Benkei II - orca

Sex: Male

Place of Capture: Alvidra, Iceland

Date of Capture: October 1980

Age at Capture: Approx. less than 1 year

Date of death: ~ July 1983

Cause of death: Malignant lymphoma

In October 1980, a lone male Orca was captured off the south coast of Iceland. Later known as Benkei II, he was the first capture of the 1980 season, and was immediately transferred to the Hafnarfjordur Aquarium.

By November, he was joined by 4 more whales. It wasn’t long before 4 of the 5 were purchased by the Vancouver Aquarium; Benkei II, Vigga, Bjossa, and Finna. A male known as Ulises, who now resides at SeaWorld California, was left behind at Hafnarfjordur.

After issues with Greenpeace attempting to block the transfer, all 4 whales arrived safely at the park on December 20.

However, Van Aqua already had an adult male named Hyak II, and the park was too small to house 5 whales. It was soon decided that Vigga would be sent to a California park, while Benkei II was purchased by Nanki Shirahama Adventure World in Japan.

Sometime in January 1981, Benkei II arrived at Nanki, where he met the resident bull, also named Benkei. It is not known if the two got along or performed shows together during their time at the park.

Unfortunately, sometime in July 1983, Benkei II died due to Malignant Lymphoma.