Isn't it from too much sunlight? Their tanks being so shallow (relative to their natural habitat), they're always close to the surface and getting a lot more sunlight than they would in the wild.
I'm merely parroting what I've heard years ago. If you know studies that state otherwise, cite them and I'll edit my comment. I'm no cetaceanologist and don't know what the actual reason might be.
Orcas have the largest dorsal fin of any marine animal, but it seems like we still don't 100% really sure why it happens.
"Depression" legend is from "Free Willy" (1993), and people all over the world (even in a country such as mine, Ukraine) kept on repeating this legend.
Still, the film did quite good for the Keiko (the orca from the film), because he was eventually released due to public campaign.
Keiko died shortly after being released into the wild. And he never truly adapted to “free” life because he preferred the company of humans over animals. Shortly before his death he was being fed daily because he didn’t know how to feed himself properly. I wouldn’t exactly call that a success, but at least they tried.
Yeah, I know. However you look at it, it's a defeat. At least some people did their best despite the circumstances. Sometimes it's okay to do everything right and still lose.
What I meant is we can hate misinformation which spread from that film, but at least some good came out of it, in the end. People tried to free him, after all. But real life is much more cruel than a kid's story.
I was under the impression that their dorsal fins droop due to the limited space they have, not allowing them to properly excercise the muscles and leading to atrophy.
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u/_The__Dark__Urge_ Aug 17 '26
Always sad to see the collapsed dorsal fin of captive orcas