Friday 27 November 2009

Lolita










[Name] Lolita
[Date of capture] 08.August.70
[Currently resides] Miami Seaquarium
[Previously held at] -
[Parents] -
[Offspring] Potentially unsuccessful pregnancies

Lolita was a member of the Penn Cove round-up in 1970. Originally called Tokitae, upon her arrival, she was separated from Hugo* who already lived there. Hugo* would vocalize to her, which the owner's wife described as Hugo* calling to his "Lolita" and the name stuck. Lolita and Hugo* lived together in the tiny show pool, until is death in 1980. She has since spent 40 years without the companion of another orca. She now lives with Pacific white-sided dolphins and together they perform regularly in shows. The Miami Seaquarium trainers used to work in the water with Lolita during shows, but this was banned by OSHA in June 2015, which was quite a few years after SeaWorld's ban, following Dawn Brancheau's death.
Lolita has been the center of many animal rights campaigns, in attempt to have Lolita released or moved from her tiny pool, but alas none have had any success. It is remarkable how she has managed to live for so many years in such a small tank, whilst other's have gone to an early death.

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