Narnia

Narnia - Нарния
Narnia. Photo provided by Moskvarium.
Status	Deceased
Sex	♀ Female
Date of Capture	August 11th, 2012
Approx. Age at Capture	6 years old
Place of Capture	Reyneke Bay, Russia
Date of Death	January 3rd, 2023
Place of Death	Moskvarium, Russia
Cause of Death	Intestinal Volvulus (Twisted Intestine)
Physical Traits
Weights	5,950 lbs (Dec. 2014) 7,055 lbs (Feb. 2020)
Lengths	16.4 ft (Aug. 2012) 18 ft (Dec. 2014) 20.3 ft (Feb. 2020)
Ecotype	Transient
Population	Russian Transient

Narnia (pronounced NAAR-nee-uh) or Нарния, was an approximately 17-year-old female Russian transient killer whale who lived at the Moskvarium (Москвариум) in Moscow, Russia. She was captured on August 11th, 2012 from Reyneke Bay in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia at approximately 6 years old. She was the oldest and most dominant whale at the Moskvarium. Narnia passed away due to intestinal volvulus on January 3rd, 2023 at the Moskvarium.

Capture and Early Life

Narnia. Photo provided by Ivan Plotnikov.

Narnia was a Russian transient killer whale who was born sometime around 2006, likely in the summer months, in the Sea of Okhotsk. She probably spent her first few years of life with her family, learning how to hunt and survive. She would've grown up eating marine mammals.

Narnia. Photo provided by Russian Orcas.

On August 11th, 2012, Narnia and at least two other whales were netted somewhere in Reyneke Bay in the Sea of Okhotsk. One whale became entangled and drowned. Another whale either escaped or was shot and killed, although the latter seems most likely. These whales were almost certainly Narnia’s family.

Narnia. Photo provided by Ivan Plotnikov.

After her capture, Narnia was injected with drugs to lower her stress levels and was taken by boat to a small holding pool on the shore of Reyneke Bay. Although the pool was man-made, it had fresh sea water flowing into it constantly. Here, attempts were made to feed her- she was offered both live and dead humpback salmon and Arctic char. Due to being a mammal-eating whale, however, Narnia showed no interest in eating them.

Narnia. Photo provided by Russian Orcas.

Six days later, Narnia was loaded onto a helicopter and flown to Nakhodka, a coastal city in the Russian territory of Primorsky Krai. Her flight lasted 14 hours. She was transported to the TINRO Center, also known as the Center for Adaptation of Marine Mammals. As the TINRO Center was a sea pen, many fish such as mullet swam in and out of her pen. In addition to the previous species, Narnia was also given chum salmon, masu salmon, herring, and greenling. Narnia still refused to eat, however, and showed no interest in either the trainers or food. After 3 weeks, she finally started to interact with trainers and hold fish in her mouth. Eventually, she swallowed humpback salmon. This was likely the first time she had ever eaten fish.

Narnia. Photo provided by Ivan Plotnikov.

Narnia was kept alone until August of the following year, when she was joined by three new whales: two juvenile males, Nord and Orpheus (later named Nakhod or Tyson, and a juvenile female, Grace (later named Nukka or Jade). They had traveled over 1000km by truck and were in very bad condition. The newcomers, also transients, refused to consume fish at first. Although Narnia quickly convinced Nord and Orpheus to eat fish, she ignored Grace. Grace's health was deteriorating, so she was separated from the group and force fed. She was also treated for an infection. A month and a half later, Grace rejoined the group. Not long after, Grace and Orpheus were moved to China. Around the time of their move, two more orcas were captured and brought to the TINRO Center.

Move to Moscow

Narnia and Nord's holding facility. Photo provided by RosAngar.

In late November of 2013, plans for Narnia and Nord to perform for the opening ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics were revealed. The news spread rapidly and was met with massive public outcry and demands for the whales to be freed. Their move to Sochi was quickly canceled and any plans for their involvement in the Olympics was scrapped. Only a week later, the pair was shipped to Moscow instead. After a 10 hour chartered flight, they were discretely moved to temporary holding pools at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy, also known as the All-Russia Exhibition Centre or VDNKh.

Narnia and Nord in the holding facility. Photo provided by Sochi Dolphinarium.

Their first few months in Moscow were shrouded in secrecy. In October, two large water tanks had been set up in the All Russia Exhibition Center and covered by a massive inflatable hanger manufactured by RosAngar (РОСАНГАР). It was leased to the Sochi Dolphinarium and there were rumors that it was intended to hold marine mammals. After Narnia and Nord's move, people reported hearing splashing and what sounded like orca cries from inside the structure. In February of 2014, the manager of the center replied to inquires about the tanks, saying that they were for "technical purposes". Security guards reported that it contained construction supplies. Finally, in October of 2014, after months of speculation, Russian Animal Rights Group VITA managed to have Moscow police investigate the facility. They confirmed that killer whales were being held there but that no illegal activity had occurred.

Naya, Narnia and Nord. Photo provided by the Moskvarium.

Nearly a year after arriving in Moscow, in December of 2014, Narnia and Nord were moved to the newly built "Giants of the Seas" (Гиганты морей) exhibit at the Moskvarium. Not long after, they were introduced to a young female named Naya. The Moskvarium was opened to the public in August of 2015.

An injured Narnia and Nord. Photo provided by Salov Aleksandr.

Behavioral Incidents

The whales at the Moskvarium showed extremely concerning behavior on multiple occasions. In September of 2015, a trainer slipped into the water during a show. The whales responded by swimming erratically and slapping the water with their tails. The trainer was quickly pulled out of the water without injury. Nord has been seen on multiple occasions covered in rake marks, and in 2016 he appeared to be noticeably underweight. In June of 2018, photos emerged showing Narnia and Nord covered in what seemed to be bloody injuries.

Narnia. Photo provided by the Moskvarium.

The whales were also seen getting stuck on slide-outs and the stage, pushing each other out of the water, and biting the metal safety rails. The stage is especially large, and the whales would be stuck so far out that they were forced to thrash their bodies back and forth to free themselves. At one point during a show, Narnia launched herself out of the water and knocked Nord and Naya, who had already been on the stage, back several feet. All three whales had to struggle back into the water. If left unattended, a whale could easily become stranded out of the water for a dangerously long period of time. At some point, metal safety rails and chains were installed on the stage, but they've since been removed.

In December of 2017, Narnia was briefly taken out of shows. She ingested part of a pool cover and had fallen seriously ill. She seemed to have recovered and was back to performing in January of 2018.

Death

On January 8th, 2023, the Moskvarium released a statement on their website announcing that Narnia, their 17 year old female killer whale, had died. A necropsy was carried out shortly after her death and the results reveal that Narnia passed away from intestinal volvulus. Though the Moskvarium never publicly announced her date of death, it was later revealed to have occurred on January 3rd.

Trivia

• Narnia was named after the fictional land of Narnia from The Chronicles of Narnia, a book series by C.S. Lewis. The name originates from the Italian town Narni.
• There is a restaurant inside of the Moskvarium named after Narnia.
• Narnia was the first killer whale to be successfully captured in Russia. There were previous attempts to capture killer whales, but they all failed. The only whale who survived the early captures, an unnamed female who was captured in 2003, died after just a few days in captivity.
• According to the Moskvarium, Narnia's favorite behavior was the side breach.
• While in captivity, Narnia lived with a total of 8 different killer whales.

Galleries

• Photos of Narnia
• Videos of Narnia

Transfer History

Narnia's Transfer History

FROM:	TO:	ON:
Gulf of Sakhalin, Russia	Reyneke Bay (Holding Pool), Russia	Aug. 11, 2012
Reyneke Bay (Holding Pool), Russia	TINRO Center, Russia	Aug. 17, 2012
TINRO Center, Russia	VDNKh (Holding Pool), Russia	Dec. 02, 2013
VDNKh (Holding Pool), Russia	Moskvarium, Russia	Dec. ??, 2014