More than 50 years after she was captured in the Pacific Ocean, the Miami Seaquarium's killer whale Lolita may finally be heading back to her home waters.
The Seaquarium, Florida non-profit Friends of Lolita, and philanthropist and owner of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts Jim Irsay have announced a news conference Thursday to discuss the future of the beloved orca.
Lolita, also known as Toki, was taken from the waters of Washington state in 1970 when she was about four years old. She’s estimated to be around 57 now, and is the oldest killer whale in captivity.
The now 7,000-pound orca was sold to the Seaquarium not long after her capture.
After decades of performances, Lolita fell ill in recent years, and last year, the Seaquarium's company announced Lolita would no longer be exhibited in the whale stadium.
An independent assessment from two world-renowned veterinarians released last June found that Lolita's condition had improved.
Puget Sound orcas were put on the endangered species list in 2005, but captive animals were excluded from protection.
For years, animal rights activists have said Lolita should be moved back to her home pod in Puget Sound, saying her pool at the Seaquarium is much too small.
But the park has said previously that Lolita's habitat exceeds the minimum requirements established by the Animal Welfare Act regulations.
And experts have said in some cases it's safer to keep the endangered animal in captivity, and have said the release of a captive animal into the wild may injure or kill that animal as well as pose a danger for wild populations of the same species.
Miami marine biologist Gerard Loisel noted how Lolita has had contact with trainers and humans every single day, and wonders what will happen when the orca ventures off by herself.
The Miami Seaquarium will no longer hold shows featuring Lolita the killer whale. NBC 6’s Ryan Nelson reports
“The trainers that work with the animal right now at the Seaquarium are very good at what they do, they are very fond of the animal and I think it is going to be an interesting transition to see how that aspect is going to be handled," Loisel said.
The average span of life of an orca is about 46 years for a female in the wild, so Lolita has exceeded that by more than a decade.
Groups like PETA have spent years battling the Seaquarium in court and in the media over the release of Lolita. In a statement Tuesday, PETA applauded the news of Lolita's expected return to the Pacific.
"If Lolita is finally returned to her home waters, there will be cheers from around the world, including from PETA, which has pursued several lawsuits on Lolita’s behalf and battered the Seaquarium with protests demanding her freedom for years," the statement read. "If the Seaquarium agrees to move her, it’ll offer her long-awaited relief after five miserable decades in a cramped tank and send a clear signal to other parks that the days of confining highly intelligent, far-ranging marine mammals to dismal prisons are done and dusted."