A twelve year old male orca whale, named Sumar by SeaWorld, died suddenly at their San Diego facility on Tuesday.   Sadly its death was not untypical.  Male orcas in the wild have an average life expectancy of 30 years.   Many live into their 50s and 60s.   Female orcas have an average life expectancy of 50 years though some have been known to live into their 90s.  Despite a steady food supply and medical care, most orcas in captivity die very young. Two thirds of all captive orca whales die withing 10 years, so  Sumar lived  longer than average.   Only about 15% of orcas survive 20 years in captivity.

There has never been a reported orca attack in the wild that resulted in injury to humans.  In contrast there have been up to 24 attacks by captive orcas on people.   Last February, SeaWorld trainer, Dawn Brancheau, was killed by an orca in SeaWorld’s Florida park, in front of a horrified audience.   Unlike Sumar, the orca Tilicum, has lived far longer than average.  At 29 years old, it is one of the oldest orca whales in captivity.   This is the third death in which Tilicum has been  present and the second in which he was a direct participant.   SeaWorld was recently fined $75,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for violations that included exposing workers to drowning hazards when interacting with killer whales.

Killer whale dies at San Diego SeaWorld

Killer whales: What to do with captive orcas?

Life expectancy of orcas in captivity