The past weekend is marked 51 years since humans have kidnapped Lolita – a lonely killer whale trapped in the Miami Aquarium – from her ocean home off the coast of Washington, traumatically separating her from her family. That’s why on August 7, along with a crowd of PETA supporters protesting against Lolita’s continued suffering, the body painted by the killer whale fell into a tiny bathtub in downtown Miami. The spectacular sight reminded passers-by that Lolita has spent over five decades in the smallest killer whale tank in the world– an experience similar to chaining a person to a bath for 50 years.
Check out the photos from the Lolita protest in Miami:
For more than half a century, Lolita has been deprived of her family and home. PETA is urging the Miami Marine Aquarium to retire to a seaside sanctuary where she can finally feel the ocean currents instead of seeing concrete walls.
—Tracy Reiman, Vice President, PETA
Here’s How You Can Take Action for Lolita and Other Killer Whales in Marine Parks
Despite overwhelming evidence that killer whales suffer immensely in cramped aquariums, the Miami Marine Aquarium in Florida and the Marineland Antibes in France still contain these social, intelligent and sensitive animals. Did you know that Lolita did not have any contact with another killer whale since 1980, when her cellmate Hugo died after hitting her head against a wall several times?
Keeping animals in captivity for our entertainment is a form arrogance– the worldview of supporters of human superiority – and this must end. Please ask parent company Miami Seaquarium and Marineland Antibes to retire killer whales in both parks to seaside reserves where they could feel waves, hear wild pods, and finally have some semblance of natural life:
Help get Lolita at the Miami Aquarium and other people living in the Seaside Wildlife Refuge