Stella

Stella (pronounced STEL-ha) is an approximately 38-year-old female Icelandic killer whale who currently lives at Kobe Suma Sea World. She was captured on between October 23rd and 24th of 1987 from Seyðisfjörður, Iceland at less than 1 year old. Stella is the oldest and most prolific captive killer whale in Japan, mothering Lovey, Lara, Sarah, Ran II, and Lynn.

Capture & Early Life[]

In October 1987, Stella was captured near Seyðisfjörður, Iceland, when she was less than a year old. She was captured alongside three other killer whales: Oscar, Maggie, and Bubba.^[1] They were placed in a makeshift sea pen before being moved into an old herring tub a few days later. By late October, all four whales were transported by truck to the Hafnarfjordur Aquarium to be trained and prepared for sale. On March 29th, 1988, they were transferred to Kamogawa Sea World. When they arrived there, they were put into a small pool with the park’s resident male, Bingo. The facility was building a new habitat for the orcas, but the pools would not be large enough to contain all five. To create more space, Bubba was sold to a park in Hong Kong in 1989.

Life at Kamogawa Sea World[]

During the first few years, Maggie was the dominant whale in the pod. This caused tension between her and Stella, as Stella was larger and more competitive. However, aside from occasional conflicts, the two got along well. And at some point, Stella took her place as the matriarch. She was trained for waterworks and performed them regularly. On March 3rd, 1995, Maggie gave birth to the first captive-bred orca in Japan. Stella showed a lot of interest in the calf and was present for the birth. However, only half an hour later, the calf passed away from unknown causes. The death of the baby caused Maggie and Stella to become lethargic for the following days.

In 1996, both Stella and Maggie became pregnant. Fourteen months later, Maggie gave birth prematurely to a stillborn calf. After the birth, Maggie had complications from labor and passed away just two days later. Stella was deeply affected by her death and became easily aggressive toward her trainers. Because of this, all waterworks with Stella were stopped until the summer of 2000. ^[2]

On January 11th, 1998, Stella gave birth to the first successful killer whale calf in Japan. The calf, a female, was named Lovey. A few years later, Stella had her second daughter, Lara, on February 8th, 2001. Shortly after Lara’s birth, Stella became pregnant again and gave birth to her third daughter, Sarah, on May 31st, 2003. Three years later, on April 25th, 2006, she had her fourth calf, Ran II. However, two months after her birth, Sarah passed away from an unknown illness just before her third birthday. Stella officially became a grandmother in 2008 when Lovey gave birth to Earth.

In December 2010, Kamogawa announced they would be sending Stella and Bingo to the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium as part of a breeding loan, where another female, Nami, was living at the time. However, Nami passed away in January 2011. After her death, it was found that both Lovey and Stella were pregnant. Since Kamogawa couldn’t support two killer whale births at once, Ran was added to the list of whales to be transferred, under the condition that Kamogawa supplied experienced trainers and covered the costs of transport. ^[3]

Life at Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium[]

On December 14th, 2011, Stella, Bingo, and Ran were transferred to the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium.^[4] Ran was transported alone by truck and arrived there the same day. Stella and Bingo, however, were larger and had to be transported by ship. Their journey took two days but they eventually arrived on December 16th. Upon arrival at the aquarium, all three whales were initially kept in a smaller holding pool within the main pool complex. They were gradually introduced to the other pools until they felt comfortable enough to explore the entire complex. Stella continued her role as matriarch, and the three no longer participated in waterworks.

On November 13th, 2012, Stella gave birth to her fifth and youngest daughter, Lynn.^[5] She was very attentive to her, and they shared a close bond. In August 2014, Bingo passed away from pneumonia.^[6] This left Stella and her two daughters at the park for more than a year. However, on December 7th, 2015, Ran was transferred back to Kamogawa Sea World.^[7] That same day, Stella’s grandson, Earth, was transferred to the Port of Nagoya to take her place.^[8] Stella and Lynn spent a lot of time with Earth and got along well with him. However, as Earth matured, Stella and Lynn were separated from him more often. The three were occasionally reunited, but it was usually Lynn who performed with him.

Life at Kobe Suma Sea World[]

On May 31, 2023, Suma Aqualife Park was closed, and GRANVISTA Hotels & Resorts, the company that owns Kamogawa Sea World, and consequently all the orcas in Japan except for Lynn, wanted to build a new aquarium that would include orcas. On March 29th, 2024, Stella was moved to the new facility, Kobe Suma Sea World. The day after her transfer, a video surfaced showing Stella calling out for Lynn and making loud vocalizations. She stayed isolated at the park until Ran was transferred to the facility a month later. Despite being separated for nearly a decade, the two got along well, seeming to still have a mother-calf relationship. The park officially opened to the public on June 1st, 2024.^[9] Since Stella did not participate in waterworks at her previous facility, she had to relearn the basics once she arrived at Kobe Suma. She was gradually reintroduced to them and now performs them with Ran.^[10]

On October 3rd, 2025, Kobe Suma Sea World announced a temporary closure due to "animal circumstances."^[11] Though the reason is not officially known, many animal rights groups speculate that Stella may have jumped or fallen out of her tank.^{[12] [13]} This is heavily suspected since Stella is often seen sliding and leaping over the barriers that separate the pools in her habitat. Though the park reopened the following day, scaffolding was seen surrounding the orca habitat, which makes this theory possible.^[13] However, there is no credible source to confirm that there was any actual incident involving Stella.

Personality[]

Stella is described as a very gentle and affectionate killer whale.

Appearance[]

Stella's most apparent feature is the distinct brown stain on her lower jaw line. Her dorsal fin leans over toward her left side. She measures about 17ft (5.1 meters) in length, making her average sized for her ecotype.

Trivia[]

• The name "Stella" is of Latin origin and means "celestial star."
• Stella is one of only few killer whales captured in Iceland who kept the names they were originally given by their Icelandic trainers.
• Stella, along with Ulises, are the only wild-caught Icelandic killer whales who are still alive today.
• Stella is one of the oldest captive orcas alive, and the oldest one in Japan.

Transfer History[]

Galleries[]

• Photos of Stella
• Videos of Stella

References[]