| Mundo Marino Cárcel de Orcas | |||||||||
| Date Opened: | [1] | ||||||||
| Location: | San Clemente del Tuyú, Argentina | ||||||||
| Coordinates: | -36.3401°N -56.747°W | ||||||||
| Num Animals: | 9,000 | ||||||||
| Module: |
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Mundo Marino is the largest aquarium in Argentina.[2] It is located in San Clemente del Tuyú, Argentina.
Juan David Méndez sold his properties in Buenos Aires in the 1960s, and moved to San Clemente del Tuyú. He visited the United States in 1962, and was impressed by the quality of their oceanariums. Back in San Clemente, he bought 18 hectares of land, to work with the sick animals that got stranded in the beaches. Those animals were healed, and then returned to the sea when regained their full health. The aquarium was built next to a crab land, at the San Clemente stream. Mundo Marino had its first dolphin in 1977, and was first open for the public in the 1977/78 summer season. Nowadays, Mundo Marino has 20 pools, more than 50 sea mammals, more than 80 birds, and several fishes and other coastal animals.[3]
Kshamenk,[4] also known as Sharmenk or Shamenk, is a male orca, or killer whale, held at Mundo Marino. Kshamenk is estimated to have been around 4 years old when captured in 1992. He has been without the company of other orcas since 2000, when Mundo Marino's female killer whale, Belén (also known as Bethlehem), died.
Mundo Marino claims to have rescued him after he stranded, and kept him for public display when its staff determined he could not be released. However, Kshamenk may have been force-stranded (driven ashore on purpose) and retained to circumvent Argentine laws against the commercial capture of wild marine mammals.
Six Flags Marine World park in Vallejo, California, had been trying to acquire Kshamenk from Mundo Marino as a companion for their female orca, Shouka (she now lives at SeaWorld California). But Mundo Marino does not own Kshamenk; he is legally being held in trust by Mundo Marino for the people of Argentina. This means that Mundo Marino cannot sell Kshamenk because the orca isn't its property. Furthermore, Argentine Law forbids the export of live native wildlife, including orcas.
On February 14, 2013, Kshamenk became a father for the very first time when Kasatka, a killer whale from SeaWorld San Diego, gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Makani. On December 6, 2013, Kshamenk became a father again when Kasatka's daughter Takara, an orca from SeaWorld San Antonio gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Kamea. Both calves were conceived through artificial insemination.