Naya

Naya (pronounced NYE-ya) or Ная, is an approximately 11-year-old female Russian transient killer whale who currently lives at the Moskvarium. She was captured in July 2014 from the Sea of Okhotsk at less than 1 year old. On December 29th, 2023, Naya gave birth to her first calf, a daughter.

Early life & Capture[]

Naya was born sometime around late 2013 in the waters surrounding Russia in the Northern Pacific. As a Russian transient whale, she would have likely grown up on a diet primarily consisting of marine mammals rather than fish, though, she was likely still weaning at the time of her capture. When Naya was a little under one year old, in July of 2014, she was captured from the Sea of Okhotsk. It is currently unknown if she was captured alone.

Life at the Moskvarium[]

In December of 2014, Naya arrived at the Moskvarium. Upon her arrival, she would join Narnia, a 9 year old female and Nord, a 7 year old male. The other two whales had been living in a temporary holding facility together and were captured in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Despite significant tension, it was said that Narnia took Naya "under her wing." There were many concerning images shared of rake marks and harassment against Naya, though this would decrease in frequency and severity over the years. The three whales seemed to grow close and performed well together.

Loss[]

In January of 2023, Moskvarium announced that Narnia had passed away due to intestinal volvulus. Though not publicly known at the time, Naya was around 7 months pregnant at the time and this would mean she would have to go through labor without another female.

Later that year, in June, Moskvarium made another announcement, this time starting that Nord passed away due to an acute peptic ulcer. This made Naya one of the three "lone" killer whales in the world at the time.

Motherhood[]

In the mid-October, 2023, Moskvarium announced that Naya was 15 months pregnant and due in December.^[1] They released a mini-series about Naya and her pregnancy, along with a website detailing the steps they would take when the calf was born. This was a high risk pregnancy for a multitude of reasons, including the fact that there were no known cases of a killer whale giving birth alone.

On December 30th, 2023, Moskvarium made a post featuring Naya with her calf, the caption read:

"We had a real New Year's miracle! After 10 hours of hard labor, orca Naya gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Our specialists delivered Russia's first killer whale births in an artificial habitat. It was not easy, but thanks to teamwork everything ended well: a girl about 2 meters long and weighing 150 kg was born. The baby surfaced on her own and took her first breath, and Naya quickly oriented herself and began helping her adapt. The cub stays close to mom and is very focused on her. Moskvarium specialists continue round-the-clock observation of the animals, as the newborn period is the most critical for cetaceans. Now the main task is for Naya to recover from difficult births, to establish milk feeding, and the cub to develop without abnormalities and get stronger. Right now, orcas need peace and emotional comfort. Mom and baby girl will not be introduced to the general public anytime soon."^[2]

In the videos posted, Naya's calf appeared alert and strong, though it is initially unclear if the calf had begun to nurse. According to the Moskvarium, her calf was born on December 29th, 2023.

On January 26th, 2024, Naya's calf passed away due to a heart malformation.

Behavioral Incidents[]

• In September 2015, a video was published online showing Narnia, Nord, and Naya thrashing their tails after one of the trainers fell into the water on top of one of the orcas.

Galleries[]

• Photos of Naya
• Videos of Naya

Transfer History[]

Naya's Transfer History

FROM:	TO:	ON:
Sea of Okhotsk, Russia	Holding, Russia	Jul. ??, 2014
Holding, Russia	Sredyaya Bay Holding, Russia	???. ??, 2014
Sredyaya Bay Holding, Russia	Moskvarium, Russia	Dec. ??, 2014

References[]