An Orca named Lolita - Part 7 - Keiko and Lolita, Same or Different?

August 5, 10:00 AMPuget Sound Marine Life ExaminerCarole May

Previous Next

3 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Puget Sound Marine Life Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

KEIKO FREE AT SEA - My thanks to Orcahome.de

A failure? I think not!
People often ask me why Lolita should be freed since they consider the freeing of Keiko a failure. I cannot fathom why they consider it so, since Keiko enjoyed five years of freedom before he died.  It’s true that he never found his pod, but that is because no one knew what pod he was from.

A failure? I think not!
Before his release, Keiko lived in Mexico in a small tank filled with 80 degree artificial saltwater. His skin was covered with lesions and he was grossly underweight.

He was taken to a rehabilitation facility at the Oregon Coast Aquarium where he felt the natural sea water for the first time in many years. He could feel the rhythms of the sea and experience the tides. He was re-taught how to fish and gained 1900 pounds. The lesions on his skin disappeared and after a little over two years, he is declared healthy and exhibiting the normal behaviors of an orca. The decision was made to release him back to the wild. Keiko was released and enjoyed five years of freedom in the sea. A failure? I think not! If you had to choose between five years of freedom in the sea, or a life of solitary confinement in a small cell, what would you choose?

The differences in Keiko and Lolita’s stories
Lolita’s story is different from Keiko’s. If you have been reading this series, you know that she is from L pod, which is one of the three Southern Resident Orca pods. She was taken from L pod during the Penn Cove captures on August 8, 1970. Her family is one of the three resident pods of Puget Sound and they return every year from May to September. L pod is known to go down to Monterrey, CA during the winter and always returns in the spring. 

Lolita listens ro a recording of L pod, her family.
Used with permission - Orcanetwork.org

Lolita remembers the sounds of her pod
Another difference is that Lolita demonstrated that she still remembers the language of her pod. When a recording of L pod was played for her, she began to vocalize with it, responding in a positive way to what she heard.  

Before being captured, she knew how to fish
Lolita was captured at the age of six. She had been taught how to fish and was doing so for many years before she was captured. With the memory that orcas have, that teaching could be refreshed and she would be able to fish again for herself and hopefully one day return to her pod.

Where and how to live? The choice would be hers
The choice, however, would be hers.  Since she has had human companionship for 39 years, she may choose to stay with humans. If that is the case, she will be cared for lovingly by trained professionals for the rest of her life. 

Her retirement is long past due. Whether she chooses the open sea or chooses to remain in a sea pen and be cared for will be up to her. But in the words of Erik Lacitis of the Seattle Times, “it’s time to tell the gawking tourists that the show is over”.

Bring her home where she belongs!
Thanks to savelolita.com for image use