Earth

Earth (pronounced UHRth), or アース, was a 16-year-old male Icelandic killer whale who lived at the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium in Japan. Earth was born tail-first at 11:44 am JST on October 13th, 2008, at Kamogawa Sea World. His mother was Lovey and his father was Oscar. He was 7 years old when he was moved from Kamogawa to Port of Nagoya, switching places with his aunt, Ran II. Earth passed away on August 3rd, 2025.

Birth & Early Life[]

On October 13th, 2008, Lovey gave birth to a healthy male calf at Kamogawa Sea World. Since she had observed the births of her sisters, Lovey had experience in raising calves and showed excellent maternal instincts towards Earth. Earth's aunt, Lara, helped raise him alongside his mother. The pod was split into two social groups following the birth: Lovey, Earth, Lara, and Oscar were kept in the main pool, while Stella, Bingo, and Ran were grouped in the back pool. When Earth was young, he was trained to do waterworks and performed them in shows regularly. In 2011, Lovey and Stella became pregnant. Due to the growing population, Stella, Bingo, and Ran were transferred to the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium that December.

On July 19th, 2012, Lovey gave birth to Earth's younger sister, Luna. He showed great interest in Luna, and the two often played together. However, Earth would play "too rough" with the young calf, causing Lovey to displace him for it. His mother's aggressive behavior towards him would only increase over time. After months of aggression and displacement from Lovey, he was separated and put in the back pool with Oscar. Later that year, on December 20th, Oscar passed away from an unknown illness. Not long after his death, trainers attempted to reunite Earth with the rest of the pod. Things would not go well, as Earth received the same level of aggression as he had before. For this reason, Earth was again separated and remained alone in the back pool.

Life at Port of Nagoya Aquarium[]

On December 7th, 2015, Earth was moved to the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium in order to improve his living conditions. He joined his grandmother Stella, and her new daughter, Lynn. He formed a close bond with Lynn and spent a lot of time with her and Stella. However, as Earth matured, he was frequently separated from the females and spent most of his time alone. On the occasion that they were grouped, Earth and Lynn were typically the pair performing in shows.

In March 2024, Stella was transferred to Kobe Suma Sea World. Earth was then reunited with Lynn and the two spent all of their time together. They performed in shows and could be seen playing, resting, and socializing outside of shows as well. The two had a very close bond.

Death[]

On July 31st, 2025, Earth stopped eating and became lethargic. He was immediately assessed in the medical pool but continued to decline. Despite intensive treatment, he became uninterested in trainers and would sink to the bottom of the pool, only coming back up for air. On the night of August 2nd, his condition worsened further and he started having difficulties breathing. He passed away shortly thereafter at midnight. A necropsy was quickly performed, and the cause of death was determined to be an Intestinal torsion.

Personality[]

Earth was described to be incredibly gentle. He enjoyed spending quality time with trainers and being with Lynn.

Appearance[]

Earth was the largest orca in Japan. He had large pectoral fins and a freckle towards the end of his right eye patch. His tail flukes had a very distinctive shape to them, he had multiple dark markings on the white underside of his flukes and the ends of them were very wavy. These markings almost completely covered the white underside of his flukes when he was a calf, and are noticeably "stretched out" from when he grew.

Transfer History[]

Galleries[]

• Photos of Earth
• Videos of Earth