Killer whale kept in captivity to be freed after 50 'miserable' years

[Still Waters]

Animal rights activists are cheering the announcement of plans to return Lolita the orca, the killer whale held in captivity at Miami Seaquarium for over 50 years, to her 'home waters'.

The killer whale was captured from the Pacific Ocean in 1970 when she was four years old, and spent the next five decades performing at the Florida-based tourist attraction.

Now believed to be 57, she is the oldest killer whale in captivity and has spent her time in the smallest orca enclosure in North America.

Her future was announced in a news conference at the Miami Seaquarium yesterday (30 March) with the Florida non-profit group Friends of Lolita and NFL Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay in attendance.

At the conference it was announced that the killer whale would be relocated back into the sea, though this was a process which could take 'the next 18 to 24 months'.

https://www.ladbible.com/news/lolita-orca-miami-seaquarium-tokitae-latest-299584-20230331