Orca Lolita is finally free

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Orca Lolita’s tragic story began in 1970: When she was four years old, she was caught off the coast of Seattle and separated from her mother and siblings. As “Spiegel” reported, five other young orcas were captured in the same capture operation. Other cubs died in the first year of captivity, only Lolita survived.

For decades, the killer whale was the star attraction of the Marine Aquarium in Miami. In a tank only four times the length of the animal, he had to perform one show after another. Lolita retired in March 2022 but continued to live in her mini pool.

Many animal rights activists have long fought for Lolita’s release, but that has only been possible this year.

$20 million cost

At the end of March 2023, it was announced that Lolita would be released and the reintegration plan was presented. This reintegration is expected to cost around $20 million.

First, Lolita will be taken to a whale shelter between Washington and Canada, where she will learn how to eat and rebuild her muscles. Orcas normally swim about 60 kilometers a day – they probably couldn’t do that right now (yet).

Animal rights activists see pain

Animal protection organizations like Peta or the Born Free Foundation have complained for years that marine mammals are tortured in concrete tanks.

Films such as “Blackfish” (2013), a whale caught off the coast of Iceland in 1986 and forced to live and die there for more than 30 years in the pools of the US company Sea World, show this.

Lolita meeting her mother?

If Lolita is ready to go to the open sea, she may meet her mother again. An orca, most likely its mother, has been swimming in the same group as it has done in the Pacific for 90 years.

Source : Blick