If anyone knows about pools, it’s the original Dogtown Z-Boys. And Peggy Oki, the original Z-Girl, has certainly shredded her fair share. Peggy also knows that a small pool is no place for a 4 ton wild animal. So she’s on a mission to raise awareness of the plight of Lolita, an orca that has been in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium since the infamous Penn Cove Massacre of 1970. She’s teamed up with The Paint Shop to share the tragic story in a powerful way.
Lolita’s mother, Ocean Sun, is 86 years old and still resides in the waters of the Pacific Northwest. To this day Lolita uses calls that match those of Ocean Sun’s pod, though she hasn’t seen another Orca in thirty years. It’s easy to understand the powerful conviction Peggy feels—humans get to enjoy the surf every day while Lolita languishes in captivity, in a tank far smaller than the Animal Welfare Act dictates. Experts believe that they have all the tools necessary to facilitate Lolita’s transition from captivity back to the wild. The goal is to reunite Lolita with her pod, but Palace Entertainment and Parques Reunidos refuse to acknowledge the brutal realities of Lolita’s life. The companies that own the Miami Seaquarium have not agreed to release Lolita from her imprisonment.
So Peggy plans to deliver 16,425 letters to the ownership group—one for every day Lolita has spent as a slave to the captive cetacean industry.
Editor’s Note: To learn more about Lolita and how you can contribute to the cause, please visit her organization’s website, The Origami Whales Project. They’re more than 90% of the way to meeting their goal of sending 16,425 letters to the Miami Seaquarium asking for Lolita’s release. You can even tell them yourself here. #16425DaysASlave
