daily orca 141: PTN-021 “Sheuen”
(Jorge Cazenave via KWW)
sheuen was a 12 year old patagonian orca. she was born in 2010 to maga, the matriarch of the PTN-004s. she had five siblings: valen, mica, issy, arwell, and keoken. sheueun's name means sun in the tehuelche language. she was a skilled strander and would teach the method to younger orcas. she was also known to have a “wild” personality, sometimes choosing to scare sea lion pups off the beach instead of grabbing them.
in 2022, sheuen was showing signs of being pregnant with her first calf. however, on on august 22nd, 2022, when she was hunting sea lions, she stranded in cabo raso bay, argentina, and got stuck. rescuers attempted to refloat her, but she soon passed away. her pregnancy may have impeded her ability to maneuver herself back into the water.
(Jorge Cazenave via KWW)
sources: 1, 2, 3, 4
