I went back through all the whale blogs that I’ve posted on this blog, and I can’t believe how far I’ve come since September when I brought this blog back to life. I swell with pride when I read all the comments that I have received and the support that my readers have given me is incredible!
The next whale that’s on my list is another non-SeaWorld whale who currently resides at Marineland Antibes.
He’s called Inouk (pronounced en-noohk).
Inouk’s Life
Inouk is a 17 year old male orca who was born at the French park on February 23rd, 1999 to Sharkan and Kim 2, making him the brother of Shouka and Wilkie
He was the third successful calf to have been born at the park.
His Temperament
Inouk appears to be quite a reserved whale, but he did eventually strike up a wonderful relationship with his nephews Moana and Keijo.
He is an inquisitive whale and can often be inattentive during shows and has been known to ignore his trainers from time to time. However, there have been no reports of him showing aggression to his trainers and he took over his mother’s role as the main waterwork whale after her death.
He is also quite curious; he is often seen staring at guests through he glass and watching them closely.
Inouk’s lineage is Icelandic, making him 100% Icelandic.
How To Identify Him
Inouk can be quite easy to identify if you know what to look for.
One of the simplest ways to tell him apart from the other whales is his size. He is still very small for his age, and his dorsal fin is unusually small for a male orca. It also looks like it is finally starting to collapse to his right after standing straight for 17 years. He also has a small black dot under his chin.
False eyepatch wise, his left patch is elongated and fades towards the rear, and the right is smaller and rounder.
His tail flukes are also quite triangular in shape.
Inouk is quite a unique whale, and I can’t help but wonder if his small size is due to his life in captivity. This will never be proved, of course, but it is extremely unusual to see a whale of his age at such a small size. Of course, he could just be super small – like me!
Excuse This Honesty 