This petition is to urge the Miami Seaquarium to release its 56 year old captive killer whale, Lolita, who was taken from her family in the wild a little over 50 years ago. The tank that she is in is 80 feet long, 20 feet deep, and 35 feet wide. To put that into perspective, Lolita is 20 feet long, and in the wild, killer whales swim 40 miles per day on average and dive 100 to 500 feet, several times in a day. Killer whales are also extremely social creatures with highly developed brains, and Lolita lives in solitary.
The United States Department of Agriculture has cited the Miami Sequarium for things like: feeding Lolita spoiled fish, not documenting tank changes (which resulted in the death of at least two dolphin), poor water flow (leading to the green bacteria and algae that can be seen in Lolita's tank), and a 17 page report with all of the concerning violations. The conditions of the tank that Lolita is in are deplorable, and Lolita has recently come down with pneumonia. The leading Veterinarian was fired after raising concerns over the conditions that the captive animals face, including the ones that the USDA cited as violations.
There are petitions over 7 years old asking that the Miami Seaquarium release Lolita to a seaside sanctuary or back into the Puget Sound where she was taken, but nothing has happened. I kindly ask that you keep putting pressure on the Miami Seaquarium to release Lolita to the Puget Sound or to a Sanctuary, and that we don't give up hope, as Lolita deserves better.
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