Lolita The Orca Who Was Stolen From The Wild & Held Captive At Miami Seaquarium For Five Decades Is Gravely Ill & Held On 24 Hour Watch

Today, WAN learned of the devastating news that Lolita, also known as Tokitae, has fallen gravely ill at the Miami Seaquarium. The 56-year-old orca, who has been held captive for so-called “entertainment,” has reportedly now been placed on 24-hour watch.

PETA shared the sad news in a post on their Facebook page earlier today. “More than 50 years of her life has been spent confined to the smallest orca tank in the world, most of that without orca companionship. She deserves so much more.”

As if her life was not tragic enough, the beloved orca is reportedly suffering from pneumonia. In danger of not receiving adequate care, it is feared that Lolita may not survive much longer.

According to PETA, “the current attending veterinarian, Shelby Loos, reportedly had no orca experience when she was hired in 2019. She left in 2020, but was rehired last year after the Seaquarium fired its longtime head veterinarian after she expressed concern about the extent of animal suffering at the park.”

Ironically, ten days ago, the Miami Sequarium went live on Facebook claiming that everything is being done to make sure that Lolita, aka Toki, is “in tip top shape,” healthy, and happy.

If that were the case, she never would have been forced to suffer while imprisoned in a tiny tank in the first place; only to be exploited for human greed. Over the years, the poor orca was made to perform up to three times per day for visitors.

This afternoon, another message from PETA claimed that, “Miami Seaquarium is lying, Lolita’s DYING! Lonely in this filthy tank.”

This is heartbreaking on so many levels and was completely avoidable.

PETA also noted that a recent federal inspection report revealed a host of animal welfare violations at the Miami Seaquarium. They included “holding incompatible dolphins together who ended up dying from trauma, forcing Lolita to continue performing tricks that had likely injured her jaw, and repeatedly acting against its previous veterinarians’ instructions.”

As previously reported by WAN, Lolita was four years old when she was tragically kidnapped from her family in the wild in Puget Sound, Washington, during a traumatic and violent hunt decades ago.

Animal advocates have fought for years for Lolita to be retired from performing at Miami Seaquarium and transferred to a seaside sanctuary in her home waters off Washington’s San Juan Islands, where she could interact with her family pod. One of the orcas in her original pod is reportedly still alive at 103 years old. Lolita should not spend another day, or worse, die, in an 80 foot long and 35 foot wide tank.

Join activists by calling Miami Seaquarium at (305) 361-5705, dial 0 to urge for the release of Lolita the orca and the aquarium’s dolphins to a seaside sanctuary. Also, text Miami to 73822, or click HERE, because no one should have to die in a tank.