Lifespan | Orchive 5/8

Lifespan

- do they really live 50-100 years?

J2 Granny, famous as "the world's oldest whale". In reality, she was likely not much older than Corky or Lolita when she died in 2016.

Photo by Miles Ritter

Possibly the most stubborn myth about killer whales is that they live 50-100 years "on average" in the wild, while this is reduced to a measly 20-30 years in "captivity". Still some animal abolitionist organizations lower that number even more, claiming SeaWorld's whales die at an average of 9 years. This simply isn't true.

For the record - if I, or any other person today not opposed to the keeping of these animals, found that their lifespans were indeed drastically lowered in human care, I can speak for almost all of us and say we would be completely against the keeping of this species, since it would be so obviously detrimental for the animals.

The reason we don't oppose the keeping of them, is not because we are heartless people who don't care, but because we've looked at the facts, and the anti-aquarium/anti-zoo claims simply don't hold water.

One of the most important things to remember is how often and freely "average" and "maximum" are conflated. The reason for this may be that in humans, these numbers are fairly close. In many first world countries, humans live an average of 80 years (counting from birth), and this is also a fairly "ripe" age for a human, even though some have lived 40 years beyond this (a full 50% longer). 90 is more than most of us will see.

For another species we're closely familiar with, dogs, the average lifespan is about 11, and that is also quite an old dog. Not extremely old, as ages of 14-15 are not rare, and some have lived all the way to 29-30 (nearly three times longer than the average lifespan, and twice that of a truly old dog).

For beluga whales, I've read on various sites online such vastly different lifespans as "13-15", to "30-50", to "80+". All these were called "average" by each source. How could they possibly get such different numbers? It's quite simple - the first figure is their actual life expectancy at birth, because so many die in infancy. The other, is the normal lifespan for a beluga that survives to adulthood. The last, is a perceived maximum, and again, whoever wrote that conflated "average" with "maximum".

So we are comparing apples to oranges, to put it mildly. When anti-aquarium activists say killer whales in the wild live "50-100 years", while the ones at SeaWorld die at "20" or even "9", they are using completely different figures. For the first, they take a rare few whales believed to have reached an extreme age (more on that later), the perceived maximum lifespan, and for the latter, they include every dead juvenile and calf, every stillbirth, every miscarriage, and add them to an "average lifespan".

It goes without saying that including miscarried fetuses and dead embryos found during necropsies (Kona 2, Kenau, Samoa and Haida 2 all died pregnant) in a figure of "average lifespan", is absolute madness for any species or population, but it's the only way they could possibly have gotten to the figure of "9 years", unless they just plain made it up.

Corky 2, the oldest whale so far in human care, with a birth year of 1964/65, and caught in British Columbia in 1969.

She has lived at SeaWorld San Diego since 1987.

In reality, the actual life expectancy at birth is very similar in both human care and the wild.

When making comparisons between two groups, the most important thing to remember is to use the same rules for both groups. Otherwise, the result simply cannot be fair, or true, as explained with the example above.

Killer whales have been kept in human care continually since 1967 - with the first ever caught in 1961 (a sick, lone animal that died within days), 1964 (harpooned and kept in semi-fresh water) and 1965 (kept in a dirty bay pen). Since the average age of whales caught through the decades was very low, often 3-4 years (and sometimes as low as one), this means there are nearly no zoological killer whales born before the 1960s.

So by default, the wild whales to compare with should also start with those born in the 1960s.

Beyond that, wild whales (in British Columbia and Washington) were not studied at all until the mid-1970s. Before that, even the fact that there were different subpopulations with different social structures and feeding habits was unknown. This was a completely unstudied animal that had up until this point, only been viewed as a monster or a pest.

This is very important, because these wild Southern and Northern residents were simply not seen as newborns until the mid-70s (and for some more obscure pods, much later still).

That means that any whales born before then can't reliably be used in a comparison, because 1) their year of birth is an educated guess, at best (and impossible in an animal that was physically mature when first recorded), and 2) the other animals born in the same years as them - but died young - were never recorded.

This means that even using wild whales born in 1965-75 is very "shaky", but at least they could have their ages roughly estimated in the 70s, since they were young and still growing. And again, other calves born the same year as them that died, are simply unknown, so this skews the data unfairly.

Born before 1965-1960, meaning animals that were 15-20 years old or older when first recorded, their true ages simply cannot be known.

If you still need more explanation, let me use a hypothetical human example: Picture two towns, and we're going to compare life expectancy between them. Town A is hundreds of years old, it is known for a high infant mortality rate, and up until a couple of generations ago, there were no birth certificates or other records proving people's age. Still, we're including all the supposed 100+ year old peoples in our study, while of course other children born around their time are not on record anywhere (whether they died age 5, 20, or 80).

Town B is very modern, and was founded entirely off of people who were born in the 1960s or later. Naturally, some people have died since then, from injuries, accidents and illnesses. And of course - since no one is older than ~60 - not one person has died "of old age". Birth certificates and every single dead infant were recorded from the start.

How can these two towns be compared fairly, like this?

The only way to do it, is by eliminating everyone from Town A born before the 1960s, and only including individuals who were known from birth or early childhood.

Ulises, the oldest male in human care so far. Born in 1977-78, he's as of writing this 45-46 years old.

The oldest males of all three Southern resident pods were born in 1991 and 1993. Out of all Southern resident pods (J, K, L) and the various Northern resident pods and matrilines, here are all their oldest currently living males, as of 2023:

(I excluded all pods/matrilines where the oldest male was born in the 2000s, because there were also a few of those)

Name	Birth year
R34	1996
R30	1994
R25	1987
R26	1988
I45	1985
I76	1997
I77	1997
I42 Skuna	1983
G59	1995
G60	1998
G39 Shushartie	1986
G32	1982
I53	1986
I52	1986
C14 Hunter	1985
B10 Slingsby	1979
A61 Surge	1991
A60 Fife	1992
A66 Surf	1996
A71 Magin	1999
A55 Echo	1990
L85 Mystery	1991
K26 Lobo	1993
J27 Blackberry	1991
J26 Mike	1991

The second oldest male alive today in human care is Kshamenk, born ~1988, with the follow-ups being Kyuquot (1991), Keet (1993) and Keto (1995), which shows that the zoological population follows the same pattern as the wild. Tilikum was born ca. 1980, and was 37 years old when he died. At the time, only a small handful out of hundreds of Southern and Northern resident males were older than him.

When looking at life expectancy at birth, we will only use whales born in the 1960s or later, as explained.

Another rule we can use for both groups (as it is important that all rules are exactly equal for both groups), is to only use whales that died after 2000, or 1990, because both have had more time to grow old at that time, and in the case of aquariums, care has progressed from basically medieval times to the modern day, in just a few decades.

In the 1960s-70s, mortality was indeed appalling. For example, around 35 Southern residents were taken between 1964-1973, and by 1986 with the death of Winston, Lolita/Tokitae was the only one of these whales still alive.

For many reasons, it's important to note that care improved vastly after the first few decades, and this had a dramatic effect on lifespan (as well as their quality of life, of course).

We can also make separate calculations excluding certain facilities, or including SeaWorld only, but for the base calculation, we'll include all whales from all locations.

For wild whales, only the birth year itself is known, with rare exceptions where it's known they were born in a certain season.

For zoological whales, it can be a lot more precise since many of them have their exact day of birth known. I document their ages by whatever "half year" they're the closest to at the age of death.

Meaning, 20 years and 2 months is 20.

6 years and 7 months is 6.5.

12 years and 11 months is 13.

This is just to make it as close to reality as possible.

Zoological whales, deceased 2000-onwards:

Name	M/F	Death	Age	Location
Nord	Male	06/23/2023	16	Moskvarium
Kiska	Female	03/09/2023	47	Marineland Ontario
Narnia	Female	01/01/2023	18	Moskvarium
Kohana	Female	09/14/2022	20.5	Loro Parque
Nakai	Male	08/04/2022	21	SeaWorld San Diego
Amaya	Female	08/18/2021	6.5	SeaWorld San Diego
Ula	Female	08/10/2021	3	Loro Parque
Skyla	Female	03/11/2021	17	Loro Parque
Kayla	Female	01/29/2019	30	SeaWorld Orlando
Kasatka	Female	08/15/2017	41	SeaWorld San Diego
Kyara	Female	07/24/2017	0 (3 months)	SeaWorld San Antonio
Tilikum	Male	01/06/2017	37	SeaWorld Orlando
Unna	Female	12/21/2015	19	SeaWorld San Antonio
Valentin	Male	10/12/2015	19.5	Marineland Antibes
Freya	Female	06/20/2015	35	Marineland Antibes
Bingo	Male	08/02/2014	32	Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium
Vicky	Female	06/16/2013	1	Loro Parque
Oscar	Male	12/20/2012	28	Kamogawa Sea World
Nami	Female	01/14/2011	28	Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium
Kalina	Female	10/04/2010	25	SeaWorld Orlando
Sumar	Male	09/07/2010	12	SeaWorld San Diego
Taima	Female	06/10/2010	21	SeaWorld Orlando
Athena	Female	05/04/2009	4.5	Marineland Ontario
Sharkan	Female	01/03/2009	25	Marineland Antibes
Ku	Female	09/19/2008	15	Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium
Halyn	Female	06/15/2008	2.5	SeaWorld San Antonio
Nootka 5	Female	01/08/2008	29	Marineland Ontario
Taku	Male	10/17/2007	14	SeaWorld San Antonio
Asuka	Female	09/19/2007	17	Izu-Mito Seaparadise
Sarah	Female	04/26/2006	3	Kamogawa Sea World
Kandu 7	Male	12/21/2005	30	Marineland Ontario
Kim 2	Male	12/23/2005	24	Marineland Antibes
Splash	Male	04/05/2005	15.5	SeaWorld San Diego
Goro	Male	01/21/2005	20	Nanki Shirahama Adventure Park
Hudson	Male	10/20/2004	6	Marineland Ontario
Kyu	Male	09/18/2004	13	Nanki Shirahama Adventure World
Ran	Female	08/29/2004	17	Nanki Shirahama Adventure World
Ran's calf	Female	08/28/2004	0 (2 days)	Nanki Shirahama Adventure World
Neocia	Female	08/01/2004	12	Marineland Ontario
April	Female	04/18/2004	0 (11 days)	Marineland Ontario
Alongquin	Male	08/13/2002	2.5	Marineland Ontario
Winnie	Female	04/11/2002	26	SeaWorld San Antonio
Bjossa	Female	10/08/2001	24	SeaWorld San Diego (lived at Vancouver Aquarium)
Nova	Male	08/20/2001	4.5	Marineland Ontario
Haida 2	Female	08/01/2001	20	SeaWorld San Antonio
Tanouk	Male	10/24/2000	16	Izu-Mito Seaparadise
Vigga	Female	08/14/2000	22	Marine World Vallejo
Ruka	Female	03/29/2000	21	Nanki Shirahama Adventure World
Malik	Female	03/04/2000	5	Marineland Ontario
Belén	Female	02/04/2000	14	Mundo Marino

All deceased Southern residents born ~1965-onwards:

(I'll do fair calculations only using wild whales dying after 2000 below, this is just for completeness)

ID	M/F	Birth	Death	Age
K28 Raven	Female	1994	2006	12
K24 Delphinus	-	1990	1990	0
L?	Female	2016	2016	0 (Found as a carcass)
L120 Altair	-	2014	2014	0 (1 month)
L? Okab	Female	2010	2010	0 (carcass carried by mother)
L114 Capella	-	2010	2010	0.5
L112 Sooke	Female	2009	2012	3
L111 Testudo	-	2008	2008	0 (<1 month)
L107 Lamda	-	2005	2005	0 (<1 month)
L104 Domino	Male	2004	2006	2
L102 Kappa	-	2002	2002	0 (1 month)
L101 Aurora	Male	2002	2008	6
L100 Indigo	Male	2001	2014	13
L99 Gamma	-	2000	2001	1
L98 Luna	Male	1999	2006	6.5
L97 Tweak	-	1999	1999	0.5
L96 Bernardo	Male	1996	1997	1
L95 Nigel	Male	1996	2016	20
L93 Nerka	Female	1995	1998	3
L92 Crewser	Male	1995	2018	23
L84 Nyssa	Male	1990	2019	29
L81 Raina	Male	1990	1997	7
L80 Odessa	-	1990	1993	3
L79 Skana	Male	1989	2013	24
L78 Gaia	Male	1989	2012	23
L76 Mowgli	-	1987	1987	0
L75 Panda	Female	1986	1993	7
L74 Saanich	Male	1986	2009-10	23-24
L73 Flash	Male	1986	2010	24
L71 Hugo	Male	1986	2006	20
L69 Summer	-	1984	1985	1
L68 Elwa	Male	1985	1995	10
L67 Splash	Female	1985	2008	23
L65 Aquarius	Female	1984	1994	10
L64 Radar	-	1985	1985	0
L63 Scotia	Male	1984	1995	11
L62 Cetus	Male	1980	2000	20
L61 Astra	Male	1973	1996	23
L60 Rascal	Female	1972	2002	30
L59 Fred	-	1979	1979	0
L58 Sparky	Male	1980	2003	23
L57 Faith	Male	1977	2008	31
L56 Disney	-	1978	1981	3
L53 Lulu	Female	1977	2014	37
L52 Salish	Male	1980	1983	3
L51 Nootka	Female	1973	1999	26
L50 Shala	Male	1973	1989	16
L49 Tarazed	-	1979	1980	1
L48 Flash	-	1977	1983	6
L47 Marina	Female	1974	2021	47
L44 Leo	Male	1974	1998	24
L43 Jelly Roll	Female	1972	2006	34
L42 Mozart	Male	1973	1994	21
L41 Mega	Male	1977	2019-20	42-43
L39 Orcan	Male	1975	2000	25
L38 Dylan	Male	~1965	1998	~33
L36 Al-Te	-	1975	1975	0
L27 Ophelia	Female	1965	2015	50
L14 Cordy	Male	1972	1989	17
K46	-	1974	1981	7
K44 Ripple	Male	2011	2022	10-11
K41 Vega	-	2006	2006	0.5 (4 months)
K39 Corvus	-	2006	2006	0 (3 months)
K32 Zube	-	11-2000	2001	0
K31 Tatoosh	Male	1999	2005	6
K29 Sigurd	Male	1996	1998	2
K25 Scoter	Male	1991	2019	28
K23 Alnair	-	1988	1988	0
K21 Cappuccino	Male	1986	2021	35
K17 Pacheena	Male	~1966	1994	~28
K15	-	1971-72	1974-75	2-4
K13 Skagit	Female	1972	2016	45
J- (Tahlequah's calf)	Female	2018	2018	0 (Died immediately after birth)
J55 Betel	-	2016	2016	0 (<1 month)
J54 Dipper	Male	2015	2016	1 (10 months)
J52 Sonic	Male	2015	2017	2.5
J50 Scarlet	Female	2014	2018	3.5
J- (Polaris' calf)	Male	2013	2013	0 (Found as a carcass)
J48 Saiph	-	2011	2011	0
J43 Bellatrix	Female	2007	2007	0
J34 Doublestuf	Male	1998	2016	18
J- (Blossom's calf)	-	1998	1998	0
J33 Keet	Male	1996	2010	14
J32 Rhapsody	Female	1995	2014	19
J29 Rigel	Male	1993	1993	0
J28 Polaris	Female	1993	2016	23
J25 Sheekah	-	1988	1988	0
J23 Capricorn	Male	1986-87	1991	4
J21 E.T.	-	1982	1983	1
J20 Ewok	Female	1981	1998	17
J18 Everett	Male	1977	2000	23
J17 Princess Angeline	Female	1977	2019	42
J15	Male	1976	1981	5
J14 Samish	Female	1974	2016	42
J13	Female	1971-72	1980	8-9
J11 Blossom	Female	1972-73	2008	35-36

The case of Granny

Granny, or J2, was a Southern resident famous as "the oldest whale in the world" and "proof that SeaWorld's whales die young".

Completely aside from the reality of average age at death as I display through this article, we could accept that extreme outliers exist, no?

After all, the oldest recognized human ever lived to the ripe old age of 122 (and after her, 119), while a human half that age is considered "elderly" by international standards.

But in the case of Granny, no, she is not an outlier.

The theory of Granny's extreme age went roughly like this: It's 1976, and she is recorded for the first time. She is spotted in frequent contact with J1 Ruffles, an adult male who is believed to be her son. He is believed to be around 25 years old. She is not seen with other offspring (save for J12 Sissy, older than Ruffles), so he is believed to have been her last calf, born shortly before she entered "menopause".

Therefore, they decided she was around 65 years old, born ~1911.

That's it! That's the evidence!

If you can call it that.

There is no evidence of any of these things. Eventually, DNA-tests proved the opposite, Ruffles was not her relative at all. The two were simply close companions.

Many cases are known of females who had few or no calves throughout their lifespan (this will be added to another article). She could have been in her teens when recorded, and simply lived an infertile life.

In the end, the only evidence there is, is of an adult female spotted in 1976, which means she could have been born around ~1965.

She passed away in late 2016, aged "105", according to the pseudoscience... or above age ~51, if you look at the actual evidence.

Of course, we have no proof she wasn't older than 51. She could have been 60 or a little more, but hardly more than that.

A helpful clue is looking at the pods, Southern and Northern resident, as they are today.

While there were apparently many remarkably old, 80-100 year old whales before (the ones recorded as adults in the 1970s), today, there are almost none born before then, with the single exception of L25 Ocean Sun, and nine whales in the NR population (most of them from the 60s).

Isn't it remarkable how, as soon as the adults who were around in the 1970s are gone, virtually all of the oldest whales today are known to have been born in the 1970s?

Isabelle Puaut

A curious detail that few realize is that Corky is the oldest member of A-pod, which numbers nearly 60 animals, and she is the only one of that large pod still alive from the day she was taken, in 1969.

...and Lolita/Tokitae was the second-oldest and one of only two Southern residents (today numbering 73 animals) who were alive when she was taken in 1970.

Another important thing I discovered while crunching these numbers is that while we do have live zoological whales older than that, not one of the whales that have died in 2000-2023 (the last one at the time of writing being Nord), was born before 1976 (those being Winnie and Kiska).

This means, to once again make results more fair, I made a separate calculation using only wild whales born 1976 or later.

Same rules for both groups.

Born 1976-onwards.

Died 2000-onwards.

Simple as that.

The results were as follows:

Southern residents

All whales born 1965-onwards average 12.94 years at death
Whales born 1965-onwards and dead 2000 or later average 15.74 years at death
Whales born 1976-onwards and dead 2000-onwards average 12.22 years at death

Northern residents

All whales born 1965-onwards average 13.69 years at death
Whales born 1965-onwards and dead 2000 or later average 17.28 years at death
Whales born 1976-onwards and dead 2000-onwards average 12.89 years at death
Note then that the Northern residents are harder to document and far fewer infant deaths are recorded.

Zoological

Whales born 1976-onwards and dead 2000-onwards average 17.62 years at death
Excluding Marineland Ontario, same rules, it's 18.51 years at death
SeaWorld only, same rules, it's 19.65 years at death

Simplified, for SRs, the final figure of whales born 1976 or later (which is the most fair figure to compare with zoological whales) is just over 12 years. For NRs, it's at just under 13 years. For zoological whales, it's at ~17.5 years, over 19.5 years for SeaWorld alone.

It must be repeated that many calves that die in the first few days or weeks simply aren't recorded (SRs) or even for the first two years (NRs), so the true figure for the wild whales may not be known for sure.

Can we now please let go of this idea that "captive whales die young"?

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