Help Lolita Gain Her Freedom
Action Alert from All-Creatures.org

FROM

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Save Lolita
January 2014

ACTION

The NMFS will be accepting public comments on this matter until March 28, 2014, and it is critical that the agency receive overwhelming support for listing Lolita and protecting her from future harm.

Submit your comments to NOAA here

After PETA and others petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to reconsider its exclusion of Lolita from the endangered listing of the Southern Resident orcas—the wild family from which she was taken more than four decades ago—the NMFS has now agreed and issued a proposed rule to list Lolita as endangered and finally grant her the same protections from harm. This decision opens the door for her eventual release from the Miami Seaquarium. Now we need your help to make sure that the agency does the right thing and helps give Lolita the protections that she deserves!

The NMFS will be accepting public comments on this matter until March 28, 2014, and it is critical that the agency receive overwhelming support for listing Lolita and protecting her from future harm. Please let the NMFS know that you support its decision to include Lolita in her family's endangered listing, that the current conditions in which she is held—in a tiny barren tank with no companions of her own species and no protection from the sun—cause her to suffer, and that you want to see her transferred to a seaside sanctuary in her home waters under expert care.

INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

Read Federal Agency’s New Action May Mean Release for Orca at Seaquarium and Former Miami Seaquarium Trainer Speaks About Lolita and Hugo.

Information from PETA:

After PETA and others petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to reconsider its exclusion of Lolita from the endangered listing of the Southern Resident orcas—the wild family from which she was taken more than four decades ago—the NMFS has now agreed and issued a proposed rule to list Lolita as endangered and finally grant her the same protections from harm. This decision opens the door for her eventual release from the Miami Seaquarium. Now we need your help to make sure that the agency does the right thing and helps give Lolita the protections that she deserves!

The NMFS will be accepting public comments on this matter until March 28, 2014, and it is critical that the agency receive overwhelming support for listing Lolita and protecting her from future harm. Please let the NMFS know that you support its decision to include Lolita in her family's endangered listing, that the current conditions in which she is held—in a tiny barren tank with no companions of her own species and no protection from the sun—cause her to suffer, and that you want to see her transferred to a seaside sanctuary in her home waters under expert care.

Information from Save Lolita:

Lolita orca whale seaquarium

Please try to touch on one or more of the below notes in your comment; simply saying “Free Lolita!” is not as helpful as creating a well-worded argument for her listing as endangered:

1. There is no significant risk to Lolita in at any point in the Orca Network’s detailed retirement proposal plan for her. Before any further steps, she would be assessed by a veterinary team to weigh in on her health. Transporting orcas via airplane is commonly done at aquariums globally and has not been found to result in serious health problems. Lolita would be housed in a sea-pen (netted-off portion of a cove) at first to allow her to readjust to life in the ocean. She would be taught how to capture live fish and allowed to interact with passing pods, if she chose to do so. (Lolita’s pod, the “L-pod”, has been well-studied for decades.)

2. A thorough examination will be conducted by a team of veterinarians and pathologists prior to transport to detect any potential communicable diseases. Assuming there are not, there will be no significant risk to any members of the wild orca populations or other marine life through her reintroduction.

3. Remaining in captivity will result in continuing mental/physical stresses and health problems. Abundant evidence, including peer-reviewed scientific publications, indicate that captivity increases mortality rates for orcas. Due to her loneliness from living without the companionship of another orca for over three decades, and due to her exposure to the midday Miami sun, and due to the incredibly small size of the tank for 40+ years, she is continually suffering as long as she remains in captivity.

Background on Lolita:

Captured off the coast of Seattle in 1970 as a two-year-old, Lolita is currently the oldest orca in captivity. During her time in captivity, she has been held in the smallest orca tank in North America at the Miami Seaquarium, with no shade from the blistering hot Miami sun, performing shows twice a day. She has not been housed with another orca since her companion, Hugo, died in 1980. Orcas are highly social, intelligent beings and many argue keeping Lolita in these conditions is abuse and neglect.


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