Lolita is a female captive orca from L Pod of the southern resident community who has been living in a substandard tank at the Miami Seaquarium since 1970.
She was captured when she was approximately four years old, on August 8, 1970, in the Penn Cove capture in Puget Sound, Washington.
Lolita was one of seven young orcas sold to oceanariums and marine mammal parks around the world from a capture of over eighty whales conducted by Ted Griffin and Don Goldsberry, partners in an operation known as Namu, Inc.
She was purchased by Miami Seaquarium veterinarian Jesse White for $20,000. Lolita is the second oldest orca in captivity after Corky at SeaWorld San Diego.
She has been living alone with no other killer whale companions in a small tank that violates the Animal Welfare Act.
It is now known that killer whales are incredibly intelligent, sentient, and social creatures.
Resident killer whales from the Pacific Northwest, which Lolita is classified as, stay with their mothers their entire lives.
Lolita’s mother, known as L25, is still alive today at approximately 90 years old, and is photographed regularly by scientists and conservation organizations.
Ken Balcomb, of the Center for Whale Research, and Howard Garrett of the Orca Network have devised a plan to retire Lolita to her home waters of Washington state.
The plan is centered around placing Lolita in a transitional coastal sanctuary sea pen where she will be rehabilitated under human care.
When the time is right, she will be given the choice of going back to open waters if she so desires.
On March 30, 2023, the Miami Seaquarium announced that Lolita is expected to be returned to her natal waters in the Pacific Northwest and reside in a semi-wild sea-pen in the Salish Sea for the remainder of her life.
Lolita is a healthy, vibrant animal, has been well cared for by the Seaquarium for 45 years, and would endure more harm if she’s released into the wild.
However, Lolita has been living in captivity for 52 years and has become a viral sensation.
The decision to release her into the wild has been a controversial topic, with some people viewing it as a way to give her a chance to live out her life in a more natural environment, while others believe that she is too old and has been in captivity for too long to be released.
Controversy surrounding Lolita’s captivity
The captivity of Lolita, the female orca at the Miami Seaquarium, has been a controversial topic for many years.
She was captured from the wild when she was approximately four years old, and her mother is still alive today at approximately 90 years old.
Ken Balcomb, of the Center for Whale Research, and Howard Garrett of the Orca Network have devised a plan to retire Lolita to her home waters of Washington state.
The plan is centered around placing Lolita in a transitional coastal sanctuary sea pen where she will be rehabilitated under human care.
The Miami Seaquarium announced on March 30, 2023, that Lolita is expected to be returned to her natal waters in the Pacific Northwest and reside in a semi-wild sea-pen in the Salish Sea for the remainder of her life.
PETA Foundation Vice President and General Counsel for Animal Law Jared Goodman said in a statement that if Lolita is finally returned to her home waters, there will be cheers from around the world, including from PETA, which has pursued several lawsuits on Lolita’s behalf and battered the Seaquarium with protests demanding her freedom for years.
The decision to release Lolita into the wild has been a controversial topic, with some people viewing it as a way to give her a chance to live out her life in a more natural environment.
However, others believe that she is too old and has been in captivity for too long to be released.
