1 of 1 Coach Marcia Hinton strokes Lolita during a performance at the Miami Seaquarium in Miami, March 9, 1995. —Photo: Nuri Vallbona/Miami Herald via AP Coach Marcia Hinton strokes Lolita during a performance at the Miami Seaquarium in Miami, March 9, 1995 .—Photo: Nuri Vallbona/Miami Herald via AP
A Florida aquarium has reached an agreement with animal rights activists to release Lolita, a 5,000pound orca that has been held captive for more than half a century, officials said Thursday.
The Miami Seaquarium said it has reached a “binding agreement” with the nonprofit Friends of Lolita to return the dolphin to a marine habitat in the Pacific Northwest within two years.
Lolita, a 57yearold orca caught in a bay near Seattle in 1970, is also known as Toki, a name that’s an abbreviation of the animal’s Native American name, Tokitae, the Miami Herald reported. The plan to return Lolita to her natural habitat requires federal approval, according to the newspaper.
The process of returning Lolita to the waters took years, beginning with the transfer of ownership of the aquarium to The Dolphin Co, MiamiDade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a news conference. The company later partnered with the nonprofit to provide medical assistance to the animal.
The Seaquarium’s previous owner, SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., discontinued the orca shows in 2016. Once a top attraction at the Seaquarium, Lolita was withdrawn from shows in March 2022 after management changed hands.
“Finding a brighter future for Lolita is one of the reasons that motivated us to acquire Miami Seaquarium,” Dolphin Co chief executive Eduardo Albor said in a statement.
The pressure to free Lolita increased after the 2013 documentary Blackfish featured the orcas in captivity.
Animal rights activists fought unsuccessfully for years in court to win Lolita’s freedom after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration placed orcas on the endangered species list in 2015.
Killer whales are highly social mammals that have no natural enemies and can live up to 80 years.