, who featured in the movie Free Willy and was transferred to Marineland to live out her life, according to the New York Post.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) finally dubbed Kiska “the loneliest orca in the world”, Reuters reported, after all of her babies died before they reached the age of 47, and that ‘she had been living alone in the reservoir since 2011. .

The name is a play on the fact that killer whales are known as “very social animals,” according to the National Wildlife Federation.

Canada eventually passed legislation in 2019 ending captive breeding of whales and dolphins, however, Marineland was able to keep Kiska due to an old clause that granted the park an exemption, according to the Post.

Nonetheless, PETA and several other animal rights organizations campaigned for Kiska’s release from Marineland for years and posted statements mourning her death on Twitter.

“He spent his last years floating listlessly or banging his head against the wall of the tank,” PETA wrote on Twitter, referring to a video taken by animal activist Phil Demers of Kiska in his tank.

“He deserves to live at sea with his family.”

“Rest in peace, Kiska. You are free now,” PETA wrote in a separate tweet.

“In honor of his memory and the memory of all orcas who have died in captivity, we will continue our fight to end cetacean entertainment,” World Animal Protection US tweeted.

“No animal should suffer like him. Rest in peace, Kiska.”