Another whale dies at Marineland

2008-01-15

Alison Langley, Niagara Falls Review

Marineland had lost its matriarch killer whale. Nootka died Jan 8. She had been at the popular tourist attraction for more than 27 years.

“We were heartbroken, absolutely heartbroken,” said Marineland spokeswoman Ann Marie Rondinelli. We don’t like to play favourites but she was definitely loved by everybody,” she said.

The female killer whale was believed to be around 40 years old and had given birth to a number of calves over the years.

Marineland is now awaiting the results of a necropsy.

Nootka, named after the Native American tribe that lived in parts of British Columbia and Washington, was captured in Iceland in the fall of 1979.