Keep Calm and Remember Lolita

With Tilikum being the star of Blackfish, it is sometimes difficult to remember that there are other orca whales still in captivity who are still forced to perform - one of these orcas is Lolita. Lolita is the oldest living killer whale in captivity and she lives in the in the smallest orca tank in the country at Miami Seaquarium. Since her capture in 1970, Lolita has been kept in a tank that violates the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) standards for size requirements. 

There have been ongoing campaigns for her release since she was brutally captured in 1970. The images below show the cruel and frightening tactics that were used by fisherman to separate the baby orcas from their mothers. It has since been reported by those who were there at the time that the adult members of the pod refused to leave their offspring during the ordeal and made vocalisations similar to human-like cries in a desperate attempt to try and communicate with their calfs. 

Lolita spends her days performing one or two shows and the rest of the time she can be found floating aimlessly in a pool that offers no environmental stimulation. There are several groups attempting to retire Lolita from her tank that violates Department of Agriculture size regulations at the Miami Seaquarium to a more humane existence. A plan has been proposed by the Orca Network to retire Lolita to a transitional ocean sanctuary in her native waters in the Pacific Northwest. 

Scientist and movie-maker Dr Ingrid N. Visser from the Orca Research Trust made an 8 minute long video that documented a day in the life of Lolita. Visit http://www.savelolita.org/ for more information.