Photo: Nuri Vallbona/The Miami Herald via AP
Fifty-two years after Lolita the killer whale entered captivity, the orca may return to the ocean and possibly reunite with her aging mother.
Activists are gaining ground in a decades-long mission to release Lolita, also known as Tokitae or Toki, who was removed from the wild and transported to the Miami Seaquarium in 1970, according toThe Guardian.
Since 1970, the 56-year-old orca has been residing and performing in what has been described as the smallest tank for captive killer whales in North America, per the outlet.
Over the years, Lolita’s health has ebbed and flowed. Still, experts have described the geriatric whale as being in “remarkably good shape,” the newspaper added, having outlived her tank-mate Hugo. He died of a brain aneurysm in 1980 after repeatedly hitting his head against his enclosure.
Walter Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty
“She’s a miracle every day,” Howard Garrett, a whale researcher and activist with Orca Network who has been fighting for Lolita’s release since 1995, toldThe Guardian. “It’s against all odds that she is still alive. I think it’s about her mental health that keeps her physical health in good shape.”
He continued, “She’s not withdrawn, neurotic, not the stereotypic behavior that indicates any kind of brain damage associated with being in captivity. She may be a complete outlier in her ability to stay healthy.”
A report from theUSDAreleased last year criticized the Miami Seaquarium’s care of the animal, citing that she was fed less than the recommended amount and wasn’t taking in enough water.
“The AV [attending veterinarian] was also concerned that Toki wasn’t getting enough water (as marine mammals extract water from fish for their hydration needs) and that the lack of food volume would cause her distress and agitation,” according to the report.
The report’s findings, coupled with the fact that the facility’s new owners are open to possibly releasing the whale, have activists optimistic about Lolita’s eventual return to open waters, according toThe Guardian.
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And while returning Lolita to her former habitat doesn’t come without risks, she could soon be reunited with her mother, a 93-year-old whale known as L25 or “Ocean Sun,” according toNewsweek.
In the Salish Sea, the elderly mammal reportedly still roams the waters near the Pacific Northwest’s Puget Sound, leading a pod of southern resident killer whales, perNewsweek.
source: people.com
