Free Corky Now!

December 11th 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the capture of an orca named "Corky" on a stormy winter night in Pender Harbour, British Columbia, Canada.
The female orca holds a sad record: At 44 years of age, Corky is approaching the average 50-year lifespan for orca females in the wild.
Her 40 years as a captive makes her the longest surviving captive orca.
54 of the 56 for commercial purposes captured orcas in the North West Pacific have already died but Corky still spins around in her basin - 24 hours a day.
Corkys survival to this point is a testimony to her strength and resilience; it is also encouraging to people around the world who have long wanted Corky to return to her ancestral home, so she
can once again feel the ocean around her, and hear the sounds of her family and community once more.
Paul Spong and Helene Symonds, founders "Orcalab" located on Vancouver Island, Canada and funded by the WDCS, claim together with the WDCS for a "retirement facility" for Corky in the ocean
where she would be cared for, and where she would be able to visit with her kin and community when they are nearby.

See http://www.orcalab.org for more information.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• orca
• corky
• spong
• paul
• orcalab
• captivity

[Jenckles]

I just had the privilege to be an assistant for OrcaLab, the lab Paul created to do research on orcas acoustically. I was able to hear Corky's (A16's) family. The hope was initially to release her when her mom was still alive, but she died a couple of years ago. Her sister and brother is still thriving today, and though Corky might not be released into the wild, she could at least be placed into a sea pen to live out the rest of her life, among her own family. She may be too dependent on people.

[phocoenaphocoena]

Lucatheking16 - would you say this if you were in Corky's possition? You'd turn down freedom and seeing your family just becasue you'd been imprisoned for so long? I doubt it... If you can train an orca to do tricks for cash, you can train them to return to the wild (even if it's semi-retirement)

[TheWendyGrama]

I read below that some of you think 45 is old for an Orca, in the wild they live much longer. When you consider the confines of living in a bathtub with concrete surround reflecting your only means of communication, its like being half blindfolded and deaf. Not all of Corky's babies died, one she had the sense to drown herself at the bottom of her tank.

[FighterForPaula1]

Fucking stupid assholes think the plan is to "throw her out". Grow up. she would be put in a sea pen and cared for. Given her damn medications. Stop spewing bullshit.

[flargmuffin92]

@RingneckDoveFan...ok....then filed down teeth, either way.

[RingneckDoveFan]

Why free Corky and rip her away from her family to force her to live with other orcas she has no idea who they are?

You guys are great! I totally support your horrible, cruel act of publicity. Let's kill Corky!

[RingneckDoveFan]

No...Corky does not chew tank walls. Marineland of the Pacific shaved down her teeth.

[phocoenaphocoena]

I have just found out that the plan is not to 'relese' Corky but to let her retire to a place in the ocean... So Corky would be able to, at least, once more experience the natural ocean environment, tides & currents and hear the sounds of other marine life. She would be cared for (including SW staff) and where she might get to "visit" her family and community. Basically she can experience what it is like to be a real orca again.. arguably why we love orcas in the first place.. we owe her that

[WildOrcas]

Corky must be given a second chance of life in the ocean you dont know anything about her, orcas know they family dialect even from a tank and corky uses the A5 calls she was born with.