Harrowing footage shows a captive orca lying almost motionless as it stares at the tank door for 24 hours straight.
Kshamenk, a 35-year-old orca, is being held in a small pool at Mundo Marino, Argentina’s largest aquarium.
Shocked visitors have accused the park of keeping the orca in “crowded conditions, with restricted movement and in total isolation from its own species.”
A 24-hour time-lapse filmed by campaign group UrgentSeas on August 12 shows Kshamenk languishing motionless with his face pointed directly towards the compound gate as if begging to be let out.
Kshamenk was first brought to Mundo Marino in 1992 after being captured in Samborombón Bay off the coast of Buenos Aires.
Kshamenk, a 35-year-old orca, is being held in a small pool at Mundo Marino, Argentina’s largest aquarium.
Kshamenk was first brought to Mundo Marino (pictured) in 1992 after being captured in Samborombón Bay off the coast of Buenos Aires.
According to the aquarium, the orca, which was three years old at the time, was found stranded in the bay by three fishermen along with three other orcas.
Kshamenk was then taken to his concrete tank at the aquarium, where he has spent the past 32 years.
Her tank mate Belén died in 2000, at the age of 13, meaning she has reportedly spent the last 24 years in complete isolation from her own species.
UrgentSeas, a nonprofit that advocates for an end to marine captivity, is campaigning to free Kshamenk and take him to an open sanctuary with other orcas to socialize.
She is currently the last captive orca left in Argentina.
A spokesperson for the organisation said: ‘We continue to work with Argentine activists and members of Congress to try to highlight and address this cruel world.
“We need to get him out of his little concrete tank and join other members of his species before it’s too late.”
MailOnline has contacted Mundo Marino for comment.
