Animal rights group calls for release of Argentina's last captive orca

LONDON -- Animal rights activists are calling for the release of an orca who has been living in Argentina's largest aquarium for over 30 years.

The orca named Kshamenk, pronounced Shamenk, is the last captive orca in all of Latin America, living in Buenos Aires' Mundo Marino aquarium since his rescue in 1992.

Recently, viral drone footage showing Kshamenk lying almost motionless in his small concrete pool has brought renewed attention to the fate of the lone orca, with thousands around the world calling for him to be released from captivity.

"Time is not on Kshamenk's side," Canadian whistleblowing organization Urgent Seas, which has been leading the campaign for Kshamenk's release, told ABC News. "The recent deaths of solitary orcas highlight the despair social animals such as Orcas feel when not living in their proper families or with members of their own species."

"To witness their mental healths decline is gut-wrenching – as we are seeing with Kshamenk," Urgent Seas said in its statement.

In November 1992, three fishermen sailed from San Clemente del Tuyú, a town on Argentina's Atlantic coast, to embark on a normal day of sea fishing, according to Mundo Marino's biography of Kshamenk. A few hours into their trip, the fishermen spotted four black figures lying near the coast in a marshy area of Samborombón Bay, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.

The figures turned out to be four stranded orcas that had become trapped on a muddy bank.

One of the orcas was Kshamenk – then approximately 3 years old – found by rescue teams in "critical condition" and "showing various signs of weakness" including being "severely decompensated, dehydrated' and with "very altered blood parameters," according to the biography.

The group of orcas was presumed by rescuers to have been stranded for approximately two days, becoming stuck in the sand on a mud bank after chasing a school of fish during a higher tide.

After consultation with local authorities, it was considered the "best thing" for the young orca to remain in the care of the Mundo Marino team following rehabilitation, according to the aquarium. The aquarium said specialists who evaluated Kshamenk's physical and mental health "reject the possibility of transfer" because it would "seriously put her well-being and life at risk."

According to testimonies of fishermen, it is believed the other three orcas were able to swim back into the sea the next day as the water level rose.

Kshamenk is estimated to be around 35 years old, Mundo Marino told ABC News. He is one of at least 54 orcas currently being kept in captivity in marine parks around the world, according to the International Marine Mammal Project.

Online petitions to free Kshamenk have garnered tens of thousands of signatures, videos posted on TikTok and Instagram shining light on the plight of the orca – which has lived for years without orca companionship - amassing hundreds of thousands of views.

Munro Marino described Kshamenk as a "healthy, curious, active [and] affectionate Orca who enjoys playing and doing activities with her keepers." On the orca's health, Mundo Marino said Kshamenk is in "excellent health".

"His survival would depend on both being accepted by a new pod of orcas and being able to hunt independently, both of which are highly unlikely," Mundo Marino said in a statement sent to ABC News.

"We are aware of what some activist groups believe about a hypothetical reintroduction; we respect their position, but the reality is that this is a proposal without a consistent scientific basis. It is impossible for Kshamenk to return to the sea without putting his life at serious risk."

Scientific studies on orcas have found captivity can have "harmful effects' on the marine mammals. "The scientific data on how both wild-caught and captive-born orcas fare in captivity are increasingly robust in demonstrating that they cannot thrive under artificial circumstances in concrete tanks," a study by the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of New Mexico found.

"In captivity, orcas exhibit a wide range of abnormal behaviors and often die at an early age from infections and other health conditions that are uncommon in a wild setting."

Campaigners are calling for the passing of a Kshamenk Law – known as Ley Kshamek in Spanish – a bill that calls for the "prohibition and sanctioning of shows with while marine animals' and their exhibition or captivity without rehabilitation and reinsertion or reintegration purposes."

"The time is now," Urgent Seas told ABC News.