“Any future plans to move or release Lolita would … undergo rigorous scientific review,” said the National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency that overseas Lolita, in its ruling. Now that she is included, any move would require a permit from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, which would have to ensure that releasing Lolita would not pose a serious risk to her livelihood. Prior to the designation, a group could have retired Lolita by acquiring her from the Seaquarium, Rector said. Garrett, who has a degree in sociology and has been working on whale research since 1980, believes Lolita could be safely transitioned to the new site. “Lolita’s close kin will be nearby and she’ll be offered ample human care and companionship indefinitely if she so chooses,” said Howard Garrett, co-founder, director and president of the board at Orca Network. The cost of the plan, without her release into the wild, is about $2.9 million and an additional $1.4 million annually for upkeep. There, she would be cared for by her current staff of trainers and veterinarians, and be given the same medications and the same cuts of fish she eats at the Seaquarium, Orca Network suggests. Her container would then be transported via truck to a sea-pen site at Eastsound, Orcas Island. The container would be transported to Miami International Airport and loaded onto a military transport aircraft approved for animal transport, which would make the seven-hour flight to Bellingham International Airport in Washington state. The detailed, $3.6 million plan would first have Lolita swim into a sling at the Seaquarium that is then lifted by a crane and lowered into a large container half-filled with ice water. Washington-based nonprofit Orca Network, for instance, has been updating Lolita’s retirement plan in recent years. But the donations keep piling up, the protests go on, and plans for her release continue to resurface. The “Free Lolita” movement has outlived even its creator, Lowry, who died last year. SeaWorld has since announced it would end its breeding program for captive orcas. Key to that shift was the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau, who was killed by an orca following a performance at SeaWorld Orlando in 2010. Kick-started by the release of “Blackfish,” a 2013 documentary detailing the plight of orcas in captivity, the change in public perception has caused shares of marine theme park company SeaWorld to sink by about 40 percent last year alone. In recent years, Lolita’s story has been awash in a tidal wave of public opinion that has crashed against marine parks that house captive animals. She has become an icon that quite frankly, nothing has been done for her except a slogan: ‘Free Lolita, Free Lolita,’ ” Rector said. “She is just a casualty of captivity and the activists. Moms with their kids, college students in whale costumes and out-of-state advocates turn up on Virginia Key each year to support the Free Lolita movement. 8 - the anniversary of Lolita’s 1970 capture off Puget Sound. Mike Lowry’s vision has since spawned thousands of dollars in donations, several lawsuits and annual protests at the Miami Seaquarium on Aug. A fundraising campaign ensued, and soon it seemed that Free Lolita could be the next real-life Free Willy.įormer Gov. In 1995, inspired by the original tale of Keiko, the whale in the 1993 film “Free Willy,” a Washington state governor sought to make Lolita the next captive killer whale returned to the ocean. This week she was the subject of discussion as Florida gubernatorial candidate Philip Levine, the Lummi Nation tribe and Orca Network both based in Washington, held a press conference in Miami Tuesday to call for her release. For nearly 25 years, the Miami Seaquarium’s killer whale, Lolita, has been the star of a sequel that has never been made.
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