Orca released from captivity thrives in the wild | Behind the Scenes of Frozen Planet II | BBC Earth

Now let's release the ones in sea world 👍

Holding such intelligent and social animals captive is a crime. I'm happy to see there are efforts to release them back into the wild.

We need more people to pay attention to kiska the worlds loneliest orca, captive in marineland alone. She’s been held for about 43 years now and was captured at 3 years old in Iceland. All her babies have died in marinelands captivity. If she’s not released she will most likely die from the stress of isolation as she’s been isolated for around 11 years

Orcas are my favorite sea animals. They're incredibly intelligent and so beautiful. I love seeing the interactions of the family members--and it warms my heart to know that captive orcas can be reacclimated and released into the wild to live out their lives.

I'm glad the former captive orca has survived! This gives great hope for their future.

😮 there are no words to describe this. Thank you to those responsible for their release!

It's criminally stupid to even think that these extremely intelligent and versatile and adaptable top predators would not be able to thrive again in the wild or even learn to survive in the wild if born in captivity. If any animal can manage this, it's the orca. The only hindrance is their compromised health due to bad captivity conditions.

One of the most beautiful creatures to see. Knowing that they are not prisoners anymore. I wish that all animals in captivity will no longer experience that. Thank you to the people who did this release.

The way the pod of whale swam gracefully and synchronously is just so astonishingly beautiful to watch

Orcas are my favorite animals. Seeing this footage and hearing that the released wild-born captive is thriving fills me with joy.

Every orcas deserve to be in the wild to be free with their families. 💙🐋🐳🙏

I love these majestic creatures. It's amazing to watch them in their natural environment and the strong family bonds they create. Exploiting orcas for human entertainment is criminal. Very moving video and hope for the planet's future. ❤

Orcas actually have very good long term memory. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up back with her pod.

i'm literally crying in happy tears watching this video. i hope there are more and more captive orcas can be released to the ocean.

It's beautiful seeing the ORCAS in the wild where they belong and not in a tank ❤❤

This made me cry, so happy to see how they treat a returned orca. Makes all the hard work people do to return them worth every second. Thank-yo to them and you.

Absolutely beautiful. Nothing beats nature.

That made me cry. So wonderful to see a captive orca back in the wild ❤️

MORE POSITIVE UPDATES LIKE THIS! HUMANS NEED THIS! I always assumed that animals died in the wild if they grew up in captivity! This gives me such a burst of hope and inspiration toward nature conservation and its future! ❤❤❤

It’s extremely sad and infuriating that the big businesses like Sea World and others who keep creatures like this captive will do whatever they can to keep their meal tickets. I wish and hope that evidence like this can spread around the world and show everyone that these sea creatures can have a life after imprisonment and that they deserve to be freed and that as humans we will no longer tolerate that kind of animal cruelty. Orcas have always been one of my favorite animals after watching Free Willy as a young child. I even ended up naming my dog Arrluk, which means “killer whale” in the Inuit language(he’s black and white with blue eyes). Orcas are such magnificent creatures.