Where Lolita belongs ©2009 Carole May
Many years ago an orca was born in L pod. She swam to the surface to take a breath of air, and then swam next to her mother. She fed on her mother’s milk for the first year of her life. She was gradually weaned and introduced to eating fish. She was taught and learned to fish on her own. She learned the different sounds and songs of her pod and the other two resident pods. She swam in the sea and her mother taught her to breach, spy hop, and slap her tail against the water.
Then on August 8, 1970 life as she knew it ended. She was captured in Puget Sound and sold to the Miami Seaquarium, where she remains to this day. It is time for Lolita to retire and return to L pod where she belongs.
Lolita, who is 22 feet long, is presently in a tank that is only 35 feet wide. According to the Animal Welfare Act, her tank should be at least 48 feet in length. Orcas swim an average of 80 miles per day. For Lolita, this is like living in a bathtub.
In 1996, Dateline-NBC played a tape of Lolita's family to her. The orca calls had been recorded in 1995 and were of L pod. Lolita still makes those sounds and recognized the sounds when they were played for her.
Scientists have come up with a plan to bring her back to Puget Sound. A seapen would be built where she will be in her native waters. If she can be reunited with L pod, that would be that ultimate outcome. If not, she would be cared for by the people of Puget Sound for the rest of her life. The problem is that Miami Seaquarium refuses to release her.
Lolita needs to come home to Puget Sound. Many celebrities have pledged their support to bring her back to Puget Sound. She has entertained people for over 30 years and it’s time for her to retire and come home.
YOU can help us get here back! Click here!
Go to "An Orca name Lolita - Part 2"
For more information on Lolita and the plan to bring her home, please go to the Orca Network
Save Lolita - A site dedicated to getting the Seaquarium to retire Lolita and let her return home.
Click the link to watch the video “Lolita: Slave to Entertainment”
How you can help - Free Lolita
More on orcas in captivity
Comments
Thank you for this wonderful article on Lolita. I have spent the past 9 years trying to bring her back to her family. We must never give up or give in to the Miami Seaquarium! I know we can bring her home if we just keep the pressure on!! We just opened www.SaveLolita.com and we are holding protests outside the Seaquarium on the last Saturday of every month from 12:00-2:00!
Thank you, Niki! I wish I could join you outside the Miami Seaquarium. Hold up a sign for me! And please send the link to my page to your friends. We have to get the word out! Lolita needs to come back here to Washington where she belongs.
Thank u so much for your help, we have to get Lolita out of that place!
Great article on Lolita....we all have to spread the word out on this poor whale and get her HOME to her family!!!
There are many devoted people on both sides of the country working to get her out of there. My heart is with all of them and I hope Lolita lives to see Freedom!
Thank you Carole for doing this article, the more people that get involved and are made aware of her predicament the better!! One day soon I hope to see Lolita with her family, L-pod who are part of our Resident Orcas here in BC. She has more than earned her retirement!! Her sheer will to survive shows us this, it amazes me everyday that she has survived as long as she has in such appalling conditions. If we all persevere we will SAVE LOLITA!!!!
Thanks everyone. No one would love to see her returned to Puget Sound more than me. I'd be the first to volunteer to help take care of her until she could, hopefully, rejoin L pod. What a wonderful day that would be!
thank you for writing this article! please to more for Lolita's well-deserved freedom!
Who is the owner of the Seaquarium? I suggest we kidnap him, remove him from his mates and family, put him in a bathtub and feed him dead fish until he relents and sets Lolita free!
Thank you for caring, one day she will be free
I've written a song that's included on my new CD entitled "She's Finally Free". It was written as if Lolita is actually finally free and swimming with her family in L pod. There is a clip on my website tropzone.net
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