On February 7th 1997, a pod of ten orcas swimming off coast of Wakayama prefecture were chased by vessels of “Isana Union” into Hatajiri Bay of Taiji, and all were captured in a pen.

From the early morning of February 10th, fishermen of Taiji and aquarium staff started sorting the captured animals. The targets were three female and twomale, five in total. One of the five was reported to be pregnant, and another
one was a nursing calf.

The five orcas were sold to the following aquariums:

1) Taiji Whale Museum (Taijicho, Wakayama Prefecture)
Female / 4.55m / 1700kg

2) Adventure World (Shirahama-cho, Wakayama Prefecture)
Female / 6.30m / 5500Kg
Male / 4.70m / 1400Kg
Male / 3.75m / 700Kg

3) Izumito Sea Paradise (Numazu-shi, Shizuoka Prefecture)
Female / 5.50m / 2600Kg