Ric O'Barry and Shelby Proie at the Walk for Lolita
On August 8th, the first annual Walk for Lolita was held. Supporters who want Lolita retired walked wearing very appropriate body paint showing an orca in a fishbowl.
Lolita, a member of the southern resident orcas L pod, belongs in the Puget Sound. She was captured on August 8, 1970 from Penn Cove and taken from her mother when she was about seven years old.
The walk was organized by Shelby Proie, 24, a Nova Southeastern University student, who also has the Save Lolita website. Every week Shelby says, “one of us goes in to check on her. I go to the tank and tell her we’re trying to get her out.”
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Ken Balcomb watching the Southern Resident Orcas
Photo by Howard Garrett
The Miami Seaquarium insists that Lolita could not survive in the ocean. However, the plan for her retirement does not propose for her to be taken from the aquarium and just dumped into the ocean.
Ken Balcomb III is Executive Director and Principal Investigator at the Center for Whale Research. Ken, who knows more about the southern resident orcas than anyone else on the planet, drew up a proposal that would allow Lolita to retire in a beautiful sea pen along San Juan Island. This is the same area where Free Willy was filmed. Here, Lolita would be fed and cared for, and allowed to live out the rest of her life in her natural waters. She'd feel the rhythms of the sea and the flows of the tide. She would eat live fish instead of frozen. And since she still remembers the language of her pod, she could communicate with them once again. If she chose to stay in the sea pen, she would be well cared for. If she chose to reunite with her L pod family, which would be the ultimate goal, then she would be free to go. The choice would be hers.
Ric O’Barry, presently seen in The Cove said, “It’s about retiring Lolita and letting her live out the rest of her life in quiet and dignity.” After 39 years of captivity, she has more than earned this right.
Simon Hutchins, who also appears in The Cove as an expedition manager for the Oceanic Preservation Society said, “After the show, the orca just goes and sits in the corner. It’s a nightmare for this orca.”
Although park officials have stated over and over again that Lolita’s tank meets the standards, it does not. The Animal Welfare Act states that her tank must be at least 48 feet, while hers is only 35 feet. Surprisingly, there is a new website that purports to “tell the truth about Lolita”, and on that website, they admit that “the tank is illegal”.
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Little J45 practicing his breaching. Pure Joy!
The Seaquarium says they have no money to pay for a new tank for Lolita, however, they sunk millions into a “swim with the dolphins” facility.
They also state that Lolita has been in that tank too long to be moved. What? Ken Balcomb’s proposal will move her to Puget Sound. And Miami Seaquarium can’t move her to a larger facility?
Hopefully, with the release of The Cove, people’s perceptions will change and they will realize that orcas and dolphins do not belong in tanks. They belong in the ocean. Instead of saving to go to the Miami Seaquarium or Sea World, save to come out to the state of Washington where you can see the orcas and dolphins in their natural surroundings. You can witness the orcas swimming free with their families. You can observe a mother orca teach her child how to breach and spyhop, and watch the little one practice over and over again. It's not only better than watching orcas do circus tricks at an aquarium, it's pure joy!
Comments
Carole, thanks for this excellent review of the proposal to retire Lolita.
Just to add some detail, Lolita's baypen is planned to be in Kanaka Bay, a cove along San Juan Island, where two transient orcas were held for over a month in 1976. These two orcas, a male and female who were probably mother and son, were known as O4 and O5. They were the last ever captured in Washington, and the court ordered that they be released after being fitted with radio tags. All the transients were renamed as T's in the early 90's, and O4 and O5 wer renamed T13, the female, who has died, and T14, also known as Pender, who is seen frequently to this day.
Free Willy 2, the sequel, was partly filmed in Kanaka Bay, and the glorious wild footage shown at the beginning and end of the original Free Willy was filmed in Haro Strait just outside Kanaka Bay.
Howard
PS: Recent information suggests that Lolita may have been about 4 years old at the time of her capture.
Thanks Howard.
I got the age of about 7 from Ken :)
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