The Dodo recently published an expose on the sad life of Kina, a false killer whale who currently resides at Sea Life Park in Hawaii.

40 year-old Kina is the last surviving individual in the United States of the brutal dolphin slaughters that took place in Iki, Japan. These hunts are similar to those of the more infamous Taiji, except that the motivation for the killing was not for food– instead, it was to eliminate competition for fish, according to experts.

After being captured in 1987, Kina has been sold to many different facilities – from Ocean Park in Hong Kong, to the US naval station in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, and finally to Sea Life Park. She has been used for captivity and research – whatever the humans who "own" her at any one time find to be the most profitable.

Kina now lives alone in a tank that is in deplorable condition – small, dirty, shallow and with no shade from the sun  - something that some say makes Sea Life Park in violation of the Animal Welfare Act.

Groups such as Keiko Conservation and Animal Rights Hawaii are working to share Kina’s tragic story with the world, in order to pressure the facility to make serious improvements to her living conditions. Ultimately, retirement to a sanctuary, where she can at least live in the ocean from whence she came, would be the best option for this long-suffering individual.

Email the animal curator at Sea Life Park: JPawloski@sealifeparkhawaii.com

Ask him to give Kina better living conditions and a proper retirement, and to support seaside sanctuary options for captive cetaceans.