Overview
- Mundo Marino said the orca died on the morning of December 14 in San Clemente del Tuyú and confirmed the immediate cause as a cardiorespiratory arrest.
- The institution reported ongoing analyses and indicated the condition likely relates to advanced age after more than three decades under care.
- Rescued following a 1992 stranding, Kshamenk was not returned to the ocean, with cited experts concluding reinsertion was unviable due to loss of his social group and habituation to human caregivers.
- The park notes sustained veterinary monitoring with monthly reviews by external specialists and says biological material, including semen samples, was cryopreserved for a national marine genetic bank.
- His death renews scrutiny of cetacean captivity in Argentina, including activist campaigns and the #LeyKshamenk proposal debated in Congress.