~~November 10, 2014~~
Lolita is a 20-foot-long (6 m), 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg) orca who has lived at the Miami Seaquarium for over 40 years
Many years ago, I visited Miami. One of the highlights of the trip was to go to the Miami Seaquarium to see Lolita’s show. How naive I was at the time!
After that, several times, I’ve visited two of the Sea World Parks: Orlando and San Diego.
NEVER AGAIN!!
“Lolita …. slave to entertainment”
Man versus nature; in the summer of 1970 a barbaric hunt kills five orca whales and destroys the lives of countless others. Six young orcas are ripped away from their family, sold to marine parks, and shipped across the world to enter into a life of slavery. Three decades later only one survives. And she just so happens to be Miami’s biggest performer.
“Lolita: Slave to Entertainment” is a stirring wake up call. For those who have visited a marine park, for those who think they might do so in the future, and for those who simply wish to know the truth about performing marine mammals, this film is a ‘must see.'”
~~James Laveck Tribe of Heart~~
(Producer of the award winning doc. The Witness)
On August 8, 1970 Lolita was caught in Penn Cove, Puget Sound, WA. She was one of seven young whales sold to marine parks around the world from a roundup of over 80 orcas conducted by Ted Griffin and Don Goldsberry, partners in a capture operation known as Namu, Inc. Tokitae, as she was originally named, was purchased by Seaquarium veterinarian Dr. Jesse White for about $6,000 (the referenced article reports $20,000). On arriving to the Seaquarium Lolita joined another Southern Resident Orca named Hugo who was captured some time before Lolita and had lived in the park two years before her arrival. Tokitae was renamed Lolita “after the heroine in Vladimir Nabokov’s novel by The News.”
She and Hugo lived together for 10 years in what is known as the Whale Bowl, a tank 60-by-80-foot (18 by 24 m) by 20 feet (6 m) deep. Even though the pair mated many times (once to the point of suspending shows) the two never produced any offspring. Hugo died March 4, 1980 after repeatedly smashing his head into the walls of the tank in what has been described as an act of suicide. Since then, Lolita has lived in the Whale Bowl together with a pair of Pacific White Sided dolphins.
Lolita has suffered in the same barren tank at the Miami Seaquarium for close to 44 years. She lives a solitary life, performing in depressing daily shows for tourists. Her tank is the smallest for an Orca in North America, and despite being in violation of the Animal Welfare Act, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has yet to acknowledge these glaring discrepancies.
Lolita was captured from the waters of Washington State where her mother “Ocean Sun” and extended family (L-Pod) still live (Ocean Sun shown in video at 3:54). L-Pod is a resident group of orcas which researchers have sighted regularly over many decades. The key factor standing between reunion of Lolita with her pod has been refusal by the Miami Seaquarium owners to allow for her retirement.
Marine mammal experts have proposed a plan (http://savelolita.org/the-plan) in which Lolita would be transferred to a coastal sea pen, and, once she re-learns the skills necessary for survival, rejoin her family in the wild. Even if it is determined that Lolita is unable to recover from the years spent alone in a tank, she deserves to live as natural a life as possible.
~~SOURCES~~
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita
http://www.slavetoentertainment.com/
~~RELATED~~
http://dionysusamber.me/2014/11/10/free-lolita-the-orca/
~~Let Lolita Swim Home! Video Petition~~
THE WAY IT SHOULD BE
~~Published on Jun 16, 2014~~
More info about Lolita: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature…
~~GALLERY~~
~~Lolita August 2 2014 – Miami SeaQuarium~~
THE WAY IT IS
~~Published on Aug 2, 2014~~
Lolita was abducted in 1970, she has lived most of her life in solitary confinement in a tiny tank at the Miami SeaQuarium. It’s time to retire Lolita! Please visit orcanetwork.org, aldf.org, hope4lolita.com, savelolita.org, savelolita.com, orcaproject.wordpress.com and peta.org to learn more.
In Solidarity!
#LolitaSlavetoEntertainment #Abducted1970 #CaptiveOrca #MiamiSeaquarium #ManVersusNature #MotherOceanSun #CaughtPenn Cove #Puget Sound #BarrenTank #FortyFourYears #SolitaryLife #DepressingTouristShows #Violation #AnimalWelfareAct #AnimalPlantHealthInspectionService #SmallestTankForOrca #InSolidarity #RetireLolita #AgainstAnimalCruelty
#WeAllAreOne #ItIsWhatItIs #DrRex #hrexachwordpress
We ALL are ONE!!
It Is What It Is 