Moana

Moana
Moana. Photo provided by raanouorcas.
Status	Deceased
Also Known As	Mimo
Sex	♂ Male
Date of Birth	March 16th, 2011
Place of Birth	Marineland Antibes, France
Date of Death	October 18th, 2023
Place of Death	Marineland Antibes, France
Cause of Death	Acute Bacterial Septicemia
Physical Traits
Weights	352 lbs (2008) 682 lbs (Apr. 2009) 836 lbs (Oct. 2009) 1,100 lbs (2010) 1,543 lbs (2011)
Lengths	6.5 ft (2008) 8.2 ft (Apr. 2009) 8.8 ft (Oct. 2009) 10.1 ft (2010) 11.5 ft (2011)
Population	Icelandic
Family
Mother	Wikie
Father	Ulises
Half-Siblings	Amaya Keijo
Grand-Parents	Sharkane, Kim II
Extended Family
Aunts & Uncles	Freya's Stillborn (1991) Shouka Freya's Stillborn (1993) Valentin Inouk Freya's Stillborn (2001) Freya's Stillborn (2003)
Cousins	Keijo

Moana (pronounced mo-AH-nah) was a 12-year-old male Icelandic killer whale who lived at Marineland Antibes in France. Moana was born there tail-first on March 16th, 2011. His mother was Wikie and his father was Ulises via artificial insemination. Moana passed away due to acute bacterial septicemia on October 18th, 2023 at Marineland Antibes.

Birth & Early Life

Moana was born to Wikie and Ulises on March 16th, 2011. He was the first successful birth of a killer whale via artificial insemination in Europe and the third worldwide. His father, Ulises, lives at SeaWorld San Diego in California. Initially, Marineland Antibes incorrectly sexed Moana as a female before finding out that he was, in fact, a male killer whale. At that point, he had already been given the name Moana but Marineland decided to keep the name anyway.

Moana was independent from an early age and was extremely smart. Before he turned one, he could already do behaviors that other orcas his age couldn't do and did many behaviors that take other orcas years to master. He had learned many of these behaviors by simply watching the other orcas at the park and mimicking what they do. Among these, he had learned to do back bows, underwater somersaults, a traveling breach, and much more at a very early age. Many of these behaviors were ones he wouldn't have been trained for until he was at least a few years old.

Marineland Antibes

Moana could often be seen in the park's shows. As he became sexually mature, he wasn't grouped with his mom as often. In November 2013, Moana became a big brother when Wikie gave birth to her second calf, Keijo. He spent most of his time with his mom, Keijo, and Inouk. It was planned for Moana and his family to be moved to a marine park in Japan in early 2024, and he began training for the move. However, Moana would suddenly pass away before the move was able to happen, and the outcome for the remaining whales at Marineland is currently unknown.   

Death

Moana passed away due to acute bacterial septicemia during the night of October 17th or early morning of October 18th, 2023. During the afternoon of October 18th, Marineland Antibes announced that Moana had passed away unexpectedly. According to outsider sources and various French news outlets, Moana had reportedly been under watch due to health concerns. This was, however, never confirmed nor announced by Marineland themselves. A necropsy was carried out to determine Moana's cause of death.

Trivia

• The name "Moana" is a unisex name of Hawai'ian origin and means "ocean" or "sea."

Transfer History

Moana was never transferred out of Marineland Antibes.

Galleries

• Photos of Moana
• Videos of Moana