Lolita: A life worth dying for
Lolita, originally known as Tokitae, was captured on August 9, 1970. Since then she has lived a life of slavery. Imagine living your life, then one day you’re captured in a net, and forced to do repetitive tricks twice a day for nearly four decades, in a kiddy pool? Never mind that, because killer whales’ brains are five times larger than our own! Imagine what goes through her mind every day.
Here’s a quote from Miamiseaprison.com:
“ The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) states that the primary enclosure for a killer whale (Orcinus Orca) must have a minimum horizontal dimension of no less than 48 ft in either direction with a straight line of travel across the center. You must be able to draw a circle with a 48-foot diameter in the pool.
Lolita’s tank is only 35 ft. from the front wall to the slide-out barrier. At its deepest point, it is only 20 ft. deep. This is clearly an ILLEGAL tank, but no one is enforcing the law. In other words, while Lolita is left cramped in this clearly substandard tank, APHIS is NOT doing their job. They gave the Seaquarium a variance from 1979 to 1984 to allow them five years to upgrade the tank. Her conditions have never been improved.
In September of 1998, the Humane Society of the United States filed a formal complaint regarding the size of Lolita’s tank. And they have continuously objected to the federal government’s failure to enforce the Animal Welfare Act. The USDA is NOT enforcing the law. ”
This is just a small portion of what’s wrong with the Miami Seaquarium. You can find out more by going here: http://www.miamiseaprison.com/faq.htm
The 38th anniversary of her capture will be this coming August 9th. I wish I was able to go to Miami to boycott at the Seaquarium with all the others that will be doing so. And I’m not the type of person that would boycott… that’s saying something.
It means, the Miami Seaquarium is a horrible place for sea creatures. This is a fact, trust me.
Tokitae deserves a better life. She is well equipped to return to her family, and I’m quite sure her relatives would be happy with her return (although they’ll likely be surprised!) Imagine how jubilant her mother, Ocean Sun, would be. I get excited just thinking about it.
