Can Lolita the Killer Whale Be Released After 50 Years in Captivity?

#kpassionate #killerwhales #toktiae
The killer whale named Lolita, formerly known as Tokitae, is the second oldest killer whale in captivity. She was captured on August 8th, 1970 when she was approximately four years old. Tokitae has spent the majority of her life alone at the Miami Seaquarium in Miami, Florida.

To be clear – I do not support the Miami Seaquarium. It is my professional opinion that Tokitae's situation is unacceptable for a variety of reasons. One of which is simply that Miami Seaquarium’s orca exhibit is woefully inadequate. An audit by the USDA found that that this habitat does not meet the legal size requirements for a killer whale. So I believe everyone can agree that something should be done. But what? What CAN be done? Legally and logistically?

One of the biggest misconceptions about facilities like Miami Seaquarium is the notion that they have a say in whether or not their marine mammals can be released into the wild. The Seaquarium could not release the orca Tokitae without permits and approval of government agencies like the NOAA and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada:
https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/library-bibliotheque/40712886.pdf
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-protection-act-policies-guidance-and-regulations
https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/library-bibliotheque/40711304.pdf
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-protection-act

In my opinion, the best thing for this beautiful orca would be for her to be transferred to another facility with a better habitat where she would be housed with other killer whales. A facility like SeaWorld. But I have serious doubts that SeaWorld would even take her. These types of transports are stressful and at her age there is a decent chance that she would not survive such a change.

So for now, Tokitae will remain at the Seaquarium, where she will no longer be on public display or used for staged exhibition shows.

But there is something we can do about the critically endangered southern resident orca population that Lolita is from. To quote the Marine Mammal Science review of the attempted release of Keiko the killer whale – “You can't just let these animals out into the wild. You have to take responsibility, and that costs a lot of money. The fortune spent on Keiko might have been better invested in conservation programs to protect whales and their habitat... But that's not as appealing as the adventures of a single whale.”

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=usdeptcommercepub

The highlight of the quote, for me, is investing “in conservation programs to protect whales and their habitat” because there ARE conservation programs out there trying to protect southern resident killer whales. And if you’re interested in taking an active part in those programs, just click on this link right to the NOAA Fisheries’ Killer Whale Recovery program:
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/outreach-and-education/take-action-southern-resident-killer-whales

NewScientist - Why Freeing Willy Was the Wrong Thing to Do:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17039-why-freeing-willy-was-the-wrong-thing-to-do/

Influenza B Virus in Seals:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3647654/

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