Kshamenk

Kshamenk (pronounced shah-MENK) was an approximately 36-year-old male Argentinian killer whale who lived at Mundo Marino. He stranded on November 17th, 1992 in Samborombon Bay, Argentina at approximately 3 years old. He was rescued by Mundo Marino shortly after his stranding and deemed unreleasable by the Argentinian government following his rehabilitation. He lived without the companionship of any other orcas since the death of Belén in 2000.

Rescue & Early Life[]

On November 17th, 1992, (often mistakenly reported as September), two fishermen found four killer whales stranded on a beach in Samborombon Bay, Argentina. Three of the whales were large bulls, while the fourth was much smaller. Because the whales were so far away from the water, the fisherman felt they could not do anything, and left. They informed Mundo Marino about the killer whales the next day. ^[1]

When Mundo Marino arrived, they only found one of the whales, the smallest individual. The others had presumably managed to get back to the water. The location where the whale stranded was only accessible by foot during low tide, so rescue operations had to wait until the following morning. At 6 PM on November 19th, Kshamenk arrived at Mundo Marino. He was severely sun burned and dehydrated after being stranded, and his health was monitored closely. ^{[1] [2]}

Life at Mundo Marino[]

After recovering from the stranding, Kshamenk, legally owned by the Argentinian government as he is native fauna, was placed at Mundo Marino. He joined another young orca, an Argentinian female named Belén, who had also been rescued after stranding. ^[1] Belén fell pregnant by Kshamenk at least twice. She gave birth to a stillborn in February of 1998, and was four months pregnant when she passed away on February 4th, 2000. ^[3]

After Belén died, Kshamenk was alone. He was housed with a female bottlenose dolphin named Flopy for companionship. This was not an ideal arrangement for Kshamenk, as he was living alone. Plans to build him a larger tank had been scrapped due to financial issues. ^[2] In late 2001, Six Flags attempted to import Kshamenk into the United States to live at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure in Ohio. They were also planning on importing a female orca named Shouka from France, and there was hope the two would breed. ^[1] The import ultimately fell through due to Argentinian law, and Kshamenk stayed at Mundo Marino. ^[2]

At some point in 2010, trainers from SeaWorld collected 24 samples of Kshamenk's sperm for their artificial insemination program. ^[4] A female from SeaWorld San Diego named Kasatka and a female from SeaWorld San Antonio named Takara were both artificially inseminated and became pregnant. Although Takara lost her first calf with Kshamenk a few months into the pregnancy, she was artificially inseminated again with another sample and became pregnant. In February of 2013, Kasatka gave birth to a son named Makani, Kshamenk's first living calf. In December of that year, Takara gave birth to a daughter named Kamea. Kshamenk never met his calves.

Around September 2022, Kshamenk's physical appearance seemed to have taken a drastic turn. His body weight appeared substantially lower than it had been in the past, with a prominent dip behind his skull often seen in emaciated killer whales, commonly referred to as "peanut head." Although his condition first appeared to improve in December 2022, it appeared to have declined even further in early 2023. His peanut head became more exaggerated, there were prominent indents behind his eyepatches and dorsal fin due to low body fat, and his peduncle appeared very skinny. By July 2023, Kshamenk's body condition had not improved. There were no comments on his body condition made by any of Kshamenk's trainers, husbandrists, veterinarians, or Mundo Marino themselves. In December 2023, Kshamenk seemed to have gained a small amount of weight.

Death[]

Personality[]

Kshamenk was a more “laid back” whale and spent a lot of time resting. However, he achieved high-energy behaviors in shows and had been increasingly active. He either spent his time alone or with bottlenose dolphins as companions. He mainly thrived off of learning new behaviors or spending time with his trainers. In 2024, trainers had begun to train behaviors that involved more activity than what he had been doing prior. He responded well and his mental stimulation as well as his engagement with his trainers increased greatly.

Appearance[]

Kshamenk’s body was relatively thin compared to other male orcas his age. He had a prominent dip behind his skull, often referred to as a “peanut head”.  His low body fat has also created more “dips” in places such as his eye patch and dorsal fin. Kshamenk also had large pectoral fins and his dorsal fin was collapsed all the way to his right. He had a brown mark on the tip of his lower jaw and multiple small freckles that trailed along his jaw that was only noticeable up close.

References[]