Officials announced today that an aquarium in Florida has reached an agreement with animal rights activists for the release of Lolita, a 2,268-kilogram female killer whale, who has been held in captivity for more than fifty years. The Miami Seaquarium stated that it has come to a "binding agreement" with the nonprofit organization Friends of Lolita to return the orca, who has recently stopped performing, to her natural habitat in the Pacific Northwest within two years. According to the Miami Herald, 57-year-old Lolita was captured in 1970 in a small bay off Seattle. The report mentions that the plan to return Lolita to her natural home requires federal approval.
The Mayor of Miami-Dade County stated in a press conference that the process of returning Lolita to her habitat took years, beginning with the transfer of ownership of the aquarium to Dolphin Co. The company later partnered with the nonprofit organization to provide medical care for the orca. The effort to free Lolita gained momentum following the 2013 documentary "Blackfish," which highlighted the captivity of orcas. Animal rights advocates have fought in courts for years, unsuccessfully, for Lolita's freedom after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration added orcas to the endangered species list in 2015. Orcas are highly social mammals with no natural predators and can live up to 80 years.
