Miami, FL – For the first time in decades, Lolita, an orca who has been held captive at a Miami aquarium, will be returned to the area where she was originally captured and taken from her family. According to a news release from the non-profit organization, Friends of Lolita, the orca will be returned to her native waters in the Puget Sound of Washington sometime within the next 18 to 24 months.
In 1970, when Lolita was just four years old, she was captured near Penn Cove, in Washington, and taken from her pod…she has been living for decades in Florida at the Miami Seaquarium. The seaquarium recently came under the management of The Dolphin Company, and entered into a formal and binding agreement with Friends of Lolita, a non-profit organization co-founded by environmentalist Pritam Singh, to bring to life the dream of returning Lolita to an ocean sanctuary.
Mr. Albor, CEO of The Dolphin Company said,
“Finding a better future for Lolita is one of the reasons that motivated us to acquire the Miami Seaquarium. With the help of Jim Irsay and Pritam Singh, we are bringing that dream, the dream of returning Lolita to her home waters, closer than ever.”
Current plans involve transferring Lolita to a cove in Puget Sound where she can swim in the sea, enjoying more freedom than she has experienced for most of her life.
(Stock images for representative purposes only via Pixabay)
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Why waiting 18month – 24 months, she need to be released NOW because she can died before release
I am sure one of the reasons it was agreed to let her go was because she is older and no longer the money maker that she once was. THIS NEEDS TO STOP!!! Let animals, of all species, live in their natural habitat!
It is about time they are freeing Lolita. It has been such a long wait for her and those who care about her. I agree with the question below, why wait so long? I look forward to hearing about when the day finally comes.
Are they going to try to rehabilitate her before the release? I just wonder how she will fare in the wild after 50 years. Will she know how to hunt for food? How is this going to work? Will we hear about her washing up on the shore after a couple of weeks? I want to see her free but what is being done to prepare her for freedom?
I hope her release goes better than Keiko.
It’s about time!! She should have never had to endure this horrible captivity for so many years. Why will it take up to two years to free her? Free her now!! She suffered enough.
Why wait more?
Why wait another two years? Free Lolita NOW!
Why waiting to long?
People need to stop paying into this heinous abuse. Animals are not here for our entertainment or human exploitation.