Lolita the orca left to weather Hurricane Irma on her own
September 14, 2017 4:17 PM   Subscribe

Lolita is the oldest orca in captivity, having lived at the Miami Seaquarium since 1970. As Hurricane Irma blew through southern Florida, she was not transported out of her open tank to a more protected area. In an article in the Miami New Times, former SeaWorld trainer Dr. Jeffrey Ventre calls this "criminal animal negligence or animal cruelty." The Miami Seaquarium did not respond to Dr. Ventre's claims, but after the hurricane they posted a Tweet stating all animals were safe.

More about Lolita:

Wikipedia article
"Lolita is a 20-foot-long (6 m), 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg) orca who has lived at the Miami Seaquarium since 1970...Lolita is approximately 21 feet (6.4 m) long and 7,000 pounds. Per the guidelines, the tank for a killer whale the size of Lolita must be a minimum of 48 feet (15 m) wide in either direction with a straight line of travel across the middle. Lolita’s tank is only 35 feet (11 m) wide from the front wall to the slide out (work island) barrier*. It is 20 feet (6.1 m) deep at the deepest point and a mere 12 feet (3.7 m) deep around the edges."

The Dodo article on Lolita
"Lolita is a 49-year-old orca who lives at the Miami Seaquarium. She has the distinction of earning two dubious titles: the oldest orca in captivity, and the orca who lives in the smallest tank in the country."

Lolita has been the subject of numerous protests over the years calling for her release into a more natural setting such as a coastal sanctuary. One such protest happened in August, 2017.
posted by whistle pig (9 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Did they lack the ability to transport her? It does seem like a logistical challenge given that traffic wasn't really moving out of the area easily. Not trying to justify this -- this is something they should have had a contingency plan for -- just trying to understand how they ended up doing this.
posted by HiddenInput at 4:27 PM on September 14, 2017 [1 favorite]


For any zoo or aquarium there is always both a safety plan and a ride-out team in place for any predictable natural disaster such as a hurricane. If nothing else these animals are irreplaceable and they don't want anything happening to them.
In the U.S. probably the safest place to be during a major hurricane is a zoo or aquarium.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 4:28 PM on September 14, 2017 [2 favorites]


And yet the worst place to be for an orca is in a zoo or aquarium at ANY time.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 6:11 PM on September 14, 2017 [34 favorites]


She is my age.

This shit breaks my heart.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 6:52 PM on September 14, 2017 [15 favorites]


I hope Lolita didn't feel distressed, or feel an instinct to leave. :(
posted by bleep at 6:59 PM on September 14, 2017 [1 favorite]


I have heard that the southern residents still avoid Penn Cove, where Lola was captured along with several others at the same time. It's barbaric and inhuman what we've done to these whales.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 7:42 PM on September 14, 2017 [13 favorites]


Did they lack the ability to transport her? It does seem like a logistical challenge given that traffic wasn't really moving out of the area easily.

By bringing this creature into captivity and removing its ability to look out for itself effectively, they assumed that responsibility. The fact that they shirked that responsibly doesn't surprise me at all -- if they really thought of this creature as anything beyond a novelty they wouldn't have captured it and put it on display -- but it does underline the fact, if it wasn't clear enough already, that they should not be allowed to do what they do.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 8:28 PM on September 14, 2017 [20 favorites]


Assholes.
posted by Jubey at 1:01 AM on September 15, 2017 [3 favorites]


With the exception of veterinary/rehabilitation services, or individuals somehow unable to survive in the wild, there should be no whales in captivity. Zero. None.
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:56 AM on September 15, 2017 [16 favorites]


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