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LOLITA'S STORY
On August 8 1970, Lolita and her family were swimming peacefully
off the coast of Washington State en-route to Possession Sound,
for an annual gathering of orca nations. But little did Lolita
know that life as they knew it would never be the same, and that
she and her 10 family members would never be present at this,
or any other orca reunion ever again.
As the pod numbering approximately 100 animals moved through
the inlet, speedboats roared out towards them, deafening explosions
surrounded the family as the capture team attempted to disorientate
the whales to make it easier for them to be herded into Penn
Cove in Puget Sound. Attempting to protect their young, the whales
split into two groups - one protecting the calves and adolescents,
the other heading off to distract their captors away from their
family - but to no avail. The targeted whales had nets cast around
them - trapping them with no way of escape.
Young whales (which are targeted as they are easier to train
in captivity) were separated from their family members and netted
off. One mother trying to help her young calf was drowned in
the capture net whilst four other young whales died during the
capture attempt trying desperately to reach their mothers through
the net. This would have remained the secret of the captors had
they not slit open the bodies of these young whales, filled them
with rocks and left them to sink, however they were washed up
on shore a few days later - causing great public outrange. Protests
followed, which resulted in the Washington State government banning
the capture of orcas in the waters of Puget Sound for good -
the only good thing to come out of this horrendous day for Lolita
and her family.
The seven young whales captured on that day were spread across
the globe; going to facilities as far apart as the UK, Europe,
Japan, Australia and the USA. Which brings us to Lolita's story
of life in captivity.
On 14 September 1970 (when Lolita was about 6 years old) she
was put on display at the Miami Seaquarium, temporarily reunited
with a young male orca, Hugo - who had been captured from the
same orca pod 2 years earlier. Hugo died in 1980, leaving Lolita
alone - she is today the only survivor of nearly 60 whales captured
from Puget Sound for the dolphin and whale "entertainment" industry.
30 years later Lolita is still isolated and
alone - swimming listlessly around her concrete tank, which is
so small, it could
be a public swimming pool. This facility is so sub standard that
it was recently forced to close it's whale exhibit for "renovations" forced
upon it by the local authorities, after being cited for approx
36 violations on public safety.
Find out more about how you can
help free Lolita
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