Welcome

about the blog.

Welcome to Okeanos blog, a place for my personal cetacean experiences, and updates about the captive orca population. Okeanos was originally created in 2009, but became neglected. In the summer of 2013, I started up Okeanos again to make it what you see before you now.
~ Profiles on all living captive orcas can be found on the bar on right.
~ Listings of the captive orcas birthdays can be found here.
~ A selection of significant events in the captive orca industry can be found here.
~ The names and locations of all captive orcas that have since passed away can be found here.
~ A family tree of the captive orcas can be found here.

about me.
At the age of 10 after a trip to Florida I became very interested in cetaceans, and complied profiles about every single species. My interest became further directed towards killer whales, and after a trip to Marineland Canada in August 2003, I created my own website named Friend of the Orcas. The website ran for a few years, having many versions and it's own domain at one point. When I hit my teenage years, I abandoned the website, but my love for killer whales didn't diminish and I still made sure to visit a park every year. To date I have visited Marineland Canada x2 (2003, 2004), SeaWorld Florida x4 (1996, 2002, 2018, 2026), SeaWorld California x5 (1998, 2007, 2013, 2023, 2026), SeaWorld Texas x5 (2009, 2010x2, 2011, 2026), Six Flags Vallejo (2007), Loro Parque x 6 (2006, 2012, 2019, 2024, 2025, 2026), Marineland France x8 (2004x2, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2023), Miami Seaquarium (2018), Mundo Marino (2025), Kamogawa SeaWorld (2026), Nagoya Port Aquarium (2026), Kobe Suma SeaWorld (2026), Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park (2026) and Chimelong Spaceship (2026).

SeaWorld Tour - Sept 2026

 SeaWorld Orlando - 8th and 9th September

-So my last trip to Orlando was in 2018. I started off my SeaWorld Tour with a two day trip to Orlando, and I feel like I barely saw the orcas. On the first day I arrived for the 12pm show. On obviously there's only 4 orcas now, compared to 6 back in 2018. They're split as boys group (Trua and Makaio) and girls group (Nalani and Malia). Makaio has grown a lot since I last saw him. They’re two big floppy finned boys now! When arriving to orca stadium, there wasn't even a group in the show pool, both groups were in the pools behind the stage. In the show, it felt like the boys were the main performers and the girls featured towards the end. I felt like I didn't really see Nalani though, even though she was there. After the show, Cesar and I went for 12.30pm Dine with Orcas. Last time I came in 2018, the orcas weren't even in this pool, they had pilot whales. But apparently the orcas don't really like going in this pool anyway, which is unfortunate. The girls had access to the Dine pool, but only went in when their trainers told them to. Nalani kept out of it as much as possible, whereas Malia was a bit more receptive to being in there. During Dine the trainers demonstrated a few behaviours like breach and blowhole vocalisations, but not too much. After dine, we didn't see the orcas until the 6.30pm show.. which got cancelled half way through because of the weather. We didn't even see the girls during that! So overall it felt a little underwhelming that day. 

Day 2, Cesar and I popped to Aquatica to see the Commerson’s dolphins - such cuties. Then we Ubered back to SeaWorld to see the 12pm show. The girls featured more in this show which was good. Then I went for the 12.30pm Dine experience again, but alone… The girls were used again, with Nalani keeping out the pool as much as possible. The boys were in the other pool enjoying hanging out under the hose. I couldn't tell who was getting the hose down from afar. But after the trainers left Malia stayed in the Dine pool. I went down to the underwater glass and watched her lapping for some time. The staff were saying it was unusual for her to be this ‘interactive’. She was only lapping past the glass. But it was lovely to see her, beautiful girl. The staff also said apparently the boys will ram the glass if they're in the pool, which isn't good. And the reason it's restricted to stand right up close to the glass is because apparently the orcas don't like the visitors.. curious.

I had my 3.45pm killer whale upclose tour - I really thought it was gunna get cancelled as the sky was looking ominous, but lucky it went ahead. We got taken to the stadium and went down to the glass. We had the boys in the pool! I was in Makaio’s group and I was first up to have my photo with him. Lovely boy. He loved doing the gurgle belches lol. The trainer got him to do some pec slaps, underwater vocals and then splashes.. I allowed myself to get semi-wet by him, not fully soaked ahah. The experience was probably less than 30 minutes tbh.

Then I returned for the 6.30pm show and it did go ahead. Boys and girls used fairly equally this time, I think..and at the end, Nalani and Malia were left in the show pool. They were lapping around together. The trainers drew a net across one of the seperators which I was told was the sign that they will be staying in the pool overnight.

But yes it's a very different experience now… It just feels like there's barely any opportunity to see the orcas. After being in Japan and China where there's all day access to the orcas, this is way more disappointing…but I did know it would be, I just didn't know it would be this bad. Loro Parque is also restrictive, but you at least have better views of the orcas when the stadium is open for the show as there's usually someone lapping in the show pool, and it's possible to see them unrestricted in the back pools. It's also disappointing as Orlando is one of the OG orca parks, but it's not the same anymore. I also don't understand the reason for the bars on the trainer stage, yet the trainers hug and rubdown the orcas on the slide out, so the trainers aren't exactly ‘safe’ then. Strange logic. But it is always surreal to remember that this is the park where ‘the death’ happened and realising it was in the Dine pool as well.. 16.5 years ago, crazy. But yeah it's disappointing how SeaWorld is expensive for not a lot..

SeaWorld San Antonio - 11th to 13th September 

-My first time back in San Antonio in 14 years, and first time back to SeaWorld in 15 years! So the morning of my flight I discovered that Leo, who I met at Orlando was going to be going to San Antonio too! Through his connections to the trainers there, he managed to get me a complimentary pass for Friday which was great! Totally unexpected. I didn't arrive until 4.30pm and met Leo at Discovery Point. I saw the bottlenose dolphins there. Then we went over to the Lags and ‘Lugas stadium for that show. I love lags so much. Such great acrobats! Then time for the 6.15pm orca show. We sat on the stadium side of Kyuquot and Takara. Tuar and Kyuquot were in the showpool before the show. This already made it better than Orlando, getting to see the orcas in their free time! Tuar was lapping and being vocal, whereas Ky was just chilling by the gate. The show featured both the boys and girls! Crazy to see how big Tuar and Sakari were now compared to 15 years ago! We hung around for the opening night of Moonlight Mayhem.. lol Sakari hijacked the show but she killed the momentum with a very lackluster splash segment. Oops!

But yeah over the weekend, I basically spent opening until close at SeaWorld. The days went pretty quick. On Saturday there were 4 shows, and Sunday there were 3. I enjoyed getting in as soon as the stadium opened so I could see who was in the showpool beforehand. Sometimes it was the girls, sometimes the boys, and sometimes none. The boys were typically more chill. The girls were more inclined to splash the audience on their own accord - Sakari got me wet twice, thanks girl 😂. The shows varied in how long the boys and girls featured..sometimes it was 50/50, sometimes it'd be more boy heavy. For the second Moonlight Mayhem show, it was boys only..I guess because Sakari ‘spoiled’ the first night they wanted to ensure the boys made a more impressive splash section aha. 

On the Saturday, Leo and I booked to do Dine with Orcas, but we had separate tables.. we had the girls, Sakari and Takara. Takara was doing laps where she'd go half way around the pool upside down and then surface upright near the slideout. Sakari did some aerial behaviours during the trainer segment, which Leo said is not common. So that was cool. The food was really good to, lots of variety! Again, better than Orlando!

On Sunday we did the Orca Close Up Tour… This time we had the boys. I was a little disappointed as I would've liked to have met Sakari at the glass. But Leo and I split again, where I wanted Ky and Leo wanted Tuar. The tour was also way better than Orlando. The trainer, Jacob, gave us much longer with the orcas than what Orlando gave. I got my photos then Jacob got me to do some behaviours with Ky, such as vocalising and waving. Cutie. Such a big beautiful boy.

Aside from the inhumane heat, I much preferred my time in San Antonio. I felt like I really got to see more of the orcas compared to Orlando, even though the stadium opening times are still restricted - it makes such a difference to have access to see the orcas before the show in the showpool. It's a bit like Loro Parque in this way. Obviously both Orlando and San Antonio have only four orcas each, so it feels like I'm ‘improving’ with each park where my next and final stop will be seeing the 8 orcas at San Diego!

SeaWorld San Diego - 15th and 16th September

Well San Diego is my most recent park, having been only 3.5 years ago. So it’s still all the same group, everyone is still around which is good. Whereas SeaWorld Orlando was previously home of the icon orcas (Katina, Tilikum, Kalina, Taima) back in the 90s/00s, I’d say that SeaWorld San Diego definitely takes the title of having the icon orcas now (Corky, Ulises, Orkid, Keet). I’m so grateful that Corky is still around, she really is such a legend. And so I was delighted that she was one of the first orcas that I saw when I arrived at the park. I headed straight to the Dine pool and Corky and Ike were there. Ike was spyhopped and Corky did a tailslap. She swam past the glass and checked me out! Then Shouka and Makani came into the pool. Shouka came to the glass to check out my toys and was vocalising, so cute! Ike was basically chilling, Makani lapped a bit and then went over near the gate, and Corky was continuing upside down laps, but she did check me out again, eep! Just couldn’t keep her there long enough. The group were sent out the Dine pool just before 11am to have time with their trainers. I went into the stadium when it opened at 11:30am. Makani was chilling under the jets and Shouka was swimming in and out between the showpool and back right pool. She also went over the stage slideout that connects the two pools aha. Makani then went to chill by the showpool glass. Looked as if he had a faded patch on his head. Sun burn? In the show were Corky, Ikaika, Shouka and Makani. Even though it was the same script as Orlando and San Antonio, I was relieved the recorded video was different at least!

After the show I went for my Dine with orcas. I had the other group, yay - Kalia, Orkid, Keet and Ulises. I had Orkid closest to me. Beautiful girl. We saw lots of aerial behaviours and spyhops and slideouts during the Dine. Orkid and Kalia were sent out and the boys stayed. I had Ulises and Keet individually keep spyhopping right next to me, it was awesome! I stayed the full time for Dine, then continued to watch Ulises and Keet from a different view point. They were mainly hanging near the gate, just chilling. They’d alternate who would take turns to go and spyhop haha. I could see Kalia was on the other side of the gate though, hanging and spyhopping too. Keet was vocalising and blowing bubbles underwater a lot ahah. I left the park around 3:25pm to then go for a sunset whale watch cruise. 

The following day, I headed straight to the orcas when I arrived but the Dine pool was empty. Well, the gate was open but they were in the mid pools. Shouka and Ulises were coming in and out. It looked as if they were hosting a late breakfast for SeaWorld staff so I went on some rides. When I came back, Keet was around the trainer stage and Ulises was hanging underwater near the gate. I went into the stadium before the 12pm show. Orkid and Shouka were lapping and did a bit of synch swimming. Then Makani and Kalia swapped out. In the show were Shouka, Orkid, Kalia, Makani, Ulises and Keet. After the show, Ulises and Keet were enjoying massages from the jets.

I did my orca close up tour. It was just me and one other person. We got to watch the orcas having a ‘race’ through all the pools, and doing porpoising. Kalia was up front and Keet at the back haha. Shouka got sent over to the slideout to pose, pretty girl. Then we had Kalia at the glass. I got to do a fluke pump, wave and vocalisations with her. Pretty girl. And photos, of course. After the tour I got food and watched Corky and Ikaika in the Dine pool. I watched the end of the trainer session - some breaches and spyhops. Then after they chilled. Ike was hanging by the stage, Corky doing upside down laps as always. I went and did some more rides, then came back to the stadium at 3.30pm for the second show. Shouka was in and out of the showpool. In the show was Makani, Kalia and Shouka. Then after the show I went back to Dine and watched Ikaika and Corky doing laps until it was closing time.

–

So as already mentioned, I felt like the parks improved with each one I went to. Orlando is the least enjoyable with the least access to orcas for me. San Antonio was good, I enjoyed the Dine and Close up experience and the night shows. However San Diego is the best as it has the most orcas and the all day access to them. I had actually purchased a 2027 Fun Card for San Diego, so I think I will try and squeeze in another trip there next year!

China Orca Parks

Well in May I took in a trip I had been very nervous to do – going to China to meet the orcas. Due to China’s black out nature, I had been nervous because it was difficult to get travel information from Google Maps. I also thought I had to get a tourist visa from the embassy which seemed long winded. But after going to Japan, and learning about the 10 day transit visa option and meeting Cesar who was doing a China trip after Japan, I decided to bring forward my intended trip. I did lots of YouTube video research to prepare me for all the phone apps I was going to need.

Shanghai
So I landed in Shanghai and I had booked a hotel that was centralish between the airport and Haichang. Unfortunately I couldn’t sleep the night before, but in the morning I took a Didi to Haichang and bought a ticket on the door. I arrived just in time for the start of the 11am orca show. Wow, what a sight to behold Panghu. What an incredible male. What on earth is in the water to allow Panghu and Shawn to keep such straight dorsals?! I’m convinced Panghu is the biggest male in captivity too, not Tyson. During my time at Shanghai over 3 days I went to all shows which were only 11am on Thursday and Friday, and on Saturday there was an 11am and 1pm. The shows were 15-20 mins long. It basically seemed like the Panghu show, and then they brought in Dora, Zimo and Cody. Cookie was never used, only brought to the trainer stage at the end of the shows. And Shawn was kept out all of the shows except the last one where he was used at the very end.

After the shows I would basically spend all day at the underwater glass. Zimo really was the star. He was so curious and interactive at the glass. But he had a slight stereotypy pattern of swimming along the wall. Not quite as bad as Cody’s stereotypy though of banging his head underneath the concrete stage.
The groupings appeared to be primarily Shawn alone in the left pool, Cody and Zimo in the main underwater glass pool and Dora, Cookie and Panghu in the right pool. However they would mix them up throughout the day. On the first day, Shawn was in with Cody and Zimo for part of the day, which was not really a great thing for the little ones as Shawn kept trying to penetrate them! Particularly Cody, poor boy. Even Panghu tried to get in on the action too. I felt like Cody was roughhoused a lot, even Zimo would bash against him!

I didn’t see a whole lot of Dora and Cookie. But Cookie was absolutely huge. So so clearly pregnant (and turns out she gave birth a month after my visit!).

Not only was Zimo very active at the glass but he was also very vocal too. I was very confused at what I was hearing at first, but then I realized it was Zimo. I was also very pleased and privileged when I got my own personal interaction with Zimo when no one else was around. Loved it.

As mentioned before, I went to the park 3 days. On day 2 and 3 I managed to get discounted entry as ‘Ladies ticket’ – this was to do with it being around mother’s day apparently. Very happy about that. Unfortunately the afternoon of my last day the orcas were kept out of the underwater glass, whilst some workers did maintenance outside the tank. I explored the rest of the park but can’t say I was overly impressed. I observed some fire animal welfare conditions and acts of animal abuse, by both staff and guests. I’m glad to see the orcas were doing well for the most part but I can’t say the same about the other animals in the park.
 

Chimelong
After Shanghai I flew to Zhuhai and stayed a short Didi ride away from Chimelong Spaceship. I bought a 2 day ticket. I headed straight for the underwater orcas. For both days in the main pool and used in the shows were Nakhod, Chaid, Kaixin and Yilong. They were used in two short underwater performances, and then the two main shows in the stadium. The main shows were absolutely hectic. I’ve never seen such chaos and sensory overload in a show before. The shows were 35 mins and feature blaringly loud music, dancers, water skiiers and pelicans and ibis! Then finally it’s the orcas. They introduce each orca in the show and then do a video clip about the baby orcas of Chimelong. I do worry for the orcas with the noise though.

Speaking of babies, I went down to the Kindergarten pool and got to see Nukka, Sonya and Liulong/Pearl! Ahh what a little cutie. So sweet to see her. She had moments of being independent. And looked like Nukka has one on the way! I asked a staff member if she was pregnant and she was like ‘Shhh!’, so that suggested yes to me lol.

Towards the end of my first day I went back over to the Kindergarten pool and saw two orcas in there – a small and large one. It was the quickest of glimpses before they closed the curtain but my gut told me it was Loki and Bandhu. Quite a special sighting as I hear they are typically off exhibit!
The following day was very much the same in terms of where each groups were. I had been disappointed at the end of the first day to not have seen Tyson, Katenka, Jade and the calves. However during the day I went over to the Kindergarten pool and was surprised to see those 6 in there. Again, it was only a short sighting, and I was worried that would be my only sighting of the day. Tyson, Jade and Jingxi were briefly put in the main pool, but again it wasn’t for long.

I was relieved when at the last hour of the day that that group were put into the main pool. It was fascinating to see them. To me Tyson didn’t look like the biggest male orca of all. And the babies Katniss, Jingxi and Bowen were oddly small. All 3 were older than Zimo, yet Zimo seemed so much bigger and more independent than all of them. These calves looked like one year olds. And it was crazy how Katniss was barely any bigger than Bowen. Most odd.
Finally, I visited the underwater restaurant twice even though it was horrifically overpriced and underwhelming food choices. But I did get the orca chocolate mousse which was nice!

 
But yeah, what a treat to see them all. I officially saw all captive orcas in China – except 2 new ones will make the list – Cookie’s and Nukka’s calves. I guess I will have to go back at some point?!

Japan Orca Parks - March 2006

 Kamogawa SeaWorld

So this was my first park and I can’t express how excited I was to be here. I first learnt about the captive orcas in 2003, and Kamogawa has been a staple park throughout all that time. It’s the OG orca park of Japan. And so I was super excited to meet Lovey and Lara who I’ve known since I was 11. When I arrived I went straight to the orca stadium and was delighted to see it was already open – as I’m accustomed to stadiums only being open at set times like Loro Parque. And there they were, the three girls – Lovey, Lara and Luna. They were lapping in unison when I arrived. I stayed at the glass the whole time before the first show – I probably did like a 1000 squats that whole day to get a good view of the orcas, as the underwater view requires getting low. It was so cool to see them hangout with each other and interact. It appeared that Luna and Lara were more of a pairing and Lovey occasionally did her own thing. I also noticed Lovey’s jaw injury which I later learnt happened when she and Lara were upset over Ran leaving. Poor girls. But I did also noticed that Lovey had some prominent rake marks down her side which I found curious. I also later heard that apparently Lovey isn’t the dominant female and the other two pick on her. This surprised me. Other than Lovey doing ‘her own thing’ more I never really observed behaviours that made me think they didn’t get along. I thought Lovey was hanging alone because she was the dominant one, not thinking it was because she was picked on. I did see Lovey and Luna ‘mouthing’ each other quite a bit but I didn’t think it looked aggressive. Only one moment it seemed the girls got a bit ‘feisty’ but it was over so quickly and it was too hard to see what was going on because of the splashes and water disturbance.

 Anyway, so obviously the significant thing about Kamogawa is that they still do waterworks in their shows – something I haven’t seen in 16 years. I’m not overly a fan of trainers standing on the orcas backs and faces, but it does look like the trainers do have a nice relationship with the orcas. And they height they can reach when the orcas propel them into the air is quite spectacular! It was also refreshing that the Kamogawa shows alternated their soundtrack every other show, unlike Loro Parque which does the exact same show format every singe time. And there were more shows than Loro Parque too. We were also not asked to leave the stadium in-between shoes either, so that was amazing – literally getting to camp out at the orcas all day! It was also super interesting to see what a hardcore ‘orca fan club’ there was at Kamogawa. Lots of locals with so much orca merchandise, proper cameras and just hanging out all day with the orcas. It was really cool – closest I’d seen that was my last trip to Marineland France but not really at the SeaWorld parks or LP. My only regret for Kamogawa was not going to the underwater restaurant – I saw the restaurant but had no idea that it had viewing glass to the orca pool. Shame. I just assumed it was above only access as the orca fans stayed up there.

 

Nagoya

Well I was sad that I would be visiting Nagoya with Earth no longer there. But what a great facility it is. I loved the opportunity to see Lynn all day either above or below water. The days I was there, Lynn spent the first half of the day in the back pools and then the second half of the day she had access to the show pool and one back pool. Honestly, wow. Seeing her in the show pool is incredible. What a huge pool! I wish all captive cetaceans (not just orcas) could live in pools this big. From my observations of Lynn, she was active all day. She wasn’t an overly lethargic orca floating lifelessly like I’ve seen some others. She was always moving and interacted with her two dolphin pool mates too. The trainers often gave her ice cubes in-between training sessions. She did two training sessions a day – the first in the back pools and the second in the show pool. The sessions were quite good at striving to be educational, unlike the Kamogawa ones which were purely for entertainment. An observation of the dolphins at Nagoya is they all seemed to have this stereotypical behavior of swimming upside down, blowing bubbles and then righting themselves to chomp on the bubbles as they rose. Even the one year old calf was doing it! And Lynn’s stereotypical behavior would be swimming the pool in loops – swimming upside down near the bottom of the pool and then swimming upright at the surface. She often had one or two dolphins accompanying her with this. It’s a shame she has to live without any other orcas company. We’ll see if she gains a companion again or not.. At Nagoya I also met Masumi-Chan, a nice Japanese lady. We communicated through Google translate, it was quite fun to talk about the orcas with her!

 

Kobe Suma Sea World

 So my last park was the newest of the Japan parks, almost marking two years of having orcas there. Of the three parks it was the most expensive, but has less to see. Perhaps because of having less to see this is why they had more shows. At the weekend which is when I went, there were 5 to 6 shows per day and longer opening hours. However I arrived and saw there was a Dine with the orcas buffet experience at the underwater glass which I reserved for Sunday dinner! So it was my first time to meet Stella who I had also known of for 23 years – Mama Stella. And then pretty daughter Ran. Stella appeared ‘sociable’ as before the shows she spent much of her time hanging out in front of the glass. Great photo opportunities for everyone. Whereas Ran was less social, spending more time floating by the wall.

 Like Kamogawa, Kobe also does waterworks with the orcas. Must’ve been interesting for Stella to re-train that after having so many years without it. The shows were shorter than Kamogawa – about 15 mins exactly, but I guess that’s what allowed them to have more shows in the day. However unlike Kamogawa we had to leave the stadium in-between the shows. And frustratingly I never knew how long the stadium was closed for. A staff member told me that the stadium opened 30 minutes before, but I found that it actually opened even earlier than that. I never figured out the exact time.

 As for Stella and Ran, they would lap the pool together at times but also spent time apart. I noticed Stella had rake arks, which again I was surprised about like with Lovey. Turns out that Ran isn’t always the nicest to her mother, which shocked me. I assumed Stella was the matriarch and they would co-exist peacefully as they are family.

 The second day at the park I made a friend – a fellow orca fan Alex who was there with his mum to also see all the Japan parks and the China ones too. It was so cool to chat about the orcas. We spent the day together and we had the same dinner reservation by chance. I got to join their table at the glass. It was so cool to dine with the orcas and see them from underneath. We also go to see the last show from this new point. Super cool to see the trainers in the water and the signals they give to the orcas via various body cues.

 

Yeah, so what a trip! I think the order I visited the parks is also the order I favour them from most to least. Kamogawa is just the OG park and Nagoya has the huge pools, whereas Kobe doesn’t have much to make it feel too special, apart from the underwater glass restaurant. No idea if I will ever come to these parks again, but so glad I did!

Loro Parque February 2026 Trip Report

And so finally, my World Captive orca tour that I have been wanting to do for years is here. My aim is to visit every orca park this year (except Moscow and the not really known Chinese parks), and I have kicked it off with a re-visit to Loro Parque to check in on how baby boy Teno is doing..

Monday 9th February 2026

As always, I arrived in the park in the morning and killed time seeing the other animals until it was time for the first orca show! I came in at the right side of the stadium. Morgan and Teno were in the showpool with Adan, whilst Tekoa was in the back left. I went over to the far left side of the stadium was thats where Teno and Morgan were hanging out. Teno was doing lots of head tapping on Morgan's mammary glands. Teno then went and followed one of the trainers around who was playing with him at the glass. So cute! Teno did a few slide outs too, bless him. Over at the left side of the pool he was then just goofing at the glass and being really cute. Morgan was just chilling. Before the show started that briefly put all 4 orcas in the back pool together. 

So the show started with Tekoa and Adan, but they took Tekoa out pretty quickly. So the first half was mainly Adan. Then the second half was Morgan and Teno. Teno was cute doing a few froggies, spins and pec waves. No breaching yet. At the end of the show, Morgan and Teno remained in the showpool with the boys in the back. Teno resumed bumping Morgan's mammary glands again, but then they started their showpool laps - swimming underwater upside down across the pool, and them Morgan's high tail dive at the left of the pool. 

After the show I got lunch and looked at the other animals - chimps, penguins and gorillas. Then I went back for the second orca show. Teno was being soo cute at the glass again - poking his tongue out. I felt like he was doing it for me lol. He looked like he was watching a mother and her baby too, so sweet. The second show was very much the same. However Tekoa wasn't in it at all, he was in the med pool. Hope he's okay. After the show, Teno was bumping Morgan again and then I left the park. 

Tuesday 10th February 2026

This morning I bought my VIP pass for the 1pm slot. Again, I went to see the other animals first - I felt like the baby sloth was the real star of the show. And I found the black panther, white tiger, red panda and baby capybaras today. There were pretty cute too. Then I went in for the first orcas show. Tekoa and Adan were in the showpool, and Morgan and Teno were in the right back pool. Morgan and Teno were doing their own thing - Morgan was spyhopping. Tekoa was following a trainer around and squeaking. Adan was just lapping. Morgan and Teno synched up their lapping but then Teno swam into the back left pool by himself.

We had all 4 orcas in the show. At the end Teno was being cute and wagging his tail when he was supposed to be pec waving, n'awww. After the show, a trainer kept throwing lots of jelly to Morgan and Teno. Then they were left to swim between showpool and the back right pool, whilst the boys were in the left pool. 

I had my lunch then went for the VIP tour. It was such a big group compared to when I did it in 2024. The guide showed us the alligators, animal embassy and chimps. Then we went to the underwater orcas. We had Teno being the cutest baby at the glass. There were a few kids with their dad in our group, and Teno was keenly checking them out. It was super adorable - worth the money just to see that! I left the tour early to get to the second orca show. Morgan and Teno were in the show pool and Teno was being his super cute self as always. He was wagging his tongue and spraying water too. Such a cutie. However Morgan and Teno weren't used in the show at all, it was just the boys. Morgan and Teno were in the back, sliding out and doing target practice instead. That was too bad to not see them before I left.

But it was a great two days, and I'm so happy to see what a sweet boy Teno is. Hopefully I will make it for another visit later in the year when Wikie and Keijo are finally moved here...Fingers crossed!

Loro Parque June 2025 Trip Report

 Loro Parque Trip Report – 4^th and 5^th June 2025

I booked my trip literally just one week before I flew out. And I was so DELIGHTED when I discovered in the early morning that I was flying out that Caio Ribeiro was already out in Tenerife and would be going to Loro Parque the same days that I was. What are the chances!! So I arrived to Puerto de la Cruz on Tuesday evening and then had two days of Loro Parque booked in.

 When I arrived on Wednesday I went and checked out a few of the other animals first, like the gorillas, chimps, penguins and anteaters. Then I went to Orca Stadium and met Caio outside. We went in when they opened the gates for the 11:45am show. Adan was in the showpool and Tekoa was in the back left, whilst Morgan and Teno were in the back right and we headed straight over there to check out the new bubba! They we basically lapping diagonally across the pool the whole time, with Morgan doing her high tail dives. Teno would alternate which side he would surface on Morgan.

 I’ll admit that I found the shows very underwhelming, as they now are only using Tekoa and Adan. They also don’t really use the two boys together in the show very much. They tend to swap them out, but perhaps that’s to give each one a break so they aren’t both performing for a solid 20 minutes, and then only towards the end bring them in together.

 Basically during our two days at Loro Parque, we went to both shows each day and made a bee-line to whichever pool that Morgan and Teno were in to watch and photograph them. We also observed that Tekoa and Adan wouldn’t share the same pool very often when outside of showtimes, however they would sometimes be in the showpool together but swimming separately. It’s a shame that they don’t really have a relationship. Caio described Adan as a ‘weird whale’ as he doesn’t show much of his body when he surfaces, like how transient orcas surface. Caio suspects that Adan is odd as he was hand-reared. Tekoa would occasionally vocalise and Caio would call him attention seeking. Tekoa would play with ice that the trainers would put on the side and slide up to grab it or knock it off. We also saw the trainers play with big buoys on rope that they would bounce off of Tekoa’s and Adan’s rostrums.

 We mainly saw Morgan and Teno doing just the same lapping around the pools. They would alternate between the different backpools as the trainers moved them around. We saw the trainers interact with Morgan, like dangling squid on her rostrum and Morgan would slideout for ‘kisses’. We also saw Teno start to become a little bit more independent. Caio felt that Morgan’s swimming pattern was also odd, and so Teno would struggle to swim alongside her like other mother and calves. However we could see Teno nursing underwater which was good. I did notice that Teno had a small sore on his chin though, bless him. We were very disappointed when a few days after we left they allowed Morgan and Teno into the showpool as we missed out on the chance to see them from the underwater glass. But at least we got to see them at all, especially little Teno at just over 2 months old!

I just wish they would move Wikie and Keijo to Loro Parque…

Mundo Marino - January 2025 Trip Summary

Mundo Marino Trip Summary – 9^th to 15^th January

Helio and I travelled from France and England to make the long travel to Argentina to visit Kshamenk at Mundo Marino. After learning about the captive orca industry 22.5 years ago, it was always my wish to visit every orca park in the world but I never knew whether I would make it to see Kshamenk or not. And so it is very surreal that Helio and I finally made this trip happen, after months of talking and planning it! We arrived into Buenos Aires late on Tuesday 7^th January and then took the 4 hour bus the following day to San Clemente del Tuyu.

From Thursday 9^th January to Wednesday 15^th January we visited Mundo Marino every day. Over those 7 days we saw Kshamenk in 22 shows, at 11am, 12pm, 3pm and 6:20pm. We also had the opportunity to view Kshamenk twice a day at the underwater viewing glass at 2pm and 4:30pm. So we developed a daily routine of seeing Kshamenk a possible 6 times a day, depending on how many shows were scheduled per day.

When we arrived to the park and waited for the 11am show to begin, Kshamenk would either be in the back left pool or in the show pool with Floppy the bottlenose dolphin. When in the back pool, Kshamenk would either float at the surface (I believe to watch for when the trainers would come out), or he would hang underwater. If Kshamenk was in the show pool, he would do a variety of behaviours, such as lapping, side swimming with his pec in the air, upside down swimming, or floating by the left or right gate to the back pools.

For the shows, Kshamenk would usually only be used for a maximum of 10 minutes and then he would be moved to the left back pool and then the 4 bottlenose dolphins (Clembo, Orion, Tifon and Shima) would perform in the rest of the show. For the 11am show he would be used in the first half of the show, and for the 12pm show he would be used in the second half. For the 3pm show he was used in the first half, and for the 6:20pm show it would vary whether he was used in the first or second half of the show. The shows also varied in the amount of times Kshamenk would be asked to breach or go on the slide out. Some other behaviours in the show that he might do included “singing”, pec waving, fluke waving and splashing the crowd. The trainers told us that Kshamenk was used for only half of the show as he is getting older.

We established a good friendship with Kshamenk’s trainers and so we got a few more extra viewing privileges than the public would. In one session we got to witness Kshamenk be presented with a variety of letters “Co, E, V, L” and he could choose what his enrichment session would be. We saw Kshamenk chose “V” which meant a rubdown session. We watched Lucas use a broom to scrub down Kshamenk. On other occasions we would just sit in the stadium and chat with the trainers, and Kshamenk would often be floating nearby. I think Kshamenk liked to see/be near us for the company. I didn’t observe Kshamenk and Floppy interact too often, apart from a few synchronized breaths and on one occasion Kshamenk and Floppy were in the back pool during the dolphin part of the show and Kshamenk was swimming with his penis out. However, the trainers told us that Kshamenk and Floppy had a close relationship.

When it came to the underwater sessions, Kshamenk would be moved from the show pool twice a day to go to the underwater pool that the other bottlenose dolphins normally occupy (Clementine, Nemo, Rebo, Donda). His time in the bigger pool would not be long maybe maximum 10 minutes, as the guests had their photograph taken with him that they paid for. Kshamenk would always pose at the glass with is mouth open, which is something that he chose to do and cannot pose in another way. It was very mesmerizing to see him at the underwater glass – to be able to see his full length, and particularly to be able to look into his eye. On one occasion I could hear Kshamenk vocalizing underwater. Very special. It was a shame to know that Kshamenk’s time in the underwater pool was short as it’s so much more spacious for him. However the trainers said that in winter he gets to spend more time in that pool, and they enjoy being able to see him swim fast. But one time at the glass without any guests around, Kshamenk did bang his rostrum quite hard on the glass. It made such a loud noise! Poor baby.

Overall I would say that Kshamenk was in very good condition. His teeth were great - nearly all of them there and intact, though maybe one or two missing. In the show it was explained that because of his age Kshamenk was fed fish that had been processed/ground down. The trainers would make the ground up fish into balls to feed Kshamenk. Though I did see Kshamenk eat a few whole fish. Other physical features that looked good were his nice beautiful flukes, and overall his size and weight looked good too (as the last few years he had lost weight). He was just one big beautiful whale, really. The obvious sad things are that his main pool is too small and that he doesn’t have any other orca companionship. But overall I think he is doing well. The trainers love him a lot and say that he is a nice, kind and gentle whale and doesn’t have “bad days” often. They will always respect him, and they said if he doesn’t want to do anything then they just have to cancel the show and be honest to the public about it. So I think he is a well looked after whale. I am so pleased that I finally got to meet him.

Loro Parque December 2024 Trip Report

2nd December 2024

Got to Loro Parque for 10am-ish. I signed up to the VIP tour, as it was only 15 euros! I went around the park like the aquarium, the research/rehab center and the penguins etc, then headed over for the first orca show. Morgan and Tekoa were in the showpool doing laps. Morgan would do a high tail dive everytime she got to the far lefthand side of the pool. Tekoa then went to the backpool. Adan just stayed in the back seemingly inactive. Then during the show Tekoa was the main star. They used Adan a little and Morgan only at the end. I noticed Adan had a rake mark on the left side of his jaw, poor boy. However you could see the changes in the show where they tried to make it more informative. After the show the orcas pretty much went back to the habits and places they were at before the show. 

After lunch I did the 1pm VIP tour. The guide took us around several areas of the park such as the rehab center, penguins and gorillas. But the orcas were the best. We got access to the underwater viewing area which was really cool. Adan was in the backpools still, but Tekoa and Morgan went between the showpool and backpools. Then we were let into the stadium to watch Tekoa and Morgan lapping whilst a film played on the show screen. Very strange though, the guide gave some random stories such as in the 60/70s orcas had been captured from the Ross Sea but they were very aggressive and killed 7 trainers.. This is not true, I am sure. To my knowledge no orcas have ever been taken from Southern Hemisphere waters, so I don't know why the guides script would have told him to say that lol.

After the tour I went around other parts of the park until the second orca show. There was enrichment in the pool which Tekoa had a play with. He was very squeaky and singing a lot. The three orcas were used in equal parts in the second show - Morgan was much more involved in this one. Then at the end again, Morgan and Tekoa were lapping in the showpool and Adan was in the backpool again. I wonder if there are social issues between them, and Adan is picked upon... Such a shame I just missed Keto before he passed :(

Marineland France 2023 Trip Report

 1^st November 2023

I made it to Marineland and went straight to the orcas. I saw three in the showpool… I then saw Caio talking to a trainer and asked if someone was missing – they said Moana passed away a few weeks ago, nooo so sad L L. Anyway I spent the whole day at the orcas and met Caio’s friends – Helio, Justine, Oceane and Amyricke. They were really nice. For the show, Helio answered an orca quiz in my name for me to win the chance to meet the orcas at the glass, and it worked, omg!!! My name up on the screen lool. So in the show I got go down and meet Keijo at the glass yeyy. Got to do some hand signals and have a photo with him! Was kinda nerve-wracking in front of hundreds of people, and I wasn’t sure what the hand signs were lool. So cool though! After the show we watched the orcas from the backpool/lagoon viewing points. It’s improved a lot as a viewing point over the years! We then went back to the main show pool and watched Inouk, Wikie and Keijo until we were kicked out at closing time, n’aww. I said bye to everyone and got the train back to Nice.

 

2^nd November 2023

Spent the morning exploring Villefranche-sur-mer in the rain. Then got the trains to Nice and then Biot. Arrived at Marineland in time for the 2pm orca show – and found Caio and everyone. After the show, Mum and I got lunch and then walked around the rest of the park – saw the penguins, seals, sharks and dolphins. Loved the huge Stellar sea lions and this years South American fur seal pups were such cuties zooming around their pool! But my heartbroke when checking out the pools around the back of the orcas, and I saw Caio and the others having a private photo session with all the orcas. Noooo, I wish I had been part of that! So gutted. The last moments in the park, we watched the orcas in the backpools then said bye to everyone and left.

SeaWorld California Trip Report - April 2023

7^th April 2023

 I travelled to San Diego early this morning and headed to SeaWorld. I arrived and went straight to the orcas as the 12pm show was about to start. In the show was Orkid, Keet and Ulises. I must say, they have improved the educational content of the shows by tenfold! Much better than before. I then hung around the orcas pools. I went to the underwater viewing area where Corky, Ikaika and Shouka were. Ike and Shouka weren’t doing much, but Corky was doing upside down laps in front of the glass. They were then being used for the 1pm Dine With Shamu experience so they were active then. I went to watch the show pool, and Kalia and Makani were in there for the paid orca experience. Makani is so big now, crazy! He was just a bub when I saw him last. I went up onto the pre-show skywalk viewing platform and saw Keet, Ulises and Orkid from above. Then I went to watch the second show where Shouka, Kalia, Makani, Orkid, Keet and Ulises were all used at different times.

I then wondered around the rest of the park and saw the dolphins, seals, sea lions, penguins, belugas, walruses and otters.

Later, I went back to the underwater viewing area and Keet, Makani and Orkid were in there. Keet and Makani were kinda swimming around in mother and calf position, so people thought they were lol. Orkid was being antisocial and just hanging at the bottom of the pool.. Yah, so it was then my Dine With Shamu dinner. I got a seat at the glass, on Orkid’s side. She’s a pretty girl. I ate as much as I could as the buffet lol. But yeah, it was lovely seeing the whales so close. I stayed the whole time. Then I headed over to watch the final show where they used Shouka, Kalia, Ulises and finally saw Corky and Ikaika in the show, yaaay! Apparently Ikaika is the largest male – that’s crazy! I guess that’s the Tilikum genes! I then left the park and headed back to the hostel.

 

8^th April 2023

 I arrived at the park and made it for the 12pm show and sat in the front row in front of the slide out. I got a slight spray, not a soaking haha. In the show were Corky, Ikaika and Makani, then briefly at the end Kalia and Ulises. I then went for the Killer Whale Close Up experience. Wow, what a rip off, honestly. We got taken into the show pool stadium, where Kalian and Ulises were. We watched the trainers interact with them, whilst a trainer quietly spoke about them. Then us guests were split between each orca for photos. I had Ulises. He’s a cutey. But yeah, the whole experience was probably 20 mins or less, and cost $99, madness! I would have at least liked a photo with Kalia as well! I checked out the parts of the park I missed yesterday, such as the turtles and rays. Then hung around the Dine with Shamu pool, where Orkid, Shouka and Keet were. Orkid was laying upside down in the pool again. Later she was playing with the gate which seemed dangerous, and Makani entered the pool and was hanging around the gate too. I then got tired of the amount of people at the park and left pretty early.