This is Lolita’s home. She’s an animal that’s supposed to swim up to hundreds of miles a day. Photo: FACEBOOK/FREE LOLITA THE ORCA!
For the last 45 years, an orca named Lolita has been stuck in an incredibly small tank in Miami. She’s likely going to die there. While she couldn’t ever be released back into the wild–she’s been a captive for far too long–there are other options for her, such as much larger sea pens. But she’s not going to get any of them.
A few days ago, SeaWorld finally caved to public pressure and decided not only to end their orca breeding program, but end their orca shows altogether. They’re concentrating more on what they used to: rehabilitation and education of whales unable to live in the wild. Much better, SeaWorld. The Miami Seaquarium, though, ain’t changing a thing.
“We will continue our commitment to education, conservation and the appreciation for all marine species, including Lolita, our resident Orca,” said Andrew Hertz, general manager, in a statement after SeaWorld’s announcement. “All of the residents at the park play an important role in the mission of Miami Seaquarium to educate the public about the need to conserve the marine environment and its residents.”
That sounds a lot like a long-winded way of saying, “we’re not doing anything different,” although Lolita’s enclosure has been the focus of public wrath for a long, long time.
Because of Lolita’s living situation, she’s been coined “the loneliest orca in the world.” Back in 1970, she was captured as a four-year-old calf. She was placed in a tank that is only four body lengths long and 20 feet deep… and commenced her life there. Since orcas are very social animals, she did have a companion, a male named Hugo. He died in 1980, and Lolita has been alone ever since.
While conservation and education are both good things when it comes to wild animals, allowing a company to make money off keeping an intelligent wild animal in a tiny tank is definitely not. There’s nothing educational about watching an orca jump through a hoop, nothing educational about forcing it to live in a tiny pen away from any other orcas. While it’s easy to point fingers at the trainers, the real villain is the company itself, not those tasked with caring for the animals. Although we might pay with money, Lolita is paying with her life–and it’s a very sad one.
