OF HUMAN BONDAGE: After more than 50 years, Miami Seaquarium to announce plan to return whale Lolita to ‘home waters’
If Lolita is finally returned to her home waters, it’ll offer her long-awaited relief after five miserable decades in a cramped tank and send a clear signal that the days of confining highly intelligent, far-ranging marine mammals to dismal prisons are done and dusted.
BRIAN HAMACHER: More than 50 years after she was captured in the Pacific Ocean, the Miami Seaquarium’s killer whale Lolita may finally be heading back to her home waters. The Seaquarium, Florida non-profit Friends of Lolita, and philanthropist and owner of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts Jim Irsay have announced a news conference Thursday to discuss the future of the beloved orca.
More than 50 years after she was captured in the Pacific Ocean, the Miami Seaquarium’s killer whale Lolita may finally be heading back to her home waters. The Seaquarium, Florida non-profit Friends of Lolita, and philanthropist and owner of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts Jim Irsay have announced a news conference Thursday to discuss the future of the beloved orca.
For years, animal rights activists have said Lolita should be moved back to her home pod in Puget Sound, saying her pool at the Seaquarium is much too small. But the park has said previously that Lolita’s habitat exceeds the minimum requirements established by the Animal Welfare Act regulations…
Groups like PETA have spent years battling the Seaquarium in court and in the media over the release of Lolita. In a statement Tuesday, PETA applauded the news of Lolita’s expected return to the Pacific.
“If Lolita is finally returned to her home waters, there will be cheers from around the world, including from PETA, which has pursued several lawsuits on Lolita’s behalf and battered the Seaquarium with protests demanding her freedom for years,” the statement read. “If the Seaquarium agrees to move her, it’ll offer her long-awaited relief after five miserable decades in a cramped tank and send a clear signal to other parks that the days of confining highly intelligent, far-ranging marine mammals to dismal prisons are done and dusted”. SOURCE…
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