science

Wikie

Wikie is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wikie rather than just read about it. In short: Wikie (born 1 June 2001) is a female Orca who lives at the Marineland of Antibes in Antibes, France. Her mother was Sharkane (1985 – 3 January 2009) and her father was Kim II (1981 – 23 November 2005).

Key takeaways

Wikie belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wikie to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wikie from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Wikie (born 1 June 2001) is a female Orca who lives at the Marineland of Antibes in Antibes, France. Her mother was Sharkane (1985 – 3 January 2009) and her father was Kim II (1981 – 23 November 2005). Her elder sister is Shouka (born 25 February 1993), her elder brother was Inouk (23 February 1999 – 28 March 2024) and her elder son was Moana (16 March 2011 – 18 October 2023). In 2009, Wikie was artificially inseminated with semen from Ulises, a male orca who currently lives at SeaWorld San Diego in California. The artificial insemination resulted in the birth of her first calf, a male named "Moana" on 16 March 2011. Moana was the first orca to be born through artificial insemination in Europe. Wikie gave birth to her second calf, a male named Keijo on 20 November 2013. Keijo's father was Wikie's half-brother Valentin (13 February 1996 – 12 October 2015). After the park’s closure in January 2025, Wikie and her son Keijo remained in captivity amid efforts to relocate them to a seaside sanctuary to improve their welfare. According to video footage released in May 2025, the orcas were confined in pools overrun with green algae and sludge, signalling severe neglect and decaying conditions at the abandoned facility. However, park officials maintained that the algae is seasonal and harmless, and that roughly 50 employees continue to care for the animals’ basic needs. Animal-welfare groups such as TideBreakers have urged the French government and park owners to act immediately, as relocation attempts to other facilities in Japan and Spain have so far failed. Despite mounting public pressure, no definitive timeline or approved destination for their transfer has yet been confirmed as of November 2025.

Communication with humans It was reported in January 2018, through the Proceedings of the Royal Society, that researchers from Universidad Católica de Chile, Universidad Compluense de Madrid and St. Andrews, working at the Marineland of Antibes, had successfully taught Wikie to mimic human words such as 'hello', 'bye bye' and 'Amy' (her instructor), as well as count to three, through using her blowhole. Wikie is thought to be the world's first orca to ever mimic human speech. Following the announcement of Wikie's ability to mimic human language, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Humane Society International called for Wikie to be released from captivity.

See also List of captive orcas List of individual cetaceans

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wikie

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wikie claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wikie before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wikie ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wikie

In research: Wikie appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wikie in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wikie is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2001 animal births, Antibes, Individual animals in France, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wikie outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wikie in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wikie means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wikie out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wikie in simple terms?

Why does Wikie matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wikie?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wikie.