2023-08-19 02:47:22
The orca Lolita, who had been in captivity for more than 50 years at the Miami Seaquarium, whose captivity has been a subject of controversy among animal protection groups, died this Friday allegedly of “a kidney condition,” the oceanarium itself reported in a statement. .
“In the last two days, ‘Toki’ (as the orca was also known) began to show severe signs of discomfort, which his entire medical team began to treat immediately and aggressively,” but, “despite receiving the best medical care possible passed away Friday afternoon…believed to be of a kidney condition,” the Miami Seaquarium announced on social media.
According to data provided by animal rights activists, Lolita, who was sold in 1970 to the Miami Seaquarium for about $20,000, was confined in a pool about 60 feet (18 meters) in length and a maximum depth of 20 feet (6.1 meters)and at the moment they were preparing it for release in the waters of the American Pacific, where it was originally from.
Eduardo Albor, president of The Dolphin Company, the company currently in charge of the Miami Seaquarium, lamented the death of the orca also on social networks.
“With a broken heart, we announce the departure of Lolita this afternoon (…). Lolita was a warrior and the team of Friends of Toki and @MiamiSeaquarium true heroes,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
This same week, however, reports published by local media revealed that the famous orca was feeding very well and the center had even made an investment of thousands of dollars to improve the conditions of the pond where it was found.
“Along with the many Miamians who grew up visiting her (Lolita), the generations of activists around the world who were inspired by her story and the caretakers who remained dedicated to her to the endToday we say our last goodbye to our beloved ‘Toki,'” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a grief-stricken statement Friday.
For its part, the Friends of Toki group, a non-profit organization that led the transfer of the orca to North Pacific waters, mourned the death in a statement on its website.
“‘Toki’ was an inspiration to all who were fortunate enough to hear his story and especially for the Lummi Nation (Native American tribe of the coastal zone of the Pacific Northwest region of the state of Washington) that he considered her family,” the organization wrote.
Its website states that Toki was the only orca that was captured in US waters still in captivity and one of the two oldest orcas in this condition.
She had health problems and “reports issued in 2021 and early 2022 suggested that she was seriously ill,” he said.
Last March, Levine Cava announced that Lolita was finally going to be transferred to the North Pacific waters where she was born to be released, a goal that has not been met with her death.
The councilor then convened a conference to publicize a “historical initiative” referring to the most mediatic orca in the world, for which personalities and celebrities have been interested.
At that time, representatives of the Seaquarium concession company, which is a subsidiary of the Mexican group The Dolphin Company, and the “Friends of Lolita” association, which oversaw the well-being and health of the orca, attended.
Lolita was captured in that area in 1970 and brought to the Miami Seaquarium in September of that year, which was opened in 1955 on an island in Biscayne Bay and It was the scene of the famous television series “Flipper”.
The dimensions were not adequate for an animal of its size, which also suffers from loneliness, since there are no more orcas in that aquarium, according to the activists.
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