The Long Awaited Release of Lolita the Orca

In the past decade or so, animal activism, specifically toward sea animals kept in aquariums, has grown more popular. The controversy with SeaWorld and their orcas that are being kept in small tanks caused a major uproar amongst activists, even going as far as inspiring the documentary ‘Blackfish.’ Unfortunately, that issue has now arrived in our city. In the past few years, several protests have been made for the freedom of the Miami Seaquarium’s famous orca, Lolita, who has been in captivity for around 50 years of her life. 

At 56 years old, Lolita is the second oldest orca in captivity in the world. She is a part of the Southern Resident Orca Community, which resides off the coast of Washington State. She was born in Penn Cove, Washington, in 1966, and soonly after being captured in 1970.

During the 1970s, there was a significant trend for entertainment based on intelligent marine animals, such as dolphins, sea lions, and orcas. As a result of this trend, thousands of marine animals were taken from their habitats, severely harming environments and abusing the animals in several ways.

As a result of abuses like this, many cases of orcas harming themselves have been recorded throughout the years. Even Lolita’s former tank mate, Hugo, died of a brain aneurysm after repeatedly throwing his head against the tank’s walls. As recent as 2017, an audit by the USDA found that the tank that Lolita was stored in was illegally small. 

Thousands of people have come out and protested for Lolita and other orcas like her. In 2018 and 2020, the Lummi accompanied by the local Seminole traveled to Miami to peacefully protest Lolita’s captivity by singing and praying to her. However, they were not allowed near her tank and were forced to protest outside. 

Many experts related to Lolita have protested for her release, such as Flipper the Dolphin’s former trainer, Ric O’Barry. However, there has also been a response in favor of her captivity. Seaquarium Curator Emeritus Robert Rose reasoned that she shouldn’t be released because she may be exposed to diseases, or she may expose the local orca population to diseases herself. He went as far as to claim that the Lummi Nation is using her as a “vehicle by which they can promote their name, political agenda, and to gain money and media attention.” 

Another case of an orca being reintroduced to the wild that has been commonly referenced recently is the release of Keiko the orca, the star of “Free Willy.” In his case, he was relocated to a pen in his native Iceland and then released into the wild. Although he died after a year in the wild, he showed signs of contentment. He had traveled extensively, even making a 1,000-mile migration to Norway. He grew over 1,000 pounds in the wild up until his death at age 27 due to pneumonia. He showed some signs of approaching other pods, but never joined one, instead showing more of an interest in humans. In one case, he even let children ride on his back in a fjord.

Recently, it was decided to release her in a process that would take around 2 years, thanks to funding from Miami-Dade County, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, and the Friends of Lolita organization. She will be relocated to a semi-wild pen, a large open enclosure in the ocean surrounded by nets so that water and small animals could flow through, near Penn Cove in her home waters. It is suspected that Lolita’s mother is still alive and living in the waters around Penn Cove, so they are hopeful they’d be able to reunite them soon. 

At the end of the day, the issue is orcas are placed into captivity in the first place. Releasing orcas may be dangerous for them, but it’s been documented to make already geriatric whales happier before dying after a few years. Furthermore, releasing these orcas provides important media coverage for animal activism so that the general population can become more informed on corporations’ animal rights abuse and exploitation. Eventually, this same movement against corporations that leech off wild animals for entertainment, could inspire a whole new movement for the rights of another animal, us.