Ai - orca
Gender: Female
Pod: N/A
Place of capture: Hornafjörður, Iceland
Date of capture: October 1989
Age at capture: Approx. 1 year
History
Sometime in October 1989, a group of four Orcas were captured in Iceland. These would be the last Orcas to be taken from Icelandic waters. Whalers applied for permits to continue capturing whales in 1990 and 1991, but the Minister of Fisheries denied them.
As a result, when these 4 whales were transferred to the Hafnarfjordur Aquarium, they had to wait before their transfers could be authorized.
When the transfers were finally authorized, two females - known as Ran and Ai - were purchased by Nanki Shirahama Adventure World. Here, they met the resident whales Goro and Ruka.
It is believed that Ai got along well with her tankmates and performed daily alongside them, though not much is known about her time at Nanki.
Ai died on August 25, 1995 due to an infection known as Candidiasis.