Miami Aquarium to release orca after keeping her in captivity for more than 50 years

A Florida aquarium has struck a deal with animal welfare advocates to release Lolita, a 2,268 kg orca held captive for more than half a century, officials said Thursday.

The Miami Seaquarium said it has reached a “binding agreement” with nonprofit Friends of Lolita to return the whale, who recently retired from performing, to an ocean habitat in the Pacific Northwest within two years.

Lolita, a 57-year-old orca captured in 1970 from a cove near Seattle, is also known as Toki, a name that is short for the whale’s Native American name, Tokitae, the Miami Herald reported.

The plan to return Lolita to her natural habitat requires federal approval, according to the newspaper.

The process to return Lolita to her “home waters” took years to complete, starting with the transfer of ownership of the aquarium to The Dolphin Co, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a news conference.

Later, the company partnered with the non-profit organization to provide medical assistance to the whale.

Seaquarium’s previous owner, SeaWorld Entertainment, phased out the orca shows in 2016. Lolita, once a top attraction at Seaquarium, was retired from shows in March 2022 after management changed hands.

“Finding a better future for Lolita is one of the reasons that motivated us to acquire the Miami Seaquarium,” Dolphin Co Chief Executive Eduardo Albor said in a statement.

Pressure to free Lolita gained momentum after the 2013 documentary “Blackfish” highlighted the captivity of orcas.

Animal rights advocates for years fought unsuccessfully in court to gain Lolita’s freedom after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration added orcas to the endangered species list in 2015.

So-called “killer whales” – despite orcas not being whales – are highly social mammals that have no natural predators and can live to be around 80 years old.