Ula

Ula
Ula. Photo provided by dika_fphotography.
Status	Deceased
Sex	♀ Female
Date of Birth	September 22nd, 2018
Place of Birth	Loro Parque, Tenerife
Date of Death	August 10th, 2021
Place of Death	Loro Parque, Tenerife
Cause of Death	Twisted Intestine
Physical Traits
Weights	350lb (159kg) (Sep. 2018) 500lb (227kg) (Jan. 2019) 1,100lb (499kg) (Apr. 2020)
Lengths	7ft (2.13m) (Sep. 2018)
Population	50% Norwegian 37.5% Icelandic 12.5% Southern Resident
Family
Mother	Morgan
Father	Keto
Half-Siblings	Adán Victoria Teno
Grand-Parents	Kalina & Kotar
Extended Family
Great Grand-Parents	Katina & Winston
Aunts & Uncles	Kenau's Calf (1986) Kandu V's Stillborn (1986) Katerina Kahana's Miscarriage (1990) Takara Kenau's Unborn Calf (1991) Samoa's Stillborn (1992) Keet Taku Haida II's Calf (1994) Unna Kalina's Stillborn (1997) Tuar Ikaika Skyla Nalani Makaio
Cousins	Kohana Kalia Halyn Trua Unna's Stillborn (2006) Kayla's Miscarriage (2007) Unna's Miscarriage (2009) Sakari Adán Victoria Kamea Amaya Kyara

Ula (pronounced oo-LAH) was a 2-year-old female killer whale who lived at Loro Parque in Tenerife, Spain. She was born there tail-first on the morning of September 22nd, 2018. Her mother was Morgan and her father was Keto. She passed away on August 10th, 2021, from a twisted intestine.

Birth and Early Life

In June of 2010, a young killer whale was found alone and weak off the coast of the Netherlands. She was captured and taken to their park for rehabilitation, where she was named "Morgan". Although Morgan eventually grew healthy, the judges in the Netherlands decided she could not be released due to her young age, so she was moved to Loro Parque. At the time, all of the whales at Loro Parque were owned by SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. SeaWorld announced an end to their killer whale breeding program in March of 2016, and confirmed that this also applied to their whales at Loro Parque. In July of 2017, however, Loro Parque suggested that Morgan could become a mother in the future. That November, SeaWorld transferred ownership of all their orcas in Spain to Loro Parque, citing a "contractual dispute". Just a month later, Loro Parque announced that Morgan was about 6 months pregnant. According to Loro Parque, this pregnancy was not planned. Morgan's pregnancy is almost certainly the reason that SeaWorld ended their contract with Loro Parque.

On the morning of September 22nd, 2018, Morgan went into labor with her first calf. No other whales were present for the birth. Just seconds after the calf was born, Morgan escorted her to the surface. At the time of her birth, five other whales lived at Loro Parque: her mother Morgan, her father Keto, and Kohana, Skyla, Tekoa and Adán. Although Morgan was an attentive mother and her calf began to nurse very quickly, Morgan's milk productive was lower than normal. It was found that Morgan could not produce enough milk, so her calf was separated from her just a day later to receive bottle feeding. Loro Parque also announced that the calf was a female. Even when separated from her calf, Morgan still seemed to be interested in her, and could be seen waiting by the gate to the pool that her daughter was in.

Life at Loro Parque

Just a few months after her birth, Ula appeared to get some sort of chin injury. By January of 2019, Morgan had been reunited with her daughter. On January 13th, Loro Parque announced that the calf was named "Ula". Despite needing to be separated from her mother and be bottle-fed, Loro Parque claimed that Ula was in good health. However, Ula was photographed showing multiple physical issues. She was covered in lesions and had discolored skin, along with a deformed melon; also known as a "peanut head". The lesions on Ula's left pectoral fin were particularly severe. Ula's tail was also covered in needle marks, seemingly from frequent blood draws and administration of IV fluids or antibiotics. Loro Parque responded to these claims in a blog post a few days later, calling them "absurd" and "ridiculous", and once again stated that Ula was in "perfect medical conditions". In another blog post, despite clear evidence to the contrary, Loro Parque denied that Ula had any of these issues, and even referred to several of them as "normal". The following day, they reiterated yet again that she was in a "perfect state of health". Regardless, many of her physical issues continued on for at least several more months.

Sometime in June of 2019, Ula was introduced to Skyla and Kohana, and was introduced to the rest of the whales soon after. In July, Ula's father was confirmed to be Keto. Occasionally, she could be seen in shows alongside Morgan. Ula continued to appear in poor body condition throughout the years.

In late-April of 2021, just over a month after the death of Skyla, Loro Parque revealed that Ula's health was deteriorating. They announced that Ula was suffering from some sort of intestinal problem. They did not clarify what specific issue Ula was experiencing. In May, however, Loro Parque announced that Ula's health had drastically improved, and that the inflammation in her digestive system was going down. Ula was reportedly in much better "spirits", and was playing and exploring again. By May, Ula had lost a drastic amount of weight. By June, Ula, although still thin, was back in shows. Ula remained in shows in July, although she seemed to lose even more weight. That same month, Loro Parque announced that Ula, despite being extremely underweight, was in "perfect condition". By July 24th, Ula was extremely emaciated, and she had developed a severe "peanut head". Ula was also being actively monitored in the medical pool by staff.

Death

On August 10th, 2021, Ula passed away. Loro Parque announced her death a few hours later. Although they did not give a cause of death, they said that a necropsy would be carried out soon after. In a response to PETA on August 14th, Loro Parque heavily suggested that Ula died from her "intestinal issues", although they still did not give an actual cause of death, or an explaination what specific "intestinal issues" Ula had suffered from in the first place. The following day, they gave almost the exact response to the Free Morgan Foundation, although this time they also promoted their short film "Morgan: The Brave Orca", and criticized the marine mammal rescue operations in New Zealand. Her her cause of death was confirmed to be intestinal torsion in a ZEMBLA documentary on November 4th, 2021. Loro Parque themselves has not mentioned Ula, or said anything else about her death, since the original post about her death.

One possible cause of Ula's intestinal issues and subsequent death may be the bottle feeding that she received as a calf. In July of 2021, a young killer whale named Toa stranded in New Zealand. Scientists, vets. and rescuers in New Zealand reached out to dozens of killer whale experts around the world for advice, including staff from Loro Parque. In emails between Loro Parque staff and rescuers, Loro Parque revealed that feeding calves too much formula at once can cause a "delay in digestion and inflammation of the digestive system", and that their previous bottle-fed calf, Victoria, had died from issues caused by over-feeding formula. Although Victoria was much younger than Ula when she died, Vicky also died from "intestinal issues". Loro Parque also explained that the formula they give to calves does not have the same amount of calories as the milk produced by the mother, so reaching the necessary number of calories while formula feeding a calf can be difficult. Although nothing has been confirmed, Ula may have developed chronic digestive issues because of receiving too much formula at once, or because she possibly suffered from calorie deficits as a calf.

Galleries

• Photos of Ula
• Videos of Ula

Transfer History

Ula was never transferred out of Loro Parque.