Free Lolita campaign email updates #71-80

April 20, 2004 to September 17, 2005

Previous and Later Free Lolita Updates:

Free Lolita Updates #1-10 – March 1, 1999 to May 10, 1999

Free Lolita Updates #11-20 – June 1, 1999 to December 2, 1999

Free Lolita Updates #21-30 – January 26, 2000 to March 17, 2001

Free Lolita Updates #31-40 – May 1, 2001 to August 29, 2001

Free Lolita Updates #41-50 - August 31, 2001 to March 31, 2002

Free Lolita Updates #51-60 - May 14, 2002 to January 26, 2003

Free Lolita Updates #61-70 - May 4, 2003 to December 16, 2003

Free Lolita Updates #71-80 - April 20, 2004 to September 17, 2005

Free Lolita Updates #81-90 - October 25, 2005 to September 23, 2007

Free Lolita Updates #91+ - January 5, 2008 to present

Free Lolita Updates on this page:

Free Lolita Update #80 - September 17, 2005

Free Lolita Update #79 - July 7, 2005

Free Lolita Update #78 - April 10, 2005

Free Lolita Update #77 - March 27, 2005

Free Lolita Update #76 - November 7, 2004

Free Lolita Update #75 - October 11, 2004

Free Lolita Update #74 - July 28, 2004

Free Lolita Update #73 - July 26, 2004

Free Lolita Update #72 - May 16, 2004

Free Lolita Update #71 - April 20, 2004



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Free Lolita Update #80 - Hurricane Katrina
September 17, 2005

Dear Friends of Lolita,

We've all seen what happened when Hurricane Katrina's wind and waves demolished homes and communities over an area nearly twice the size of Mississippi. The first priority is to take care of the people whose lives were torn apart and to begin to clean up and rebuild shattered communities.

If this disaster doesn't lead to some fundamental rethinking of how we live and where we build our towns and cities more horrible catastrophes are bound to happen. The example that concerns us on Lolita's behalf is the fact that the Miami Seaquarium sits directly in the path of future massive and deadly hurricanes. To avoid a calamity at the Seaquarium, federal officials responsible for the safety of captive marine mammals should close the park as soon as possible and relocate the mammals, birds, fish and turtles to safer places. Lolita, a healthy adult female orca, should be allowed to return to the safety of her home waters and her family of 90 related orcas in Washington State.

On August 25, four days before Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the hurricane struck south Florida as a Category 1 storm, killing 11 people. The eye of the storm passed directly over the Miami Seaquarium between Key Biscayne and the mainland, sinking boats, damaging buildings and blowing down trees and power lines east and west of the Seaquarium. Three days later 27 percent of Miami-Dade County remained without electricity.

The Seaquarium has been tight-lipped about any damage and no news reports have surfaced to document the effects of the storm on the marine mammals and other animals held at the park. The park was closed to the public for three days.

Monster storms like Katrina will be hammering Florida with increasing frequency in the future because ocean temperatures are steadily rising as a result of global warming. The Seaquarium sits on a tiny man-made island between Key Biscayne and the mainland. The rim of the tank holding Lolita is about 15 feet above sea level, well under the 20-30 foot storm surge that Katrina pushed ashore along the Gulf. Study: Powerful hurricanes more common
Excerpts:

Hurricanes like Katrina -- the most destructive such storm ever to hit the United States -- are becoming more common, according to a new study sure to fuel debate over whether global warming is to blame. Some interpret the changing number of storms to be part of natural variability, Holland said. But the variability in the past has been over 10 year periods, and this is sustained over 30 years. Webster added that sea surface temperatures "are rising everywhere in the tropics and that is not connected to any natural variability we know."

The Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport, Mississippi, an infamous dolphin sales and rental agency, was completely demolished by Katrina. Here is what the Humane Society of the US (www.hsus.org) has to say:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Polly O. Shannon, pshannon@hsus.org, 301-721-6440 or 703-283-5104
POOR EVACUATION PLANS TO BLAME FOR CAPTIVE DOLPHINS BEING SWEPT OUT TO SEA BY KATRINA
HSUS Praises Rescue Officials But Warns "This Will Happen Again" if Facility is Allowed to Rebuild

Excerpts:
The dolphins miraculously survived being left behind at the facility, but were swept out to sea as the storm surge overwhelmed their tank, an occurrence that should have been anticipated, given the urgent warnings and massive publicity about Katrina.

"What happened to these dolphins this time will happen again if the aquarium is rebuilt in the same location," Dr. Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist for The HSUS, said. "We understand the owner is considering this, and the federal agencies responsible for the protection of captive marine mammals must not allow it. Marine Life Oceanarium was right on the shore in a hurricane zone. Katrina's destruction has validated our long-held concerns about all coastal public display facilities in the Gulf and Caribbean regions."

The HSUS recommends that all captive marine mammal facilities in hurricane prone zones reconsider the adequacy of their evacuation plans in light of this disaster.

Orca Network agrees whole-heartedly with this recommendation and calls for the immediate relocation of Lolita to her home and family.

You'll be hearing from us again soon to support the worldwide protest on October 8 against Japan's dolphin drive hunts at Japanese embassies everywhere. Go here for more information on the protest.

There's also some brewing news coming up. Busch Entertainment, owners of Sea World, is lobbying the US congress to water down the Marine Mammal Protection Act even more than it already is. One of their desired amendments to the Act would allow marine parks to sell and ship marine mammals to any park around the world regardless of whether the foreign park maintained any space requirements or health and safety standards at all. This would allow the Seaquarium to sell Lolita to an even shabbier roadside attraction anywhere in the world. We'll help you with letters to your congressperson to make sure it doesn't happen.

And lastly, for those who have watched the saga of Luna, or L98, the solitary sociable orca from L pod (Lolita's family), he took a little trip out to the open Pacific on September 15, raising hopes that one of these days he'll hear his family and head on out to meet them. The full story.

Best to everyone,
Howard Garrett, Susan Berta

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Free Lolita Update #79 - DatelineNBC campaign
July 7, 2005

Dear Friends of Lolita,

We haven't sent out an update since April simply because there hasn't been much to add. We'd like to report some positive changes in Lolita's prospects for coming home, or some effective ways you can help make that happen, and of course we'll always let you know if anything changes, but nothing major has happened recently. There's been no response yet from Dateline about doing a followup story to their 1995 report on Lolita.

We've known since 1995, when Ken Balcomb, director of the Center for Whale Research, first announced the Lolita campaign that, unless we got lucky and found a legal foothold or a major national political figure willing to go to bat for Lolita, we were in for a long haul. The challenge is to change the way people think about orcas in captivity. The Free Lolita campaign is part of a much larger, worldwide effort to spread the understanding that captivity always harms and often kills orcas and other dolphins. That global campaign is succeeding. Capturing orcas anywhere in the world now appears to be politically impossible. Orcas are dying faster than they are being born at Seaworld and throughout the marine park industry. 45 orcas now remain in captivity, 26 of them born in tanks. Marine park "collections" are steadily dwindling and they are desperate for more performing orcas. In the past ten years 17 orcas were born in captivity and survived so far, but 26 others have died in tanks, not counting the deaths of 19 newborns. You can find the history and all the details on orcas in captivity at http://www.orcahome.de/orcastat.htm.

It's become clear to most people by now that an orca's home water and natural habitat is the only safe and healthy place to live. The more difficult phase of this campaign is to inform the world that captive orcas and dolphins are capable of safely returning to their home waters, and in many cases rejoining their families of birth. For some captives, retirement may call for pens or feeding stations in natural surroundings, while others can fully reintegrate with their free-ranging families and societies. Lolita shows extraordinary strength and resilience, and seems to hold on to memories of her family to this day (demonstrated by calling out every day in her family's unique dialect), even after almost 35 years in that tiny tank. She should have the option of remaining in human care near where she was born, or gradually rejoining her family. Lolita's family, the Southern resident orca community, is right now, Sunday, July 17, enjoying a "superpod" reunion. All 90 members are greeting and playing together just a few miles west of Whidbey Island, WA. Lolita should be in amongst her family again, taking part in those festivities. One observer reports: "I had not ever seen an Orca before, and it was something that will forever be special to me. There was so much activity with the animals. Although I do not know technically what the whales were doing, I can say they sometimes came completely out of the water, sometimes just peeked out of the water so their head and upper body showed, did a cartwheel, swam along the surface together, and did small leaps and huge leaps. They seemed to be so happy."

For those of you in western Washington, we will be holding the 8th annual commemoration of Lolita's capture at Penn Cove on August 8, 1970. Below is the press release on this capture anniversary event. Of course you are all invited. Below the press release is a very interesting report from Lolita's poolside in Miami from Sunday, July 10, sent in by Anne-Marie Van Dijk, in which Lolita, also known as Tokitae, or Toki, shows she can still make a little mischief when she feels like it.
******************

NEWS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * Photos of Luna & Lolita available upon request

CONTACTS: Orca Network: Susan Berta or Howard Garrett
360-678-3451 or 1-866-ORCANET
www.orcanetwork.org

Lolita & Luna: Our Missing L pod Whales
In commemoration of the 35th Anniversary of the Penn Cove Orca Capture

Join Orca Network to commemorate the 35th Anniversary of the Penn Cove Orca Captures on Monday, August 8, from 5 - 8 pm at the historic San de Fuca Schoolhouse overlooking the 1970 Penn Cove capture site.

The evening's focus is Lolita and Luna: Our Missing L Pod Whales. Come and learn more about these two missing L pod whales: Lolita, who was captured and removed from her family pod August 8, 1970 and has been living in a small tank at the Miami Seaquarium for 35 years; and Luna, or L98, who somehow strayed from his pod and was presumed dead until he turned up in Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island in July 2001, where he has since been living a lonely and solitary life hundreds of miles from his Mom and L pod family.

We are honored to have Suzanne Chisholm & Michael Parfit as our special guests, to present "Saving Luna: an update from Nootka Sound", including videos and stories about Luna's solitary life in Nootka Sound.

Michael and Suzanne are writers and documentary filmmakers who specialize in the relationship of people to their environments. Michael's work has appeared in National Geographic and Smithsonian magazines. He wrote scripts for two IMAX films, Antarctica and Ocean Oasis. He is also the author of four books. Michael and Suzanne have worked together on a variety of film projects, including an hour-long documentary on the Australian environment; short pieces for the National Geographic Channel on Greenland, puffins, geology, Newfoundland fisheries, minority cultures in Europe, rising sea levels in the Netherlands, and a series for the National Geographic Channel on Canada's Inuit and their relationship to the land. Michael's magazine article about Luna appeared in the November 2004 edition of Smithsonian magazine. They are currently writing a book and producing a documentary about Luna, and have lived part-time in Gold River since April 2004.

The event will also include an update on Lolita's situation in Miami by Howard Garrett of Orca Network, as well as the latest news on Lolita's and Luna's extended family, the Southern Resident Community of orcas. Also enjoy gourmet appetizers, no-host wine bar, displays, and a silent auction to raise funds for Lolita, Luna and Orca Network's educational projects. Cost of the event is $15 per person, tickets are available by contacting Orca Network at info@orcanetwork.org or 360-678-3451, and will also be available at the door. More information about Lolita and Luna can be found at www.orcanetwork.org and www.reuniteluna.com.

The San de Fuca Schoolhouse is located at 650 Zylstra Rd, corner of Zylstra and Highway 20, 4 miles north of Coupeville and 5 miles south of Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island, WA.
************************

Anne-Marie's July 10 report from the Seaquarium:

I got a chance to see her on Sunday. She seemed to be in good physical health and her spirit seemed quite good too. They also have a bottlenose dolphin in the pool with her now. His name is Rio and he is less than 2 years old. Two of the Pacific white-sided dolphins are still with her (Lii and Loki).

Before the show started, when she was still in the medical pool, I could slightly hear her whistle. Toki started out doing well, but then soon thereafter started doing the complete opposite of what her trainer was asking her to do (three times in a row, and very deliberately too). I wonder whether she wasn't cooperating to rebel or simply to tease her trainer. Considering she did it three times in a row, with three different behaviors and not wanting fish for it, it seemed to me like a way of teasing her. She even went up to her and sprayed her full of water! It was really interesting to see. I truly wonder what she must have been thinking. As usual, the trainers gave her a time out (not paying any attention to her) and then came back. She performed as was asked after that. It's always very sad seeing how trainers treat her after a time-out, really giving the idea she has been a "bad" girl.

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Free Lolita Update #78 - DatelineNBC campaign
April 10, 2005

Dear Friends of Lolita,

The DatelineNBC campaign is below.

The defamation case brought by the Seaquarium against Tim Gorski and Valerie Sildiker is winding its way to the courts. We'll keep you posted as it goes, but...

First the news of another death of a young orca at Seaworld. On April 5 a 15 year-old male named Splash died in Orlando. The whale's health had begun to deteriorate and his appetite dramatically dropped. Within a week he died. Splash was born in captivity in 1989 at Marineland, a marine park in Canada, and had been at SeaWorld since 1992. Most male orcas in captivity tend to die when they reach adolescence in their mid-teens. The park said Splash suffered from epilipsy.

With this death Sea World maintains its average of one orca death/year since 1986 - 19 whales in 19 years. The loss of Splash makes eight deaths worldwide in the last year, and leaves only 45 orcas in captivity worldwide.

According to recent reports Lolita remains fairly healthy, which is absolutely extraordinary. Most captive females die by the time they reach their early 20's, and only one other captive orca - Corky at San Diego SeaWorld - has lived even close to the 34 years Lolita has spent in captivity.

Now on to the Dateline campaign:

This message has also been sent to Dateline NBC to begin a campaign to encourage Dateline to produce another story about Lolita. In 1995 Dateline aired a 15 minute segment that told her story and the potential for her reintroduction to her home waters, including a dramatic scene in which Keith Henderson played a digital tape of Lolita's family recorded at a "superpod" gathering in the Pacific Northwest. She came halfway out of the water and leaned into the speaker.

Much has been learned in the past ten years about the family and culture that Lolita was taken from at about four to six years old. We now know that the calls Lolita still makes are the badge of membership in her community and pod. We know from Keiko's experience that moving a long-term captive to larger tanks or even to wild, natural environments does not produce stress, but to the contrary such a move leads to greater strength and vigor. We learned from two lost orca calves that the skills needed to catch fish are learned in their first year or two. Much like Keiko, Lolita probably still has those skills, although fish could be provided to her indefinitely upon her return home.

But most of all, as described in an abundance of scientific literature, and in the current National Geographic magazine, and in state and federal Endangered Species documents, Lolita's family is culturally distinct from all other orca communities worldwide. This degree of cultural identity found in orcas is without parallel except in humans. This means that in spite of almost 35 years confined in that tiny tank in Miami, Lolita still retains the knowledge that she is a member of a large extended family still living in the Pacific Northwest. With her brain about five times larger than average human brains, there is a very good chance that Lolita has retained her early enculturation and will have little problem recognizing and being recognized by her family, especially the couple dozen members who were present when Lolita was captured in 1970.

All in all, it adds up to a lot of fascinating evidence to present to Dateline to encourage them to produce another segment on Lolita. We are sending this message to Dateline, and we hope many of you will also send an email to:

Dateline@NBC.com

...and ask them to revisit Lolita and her predicament in light of all that's been learned in the past ten years. You can cut and paste from this message or send it whole or make up your own message, but the more requests Dateline receives to do another story on Lolita the greater the possibility that they will do it. Please drop them a line.

Thanks, and as always we'll keep you posted.

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Free Lolita Update #77 - Filmmaker sued!
March 27, 2005

Dear Friends of Lolita,

We are preparing a public action campaign to persuade Dateline NBC to produce a followup of the powerful show about Lolita that appeared on Dateline in 1995. New scientific understandings of her lifetime membership in her extended family and other developments strongly support the proposal to return Lolita to her home and family.

You'll hear more about that campaign very soon, but right now, there's a new legal action by the Seaquarium that could bring national attention to Lolita's tragic predicament.

The film Lolita - Slave to Entertainment, produced by Rattle the Cage Productions, and the website www.miamiseaprison.com have apparently been so successful in alerting people to Lolita's inhumane confinement that the producers, Tim Gorski, and Valerie Silidker, were served with a lawsuit from the Seaquarium to the tune of $300,000!

The Seaquarium claims Tim and Val have committed a variety of infractions, all of which are fair use of humorous parody, and all of which arise from their heartfelt revulsion at what the Seaquarium is doing to Lolita. The lawsuit claims Tim and Val's film and website will "confuse" potential customers. In our opinion, their creative works use parody to educate people about the immorality of holding Lolita and other intelligent mammals in circus-like captivity.

Tim and Val have courageously and effectively described Lolita's predicament. Their efforts are purely educational and not for commercial gain. This lawsuit is an attempt to restrict public criticism that is protected by First Amendment free speech laws. The good news is that if the Seaquarium continues to pursue this legal assault they will be required to publicly open their financial and medical records, and that could lead the case in many exciting directions. Plus, news media may find the Seaquarium's backlash against these two dedicated campaigners for Lolita to be a human and whale interest story that people will want to hear about. Tim and Val can win this case, and when all is said and done Lolita could be closer to rejoining her family than ever before.

Tim and Val need help to win this legal battle and continue to speak up for Lolita. To see the actual lawsuit and help Tim and Val defeat the Seaquarium and reveal this obsolete roadside attraction's dark secrets, please visit: http://www.miamiseaprison.com/whats_happening.htm

Below is Tim's message:

Greetings Lolita freedom fighters, Rattle the Cage friends and members, and SeaPrison Subscribers,

Two days ago Rattle the Cage, President, Timothy Gorski, and VP, Valerie Silidker were served with a $300,000.00 lawsuit from the Miami Seaquarium who is trying to squelch our first amendment rights to share Lolita's story and critique the Seaquarium.

This comes in the form of a countersuit to the assault charges in 2002, when Seaquarium employees acted in violence, throwing me down a flight of concrete stairs, simply for speaking up on Lolita's behalf. They argue that employees thought I had a bomb strapped to my chest and was a danger to the audience and Lolita and therefore needed to be removed with violence.

Because I refuse to settle with them (which would include forfeiting the film and the website) they have filed a counter claim against "us" demanding over $300,000.00 in supposed damages, and a complete cease and desist of the (11 award winning) LOLITA film and our parody website www.miamiseaprison.com claiming copyright infringement, trademark infringement, false display of negative material, false accusations of animal cruelty, conspiracy, evil motives, seeking personal gain, unfair competition.

You have all seen the film and the website. They are educational tools providing valid contradictory information needed for people to make educated decisions. We have done the research. We all know the facts. And we know the law. Both the website and film are protected under the First Amendment and Fair Use laws of the Copyright Act, sec. 107. This countersuit is a blatant attempt to frighten and silence us. The Seaquarium has also attempted to bribe us with a payoff many times but, again we refuse.

We will NOT let them silence us, our films, and our websites. We will NOT fall victim to this dragon. You are all aware that we are a tiny grassroots organization with very limited funds. Our mission is making the films that raise awareness, and we do it well. We do not have the financial means to fight this beast alone. WE NEED YOUR HELP. We must thwart this attempt to squelch our constitutional rights together, for Lolita and all the others.

I am asking you to donate whatever you can now, PLEASE. Every little bit helps. We must secure competent civil rights council willing to champion this cause. This lawsuit may be the blessing we needed. The Seaquarium's books will be open to us; imagine the dirty little secrets we will find along the way. And we are ready to blow this David and Goliath story wide open in the media generating great attention to the cause. I don't think Seaquarium officials fully understand who they are dealing with. They assume we will cower. But good WILL triumph over evil. We WILL fight them to the bitter end. Are you with us?

If every person on this list donates just $10.00 we will have the power to tackle this infringement on our and Lolita's rights and begin production on our next film, The Fall of a Seaprison.

Sincerely,

Timothy Gorski and Valerie Silidker

*****************************

In other news, the Miami New Times recently made a good case for returning Lolita to her home and family in this story:

Seaquarium stonewalls about the health and well-being of Lolita the orca
February 17, 2005

Excerpts:

"The deal we offered Hertz to free Lolita was a win-win," says activist Howard Garrett of the Orca Network. Garrett is part of the group that continues to try to goad Hertz into letting Lolita go. "He was offered two million dollars, full royalty and film rights, and even the chance to have live broadcasts of her [after her release]. He could have looked like a hero, too, which will not be the case if she dies in captivity."

Hertz has maintained that, regardless of the morality of capturing Lolita in the first place, releasing an animal accustomed to performing tricks for food into the merciless ocean would be cruel and probably fatal.

"That's ignoring the fact that, all along, we've offered another option," says Orca Network's Susan Berta. "If she doesn't adapt well to hunting, we would keep her in an enclosed area much larger than her tank at Seaquarium, where she'd get to eat salmon all day, and have auditory contact with her family. It would be like a nice retirement for her."

Orcas are intensely social and group-oriented, traveling and hunting in family units that never break up. Children stay with parents for their entire lives, and families develop unique calls that distinguish them from other orcas. This knowledge has emerged as whales have been studied for the nature of their sentiency. Naturalists such as Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, who studied animal societies on Baffin Island, and Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals, insist simply keeping orcas in captivity is morally wrong and out of sync with a civilized human society.

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Free Lolita Update #76
November 7, 2004

Dear Friends of Lolita,

We have a sad update from the captive whale industry. Another captive orca has died. Marineland of Niagara Falls, Ontario has lost a second killer whale in less than three months. Hudson, at six years old, was found dead on Oct. 20, just two months after Neocia, 12-years old, was found dead in her pool.

This makes a total of six orcas that have died in captivity so far this year. The longest any of them lasted was 15 years. Two others died last year, and only three were born in the past two years, leaving the total now still alive in captivity at 46, which is down from over 50 just two years ago. So far, 138 have died in captivity since captures began in 1962.

They're dying faster than they are being born. If you do the math, it means the remaining days for captive orca amusement parks are numbered. For the past 15 years, capture attempts have been disasters. Thanks to all the groups and individuals working to stop the captures, there may soon be no more, worldwide.

The wonder is still that Lolita, in her late thirties at the Seaquarium, and Corky, about the same age at Sea World, are somehow still surviving. The problem remains that the owners of those parks don't really care about anything but revenue figures, and as long as they're making money they'll keep the survivors doing tricks.

With your help we'll continue doing all we can to bring Lolita home to her family.

Howard Garrett
Susan Berta
Orca Network

PS: Below is a link to a news story about the founder of Sea World. Below the link is my letter to the editor about it.

UNION-TRIBUNE
October 3, 2004
A SeaWorld founder recounts both his park and his life's journey
The rest of the story wouldn't be appreciated by Sea World nor most of your San Diego readers I'm sure, but soon will be a part of Sea World's image, much like ear-biting is now part of Mike Tyson's image. I'm referring to the way Shamu was caught, and the capture of another 45 whales from her family, and a like amount from Icelandic waters and elsewhere.
Shamu's mother was the target of the harpoon that was intended to just stick in Shamu's mother to drag her in, but it killed her. Or rather she opened her blowhole and drowned rather than die a slow painful death. Baby Shamu was helpless, and was netted and dragged in instead. She didn't get along with Namu, because he was from a completely different clan and community, but nobody knew about family and community identity in killer whales back then.
But now we know. Family ties are for life among orcas, and they show every sign of operating according to the culture into which they were born, which determines diet, reproduction, movements and in fact virtually all facets of behavior. As Dr. John Ford of Canada Fisheries says: orca social systems are without parallel except in humans.
All but one of the original 45 caught from Puget Sound were dead by 1987. Only Corky (at San Diego Sea World) and Lolita, at the Miami Seaquarium, are still alive of all those captured in the Pacific. Captivity not only dismembers the family and community, as it would our own, but it soon kills the whales.
Mr. Millay doesn't want to know about those things, but they are true, and the truth will catch up to Sea World.
Thank you for your story.

Howard Garrett

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Free Lolita Update #75
October 11, 2004

Dear Friends of Lolita,

Some of you have asked about the damage to the Seaquarium from the hurricanes. Fortunately south Florida was about the only place in the state that was not hit head-on by at least one hurricane. There was some wind damage to signs and roofing, and some erosion along the sea wall which caused part of the fence to collapse, but nothing too serious. Possible related to the collapsed fence, somebody recently got into a tank holding a mother dolphins and her calf and was injured by the dolphin.

The water in all the pools was full of sediment probably from the water in the bay being churned up and pumped in to the various pools.

We are continuing to work with very dedicated activists in the Miami area to make Lolita's tragic predicament better known. In spite of massive on-going public relations effort by the marine park industry the world is increasingly aware of the cruelty of holding such deeply social, highly aware and far-ranging beings in captivity in any way, especially in complete isolation in such a confined space as the whale tank and the Seaquarium.

The video documentary "Lolita - Slave to Entertainment" by Tim Gorski and Valerie Silidker of Rattle The Cage Productions (www.rattlethecage.org) has been showing in Free Speech TV on a regular basis. The film presents a powerful portrait of the travesty and tragedy of Lolita's captivity, and the reality that she could return to her home waters and rejoin her family. The fact that she continues to use the unique dialect that only her immediate family still uses each day in the inland waters of the Pacific Northwest makes an unequivocal case that she would recognize her family and they would know her immediately, if only the Seaquarium would allow her to return home.

Howard Garrett and Susan Berta
Orca Network

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Free Lolita Update #74
July 28, 2004

Dear Friends of Lolita,

Many of you have seen the news about Kyuquat, the orca at San Antonio Sea World who attacked his trainer on Friday. This incident demonstrates one of the many, many reasons whales and dolphins should not be held in captivity, even those who are captive born such as Kyuquat.

Kyuquat was born at SeaLand Victoria in 1991, to Tillikum and Haida2. Interestingly, Tillikum and Haida2, along with another orca, Nootka4, were involved in an incident at SeaLand Victoria in 1991 which resulted in the drowning of trainer Keltie Byrne. Trainers had never been in the pool with these orcas before, and when Keltie slipped and fell into the pool, she was dragged into the pool and repeatedly submerged by the whales until she drowned. Tillikum was known to be aggressive, and was later moved to Sea World Orlando, where he was basically kept for breeding and trainers were kept away from him. In 1999, a man sneaked into SeaWorld and hid until after hours. He was found dead the next morning in Tillikum's tank, his naked body draped across Tillikum's back.

However, in the wild, there are no confirmed incidents of orcas harming or attacking humans. In captivity, the whales are confined to small tanks, isolation, or being paired or held with whales from other communities. They are unable to hunt for food, socialize naturally, swim any distance, or dive. This leads to depression, aggression, suicide, and incidents such as the above. Hugo, the male orca from the Southern Resident Community who was Lolita's tank-mate when she first arrived at the Miami Seaquarium, was known to be aggressive and repeatedly banged his head against the side of the tank. He once broke a viewing window and sliced his rostrum, and eventually died of a brain anneurism, likely from the repeated head-banging.

There are dozens of incidents involving trainers and orcas held in captivity. (go to: http://www.angelfire.com/gu/orcas/attack.html or the ABC News story).

But the whales are not the ones at fault here. I would be aggressive if I were taken from my family, held in a bathtub, and forced to live with another species and perform tricks for food, wouldn't you? The captive situation is not natural or healthy for whales and dolphins - their habitat and social community structures cannot be replicated. These are very large, active, and intelligent, sentient beings, not cuddly domestic animals to be used for human enjoyment or income. Whales do not belong in tanks, even captive-born whales such as Kyuquat - they need room to swim 100 miles a day, to socialize, mate and relate with other orcas of their natural community and culture. Humans are playing a very dangerous game by trying to make these amazing, awesome beings something they are not.

This is why we have fought for Lolita's release from the Miami Seaquairum for years, and why we will keep fighting for her freedom. She has performed in her tiny tank for 34 years, and it is time to let her retire and come home to her family in Washington. To learn more about Lolita, visit our website Captivity page or attend our annual Penn Cove Orca Capture Anniversary event on August 8th in Coupeville, Whidbey Island, WA at the site of Lolita's capture (more info at: Events ). To learn more about the effects of captivity on whales and dolphins, go to: Captivitystinks.

Join us in working to bring Lolita home, and in working to put an end to the marine park industry which is dangerous and harmful to both whales and humans.

Susan Berta & Howard Garrett
Orca Network

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Free Lolita Update #73 - 34th Anniversary of Penn Cove Orca Capture
July 26, 2004

NEWS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 26, 2004
Orca Network
Susan Berta/Howard Garrett
360-678-3451
info@orcanetwork.org
www.orcanetwork.org

August 8th Event commemorates 34th Anniversary of Penn Cove Orca Capture

Wyland Humpback Whale Limited Edition Print to be auctioned at Orca Network Benefit
***Photos of Wyland Print & John Stone available upon request

Sunday, August 8, marks the 34th anniversary of the Penn Cove Orca Capture in which "Lolita", an L pod orca whale, was taken from her family and transported to the Miami Seaquarium, where she has been performing daily in a small tank ever since. Lolita is the only survivor of all the Southern Resident orcas captured during the 1960's and 70's. In all, forty five whales were captured and shipped to marine parks around the world. An additional thirteen orcas were killed during capture operations, four or five whales died in Penn Cove during the capture in which Lolita was taken.

Capt. John Colby Stone, proprietor and Innkeeper of the Captain Whidbey Inn, remembers the capture well. All three pods of Southern Resident whales were herded into Penn Cove and penned in near the Captain Whidbey Inn that week in August, 1970. At that time, Capt. Stone's parents owned and ran the Inn. Concerned about the activity of the whalers, Capt. Stone (a college student at the time) took Wally Funk editor/publisher of the Whidbey News-Times out to the scene of the capture. Funk's photos of the capture have become classics, and helped galvanize public opinion against the capture of Orca in the State of Washington.

Stone has been a longtime supporter of the "Free Lolita" campaign, helping with efforts to get Lolita out of the Seaquarium and back home to her pod in Washington for years; offering the use of the Captain Whidbey Inn for Orca Network's annual Lolita/Capture Anniversary event, and donating sails aboard S/V Cutty Sark, his 52' Ketch to help raise funds for the cause. "The capture and incarceration of a sentient creature for the mere pleasure of humans is an anathema to my idea of what it is to be human," Stone said.

This year, Stone, in addition to the cruise is donating a beautiful Wyland Humpback Whale signed and numbered Limited Edition Print for the Lolita event auction. Wyland's limited editions have been enthusiastically collected throughout the United States and forty countries around the world. Today Wyland is recognized as one of the most popular and collected artists of our time. This print, titled "Genesis" was purchased in 1999. Its value has increased every year. The current value is $2,245. Bidding will begin at $1500, and bids will be accepted via email until 9 am on August 8 from those unable to attend the event and auction. The print is in mint condition. Thanks to a donation from the Windjammer Gallery in Coupeville, the print is mounted and shrink-wrapped along with the certificate of authenticity and artist information. To view a photo of the print, go to: www.orcanetwork.org/news/events.html.

Orca Network invites you to join us in this event to remember and honor the whales that died during the captures and in captivity, and to come learn more about Lolita and the Southern Resident orcas. This year's event features presentations, displays, silent auction, waterside ceremony, gourmet food & no-host bar. A pre-event sail on Penn Cove aboard Captain John Colby Stone's ketch, "Cutty Sark" begins at 1:30 (reservations required), with other activities held from 3 - 6 pm in the Stone Gallery and Gazebo area of the Captain Whidbey Inn.

The Captain Whidbey Inn is located at 2072 W. Capt. Whidbey Inn Road, off Madrona Way 2 1/2 miles northwest of Coupeville, Whidbey Island. Event admission is $15, the Cutty Sark sail is a $20 donation. For reservations or more information, or to bid on the Wyland print, contact Orca Network at 360-678-3451 or info@orcanetwork.org.

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Free Lolita Update #72
May 16, 2004

Dear Friends of Lolita

This much we know: Lolita is still a member of her extended family, known by researchers as the L25 subpod of the Southern Resident orca community in Washington and British Columbia. We know this because she still calls out in the unique dialect used only by her family. Her continued calling to her family, even after 34 years of separation from them, shows that she still remembers where she came from and where she belongs. She is still able to recognize her family's calls, and they would recognize her.

Most of you already know this. We repeat it here because we may be nearing the point when this argument will be needed to convince government agencies to allow Lolita to return to her true home.

The Sequarium is teetering on the brink of collapse. The Top Deck dolphin show has been closed for months to repair electrical and safety hazards. The whale stadium is required to reduce its attendance because it does not have sufficient public exits. The park also lacks wheelchair accessibility which violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. All this adds up to a flood of negative publicity and a public spectacle of an unsafe, dishonest, deteriorating marine park, further reducing revenues and hastening the Seaquarium's downfall.

Now there are two more major news stories, starting with a front page article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The full story is at:

Free Lolita! Bid to bring orca 'home' heats up
May 12, 2004 (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Activists put squeeze on Florida aquarium

In a concrete tank beside the shallow and subtropical waters of Biscayne Bay, on a sun-drenched island dotted with coconut palms, lives a one-time resident of the deep and cold waters of Puget Sound.

Her name is Lolita. She's an orca, and her biological clock is ticking.

"People are not her family. That ought to be obvious to everyone," says crusading orca scientist Ken Balcomb, who helped (Governor) Lowry and (Secretary of State) Munro launch the campaign.

"It's been a very long shot from the beginning, but as long as she still breathes, there's still a possibility," says Howard Garrett of the Orca Network, Balcomb's half-brother, who spearheaded much of the campaign.

In recent years, scientists have come to understand that orcas have remarkable abilities, including their own sort of culture, Garrett notes, with rituals that apparently are handed down through the generations. For instance, Puget Sound's three orca families, or pods, come together periodically in ceremony-like fashion.

Garrett tried hard to persuade the Seaquarium to let L*olita go. Garrett even moved to south Florida for two years in the late '90s as part of the effort. Nothing worked.

Now the activists are changing their approach. Mother's Day vigils and disrupting the Lolita show with bullhorns or banners have given way to getting the government on their side.

Starting last year, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., activist Russ Rector began calling in government inspectors to remedy dozens of building and electrical code violations. Seaquarium officials say they are working diligently to correct those problems. On the heels of the Miami-Dade County building inspectors came those from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

(Robert) Rose (SQ's head trainer) says the "Free Willy" example proves his point. Keiko, the orca released in Iceland after languishing in a Mexican attraction, never did take up with other orcas, instead preferring to hang out around people. Keiko died last year in Norway. Alone.

Activists, though, point out an important difference with LOlita: Everyone knows that her family, the L pod, can be found at regular intervals in Washington's inland sea. She still "speaks" in the native "tongue" of Puget Sound orcas. Keiko, on the other hand, was set free hundreds of miles from where he was captured, where he was unlikely to encounter whales he could relate to. ###

And a stunning five-part series called "Marine Attractions: Below the Surface" began today in the Florida Sun-Sentinel, which covers all of south Florida and beyond. This marks the first in-depth look at the marine park industry to appear in major media. The first installment, dated Sunday, May 16th 2004, is almost five full pages long. The headline reads: "Not a Perfect Picture." You can see the article on the web: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/sfl-marinestorygallery,0,2119297.storygallery?coll=sfla-home-dots-utility.

If you would like to comment on Marine Attractions: Below The Surface, you can leave a message at 954-356-4854 or send an email to marine@sun-sentinel.com. Your comments may be used in subsequent reports, so please give your name and a phone number where you can be reached.

In addition, a TV news piece called "The Price They Pay for our Amusement" will air 10:PM tomorrow (Monday) night on channel 10 in the south Florida area.

The tide is truly turning as public opinion begins to see the truth about captive marine mammals in marine parks, and the Seaquarium in particular is getting swamped by the new awareness. As always, we'll keep you up to date.

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Free Lolita Update #71 - Seaquarium Sinking
April 20, 2004

Dear Friends of Lolita,

We haven't sent anything for several months because the situation in Miami seems to be slowly winding down to some kind of resolution, possibly very soon. It looks like the Seaquarium is in its death rattle. We told you last fall about the many safety code violations that were exposed by videographer Tim Gorski's (producer of Lolita - Slave to Entertainment) videos and described by Russ Rector of the Dolphin Freedom Foundation and by Safety Inspector Jon Wallace (CSP, MBA) of the University of North Carolina.

Jon did a follow up inspection over this past weekend and found several more violations. Most importantly, Jon found that Lolita's stadium still lacked the two additional public exits required by law. The Dolphin Freedom Foundation will file a complaint with the Governor of Florida asking for a full investigation into the "obvious corruption inside Dade County Building and Zoning and the Fire Marshall’s offices."

The bottom line in the news story below is the bottom line. "Lolita's stadium lacks some of the required emergency exits." The safety code requires 4 public exits, but the stadium only has 2. They tried putting "Emergency Exit" signs over two narrow staircases used by employees, but that's not legal, so now they have to cut down admissions to the stadium, cutting revenues accordingly. In addition, the Top Deck dolphin show is closed for renovations, as is the manatee show. The owners now face a massive and extremely expensive rebuild, or will have to shut down entirely.

This just in: Tim Gorski reports this evening that he has "video proof that they have not cut down on admissions to the Lolita stadium as the last paragraph of the article states. 10 minutes of complete congestion going in and out of the stadium and wheelchairs crowded around the ROPED OFF emergency exits."

We'll keep you posted. See www.miamiseaprison.com for more details.

Miami Herald
April 20, 2004
Dolphin advocate rips Seaquarium on hazards
A marine-mammal advocate whose complaints last year prompted Miami-Dade County to cite the Miami Seaquarium with dozens of violations blasted the popular attraction again Monday (emphasis ours).

According to Russ Rector, head of the Dolphin Freedom Foundation, a second review by a private safety consultant showed four new electrical violations as well as failure to adequately provide safety exits at the stadium housing Lolita, the killer whale.

County and Seaquarium officials said the attraction has been working to correct the 137 violations noted by building and fire officials since Rector began his campaign last year to heighten scrutiny of the Miami landmark.

...Andrew Hertz, general manager of the Seaquarium, acknowledged that Lolita's stadium lacks some of the required emergency exits, but has taken steps with the county's blessing -- such as limiting the number of patrons allowed into the shows -- to ensure safety.