Nami-chan was just 28 years old when she died on January 14th at the Port Nagoya Aquarium in Japan. In the wild, female orcas live at least 50 years and some are known to live over 80 years.
Nami was captured in Japanese waters off the coast of Taiji in 1985 when she was only 3 years old. She, and a younger male orca called Goro, were taken to Taiji Whale Museum but within one month Goro was sold and moved to a different Japanese aquarium. He died in 2005. Nami spent most of her short life alone in the Taiji Whale Museum. She had a reputation for being aggressive and so trainers did not enter the water with her.
Nami was recently sold for 500 million yen (approximately US$6M) to Port of Nagoya Aquarium. She was transported the 23 hour journey on a barge. Nami was meant to be part of a breeding program after the aquarium’s last orca, Ku, died from heart failure in 2008. Nami arrived in June 2010 but by December she was clearly unwell and had lost her appetite. The cause of death is suspected to be inflammatory bowel disease, but a necropsy is planned. She was to be joined by two other orcas that are planned for transport to the Nagoya Aquarium from Kamagowa Sea World in the next few months.
There have now been 156 orcas that have died in captivity. WDCS urges everyone to avoid visiting places that keep whales and dolphins captive. These animals belong in the wild and not in captivity.
More info at: http://theorcaproject.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/killer-whale-nami-dies-captivity and http://www.orcahome.de/orcadead.htm