Orca Network Free Lolita Update

Free Lolita Update #89 - We won't forget her

News, Views, Events

July 15, 2007

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Wallie Funk 1
In 1970 a capture team using speedboats and airplanes and lobbing explosives forced the entire Southern Resident orca community into a narrow cove, where they corralled all 96 orcas. They chose the young ones to ship to marine parks around the world. One, first called Tokitae, was delivered to the Miami Seaquarium. She was given a new name, "Lolita," and against all odds she has survived these many years in a tiny tank that is illegal by the letter of the Animal Welfare Act. Lolita's longevity in a tank is extraordinary even by orca standards. All the other 44 captive Southern Resident orcas were dead by 1987. Studies have shown that orcas in captivity live far less than half their normal lifespan.

Working with others around the globe, we've made a lot of progress toward convincing people nationwide and worldwide that it is simply wrong to confine large, family-bonded, long-lived and far-ranging whales to bathtub sized tanks. The deeper problem all along has been to convince people that orcas are capable of returning to their home habitat, IF they are returned to their families. Orcas are much stronger and far more advanced and capable than is generally understood. Their strength is partly due to their cultural bonds and family membership, and the durability of those memories. By returning Lolita to her family she could regain the strength that comes from rebuilding those lifelong family bonds.

While people the world over now understand that captivity is cruel and deadly for orcas, we still need to convince the scientific community and the public that Lolita can safely return to her home and family, in order to convince the owner of the Seaquarium and other decision-makers that Lolita can and must be returned to her family and natural habitat.

Sound Off: Orca capture victims honored

By Susan Berta

Whidbey News Times - Saturday, July 14 2007

On the 37th anniversary of the Penn Cove orca capture, August 8, 2007, Orca Network holds its annual commemoration of all the Southern Resident orcas taken during the capture era, and honors Lolita, the only survivor, who lives alone at the Miami Seaquarium where she was delivered 37 years ago.

Much has changed in the lives of the Southern Resident orcas, or J, K and L pods. "Granny," one of the elder females of J pod who is thought to be over 90 years of age, lived in a time when abundant chinook salmon runs provided plenty of food, the waters were clean, and the habitat undisturbed. But the impacts of an ever-increasing human population has taken its toll on Granny and her family.

At one time humans feared the orcas, or "killer whales," and they were commonly shot at or used for military target practice. Then in the 1960s and '70s, that fear changed to a realization that orcas were not dangerous killers, but were intelligent and trainable, and the marine park industry was born.

During this period, 45 Southern Resident orcas were captured and delivered to marine parks, and another dozen or more were killed during the captures. Finally in 1976 a count was taken of the remaining population, and it was discovered that one third to one half had been removed, all of them younger whales, the impacts of which are still felt today on this fragile, small population.

With just 71 orcas remaining, the captures were finally stopped, and the Southern Resident population slowly climbed to nearly 100 by the mid 1990s.

But now the orcas faced declining salmon runs and toxic pollution. The starving orcas relied on their stored up blubber for energy, unfortunately unleashing the toxins which had accumulated in their blubber and fat tissues over the decades. From 1995 to 2001, 20 percent of the Southern Resident population died, with the population plunging to only 78 whales.

In 2005, the Southern Resident orcas were listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Their population has crept back up to around 87, but remains very fragile. Large scale efforts are now underway to save this population that has suffered from captures, toxins, and salmon depletion, and finally there is a chance that at least some of the human impacts on the orcas can be positive impacts.

Please join us on Wednesday, Aug. 8, to learn more about Lolita and her family, to hear stories from those who were present during the Penn Cove orca captures, and to raise awareness of Lolita's lonely existence, and the struggles of her family to survive.

The event takes place at the historic Captain Whidbey Inn, on the shores of Penn Cove at the site of the 1970 orca capture, near Coupeville. The evening, from 5 to 8 p.m., will include special presentations and sharing of stories, displays, waterside ceremony, a silent auction, appetizers and wine. Cost is $20 per person, with proceeds going to Orca Network educational programs and projects.

Tickets may be purchased in advance from Orca Network at info@orcanetwork.org or 360-678-3451, or at the door. Donations of auction items welcome. For more information, visit: http://www.orcanetwork.org/news/events.html.

Proceeds from this event support Orca Network Educational programs.

Discovery Marine Safaris photo. Photo: Discovery Marine Safaris

Springer's back so you better get this party started
Victoria Times Colonist - Friday, July 13, 2007

Five years ago, Springer, then a sickly orphan, was rescued from Puget Sound and carried back to Johnstone Strait, where she rejoined her family.

B.C.'s most famous killer whale has shown up in the nick of time.

Yesterday, the seven-year-old orca was near Ripple Point in Johnstone Strait and hopes are growing that she could appear around Telegraph Cove, near Port McNeill, for her own party.

"Her timing is very exciting. Everyone is very happy," said Paul Spong, director of OrcaLab, a whale-research station on Hanson Island.

Five years ago, Springer, then a sickly orphan, was rescued from Puget Sound and carried back to Johnstone Strait, where she rejoined her family.

Nick Templeman of Discovery Marine Safaris Ltd. of Campbell River, who saw the whale yesterday, agreed Springer looks great. "She's out there rocking," he said.

Marilyn Joyce, marine-mammal co-ordinator for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, will be one of the guests at the weekend reunion.

Although it's mostly a celebration, the event is also a chance toIn the end, the success was Springer's -- the operation revealed the incredible bond and cultural links between families of killer whales, Joyce said. (Our emphasis, and a lesson for all about Lolita's prospects to rejoin her family.)

Seaquarium's new dolphin program

CBS4.com

"The new attraction is part of the Seaquarium's long term plan to shift its focus away from the animal shows and allow a more interactive experience for visitors."

This expected news that the SQ has built a new dolphin tank and is looking beyond animal shows stirs mixed feelings. On one hand, it could allow them to release Lolita to return to her home and family (though that probably would require the SQ to shut down altogether), but on the other hand, confinement and domination of dolphins amounts to more of the same: abuse of highly evolved, deeply social mammals. It also shows that they have no plans, and probably never did, to build a new tank for Lolita, as numerous USDA regulators and others have believed.

The full story of dolphin swim programs can be found here:

What's Wrong With Swimming With Dolphins?

World Society for the Protection of Animals

Love dolphins? Don't buy a ticket! Untold numbers of dolphins die during the notoriously violent wild captures. These captures are carried out in secret - far from the public's eye - so obtaining an accurate number of dolphins killed is nearly impossible. What we do know is that of those dolphins that survive the capture and are brought into captivity, 53% will die within their first 3 months in a tank. Every seven years, half of all captive dolphins die due to the violence of their capture, intestinal disease, chlorine poisoning and stress-related illness. To the captivity industry, these numbers are accepted as standard operating expenses, but if this information was printed on SWTD brochures, it is unlikely that any person who cares about dolphins would purchase a ticket.

If you have heard that dolphins can heal the sick, you should read this:

Dolphin-Assisted Therapy: Flawed Data, Flawed Conclusions

Lori Marino, Ph.D and Scott O. Lilienfeld, Ph.D.

"...the current evidence for the efficacy of DAT can at best be described as thoroughly unconvincing. Both practitioners of DAT and parents who are considering DAT for their children should be made aware that this treatment has yet to be subjected to an adequate empirical test..."

Finally, if you're wondering if dolphins are really all that intelligent, see:

Cetaceans Have Complex Brains for Complex Cognition

Lori Marino, Ph.D, et al.

"We believe that the time is ripe to present an integrated view of cetacean brains, behavior, and evolution based on the wealth of accumulated and recent data on these topics. Our conclusions support the more generally accepted view that the large brain of cetaceans evolved to support complex cognitive abilities."

Orcas are by far the largest members of the dolphin family, with brains four times the size of bottlenose dolphins, so just imagine Lolita's memories and thoughts, almost 37 years after her capture.

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Free Lolita Update #88 - Lolita longs for the ocean

Free Lolita Update #88 - Lolita longs for the ocean

News, Views, Events April 15, 2007

New format

This is the debut of the Free Lolita Update using an email program. Please let us know how you like it, or anything else you'd like to say, using the contact buttons at the bottom of this email.

Free Lolita Update Archives

To receive daily reports on Lolita's family and other whales, contact

Orca Network Sightings List

In 1970 a capture team using speedboats and airplanes and lobbing explosives forced the entire Southern Resident orca community into a narrow cove, where they corralled all 96 orcas. They chose the young ones to ship to marine parks around the world, and one was delivered to the Miami Seaquarium. She was given the name "Lolita," and against all odds she has survived these 36+ years in a tiny tank that is illegal by the letter of the Animal Welfare Act. The USDA simply combines the width of the show tank with the length of the back tank to arrive at a legal measurement. Lolita's longevity in a tank is extraordinary even by orca standards. All the other 44 captive Southern Resident orcas were dead by 1987. Studies have shown that orcas in captivity live less than half their normal lifespan.

Working with others around the globe, we've made a lot of progress toward convincing people nationwide and worldwide that it is simply wrong to confine large, family-bonded, long-lived and far-ranging whales to bathtub sized tanks. The deeper problem all along has been to convince people that orcas are capable of returning to their home habitat, IF they are returned to their families. Orcas are much stronger and far more advanced and capable than is generally understood. Their strength is partly due to their cultural bonds and family membership, and the durability of those memories. By returning Lolita to her family she could regain the strength that comes from rebuilding those lifelong family bonds.

While people the world over now understand that captivity is cruel and deadly for orcas, we still need to convince the scientific community and the public that Lolita can safely return to her home and family, in order to convince the owner of the Seaquarium and other decision-makers that Lolita can and must be returned to her family and natural habitat.

Lolita longs for the ocean!
A new 30-second commercial for Saab is quite effectively making our point about Lolita's desire to return to her native ocean. The commercial is called "Why Constrain the Power of Nature?

A butterfly is caught inside a room, and tries to escape. Then an underwater orca blends into Lolita in a high breach, while a plaintive female voice sings a mournful cry...

I am a growing force without the motion

A glass of water longing for the ocean

I am a fire burning desperately

But you're controlling me

Release Me.

Beneath the images are these words:

Why constrain the power of nature

When you can release it.

Saab BioPower uses 85% renewable fuel.

Enhanced performance

And a smaller carbon footprint.

To see the ad, go to the link below, and please rate your opinion of it.

Visit the Saab commercial

Another trainer injured at Sea World
Another captive orca seems to be acting up.

Oops! "Orkid's head came up inadvertently and hit her" they said, but orcas tend to be very aware of everything and everyone around them at all times, and this isn't the first time Orkid has registered her displeasure with trainers. I find it interesting that trainers are no longer allowed in the water with the whales.

One veteran orca trainer tells me: "that's how it starts! Normally a captive orca will butt before it attacks. The cover up is also exactly how the industry reacts. But I bet no one will be able to speak with the trainer, and I also bet SW still put a gag clause in their work contracts! I remember well the day in 1974 when Ramu attacked me at Windsor, he began by butting and hitting me with his pectoral fin, the teeth came later!!"

Below are excerpts from some of the news clips:

cbs8.com

Killer Whale Injures Trainer At SeaWorld

04-10-07 at 5:38PM

SAN DIEGO -- A killer whale at SeaWorld Adventure Park was getting a sonogram to prepare for possible artificial insemination when she knocked her trainer off a low wall Tuesday.

The 35-year-old trainer was taken to a hospital for examination and

was found to have suffered minor injuries after the bump from the

5,900-pound whale, said SeaWorld spokeswoman Darla Davis.

"She just lost her balance," Davis said.

The 19-year-old whale named Orkid was getting her weekly ultrasound when she knocked the trainer off the wall next to the whale's tank, said Dave Koontz, another park spokesman. He said it was unclear if the whale intended to head-butt the trainer or accidentally bumped into her (emphasis ours).

SeaWorld monitors all of its female orcas for potential insemination.

The park is reviewing the mishap.

Last November, Orkid grabbed a trainer and pushed him under water

during a show at Shamu Stadium, tearing a ligament in the trainer's

left ankle. Koontz said trainers do not believe Orkid's behavior was

aggressive.

signonsandiego.com (San Diego Union Tribune)

SeaWorld trainer slightly injured in fall

April 10, 2007

The trainer was sitting on a low wall around the pool when Orkid's

head came up inadvertently and hit her, knocking her backward onto

the concrete floor.

"She just fell backward and hit her head," Scarpuzzi said.

news10.net
Trainer Injured by Killer Whale at SeaWorld

Park officials say it isn't clear whether the 59-hundred pound whale

intentionally hit the trainer or accidentally head-butted her while

being probed by a veterinarian. The 19-year-old whale was having a

sonogram in preparation for possible artificial insemination.

In November, Orkid grabbed a trainer and pushed him under water (emphasis ours) during a show at Shamu Stadium, tearing a ligament in the trainer's left ankle. Another trainer was bit and held underwater several times by another seven-thousand-pound killer whale during a show in an unrelated incident two weeks later. That trainer escaped with a broken foot and was hospitalized for three days.

nbcsandiego.com

Killer Whale Injures Sea World Trainer

In November, a trainer was dragged and pinned under water several

times by Kasatka, a 7,000-pound killer whale, during a show at Shamu Stadium. The trainer escaped with a broken foot and was hospitalized for three days.

That trainer made a full recovery, but changes were made to the show. Among those changes: Trainers were no longer allowed in the water with the killer whales. (emphasis ours)

Orkid, who weighs 5,900 pounds, was born in captivity. She has not

had any calves

Sea World has a problem

The recent rash of incidents involving captive orcas bumping or biting trainers at SW San Diego may indicate that the seven captive orcas are losing their patience with confinement and regimentation. Orcas are acutely conscious and deeply social mammals. In natural habitats, they obey their social order absolutely. They limit their diets, their mating and virtually their every move to suit the community they were born in and belong to.
Captive orcas have a different set of problems, being moved from park to park, separated into various tanks, their diets and feeding schedules imposed by humans, and very little to do as a group beyond repetitious patterned swimming. Yet they form into a community somehow because they are such highly social mammals.

Now Kasatka, captured from Iceland in 1978, presumably the matriarch of the group, and Orkid, the next oldest female, born 19 years ago in captivity, seem to be showing their displeasure with their situation. We can assume the younger captives are learning the attitudes demonstrated by their elders.

For many years Sea World has used fairly benign methods to control their captive population, including rub downs and other socialization sessions to make the whales feel like members of the human community that controls them. Now it appears such pacification programs may not be working any more. The whales seem to have decided the humans are not part of their family after all. At this point the trainers are not allowed in the water with the whales. It will be interesting to see if the show will go on.

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Free Lolita Update #87 - Kasatka makes waves

March 11, 2007

Dear Friends of Lolita,

An event occurred on March 1 that caused shrieks of horror and gnashing of teeth across the captive orca entertainment industry, especially inside Sea World. Much to everyone's amazement, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) presented a responsible and accurate official report on the Nov. 29 incident in which Kasatka, a 7,000-pound, 17-foot-long female, dragged her trainer underwater twice, once for 69 seconds, in front of horrified spectators at Shamu Stadium in San Diego. (See below for details.) Peters escaped with puncture wounds and a broken foot after he calmed the whale by stroking it.

As the LA Times reported, (emphasis ours):

SAN DIEGO -- Although SeaWorld Adventure Park has done a good job of preparing its trainers to work with killer whales, it is "only a matter of time" before a whale kills one, state investigators have concluded. SeaWorld employees immediately used a variety of rescue procedures but all failed, the report concludes. The whale refused to comply with commands from other trainers to turn the trainer loose. ...But the report also warned that SeaWorld should be ready to use lethal force against a killer whale if it endangers a trainer by becoming "out of control and not responding to other available control measures." ...While the SeaWorld trainers are experienced and well-schooled in animal behavior, the risk of swimming with the behemoths cannot be eliminated, the report said. ...The shows at Shamu Stadium, in which the whales perform a series of tricks at the command of trainers, are the centerpiece of the SeaWorld experience for tourists. ...The whales are also smart and capable of "cunning and forethought." ...Peters told investigators that he had no warning that Kasatka was going to drag him to the bottom of the 36-foot-deep pool. "She didn't show me any precursors. She didn't tell me, she didn't show me," the report quotes him as saying. ...SeaWorld has long been criticized by animal-rights groups for keeping killer whales in captivity. SeaWorld has seven killer whales; during the height of the summer tourist season there are often six to seven shows a day at Shamu Stadium. ...SeaWorld officials disputed the report's finding as "highly speculative and not supported by scientific fact" and met today with the district manager of the OSHA office to ask him to withdraw or modify the report.
The report was a remarkable show of courage and integrity on the part of Cal/OSHA, and it created a public record of the realities of forcing captive orcas to perform stunts on demand. However, the next day Sea World had stomped on Cal/OSHA and forced it to take back everything and squeal an apology for inconveniencing Sea World staff with their "flawed" report.

The San Diego Union Tribune reported:

March 3, 2007 (San Diego Union Tribune) State officials retracted a report yesterday that said it's only a matter of time before one of SeaWorld's killer whales takes a trainer's life and that lethal force should be an option to stop a future attack. In a statement, the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health or Cal/OSHA admitted that some of its conclusions about a killer whale attacking a veteran SeaWorld trainer were wrong and in violation of its policies. Despite their admission that the report is seriously flawed, Cal/OSHA officials yesterday issued SeaWorld a citation alleging "two non-serious violations" of workplace safety standards. Even though it has been withdrawn, the 18-page Cal/OSHA report is certain to add fodder to the long-running debate over the propriety of keeping marine mammals in captivity. In contrast to wild orcas, which have no history of attacking people, killer whales in captivity have displayed aggressive behavior toward humans many times. The report implies that SeaWorld's orcas have a history of mishaps and misbehavior caused largely by boredom and stress. ...Kasatka resumed performing Nov. 30, but no trainer is allowed to be in the water with her, Koontz said. The document also noted that two weeks before the attack involving Kasatka and Peters, a different SeaWorld trainer was injured in a similar incident involving another female orca. SeaWorld officials had never disclosed the earlier attack to the media. During the Nov. 15 incident, a 19-foot-long, 5,900-pound orca name Orkid grabbed senior trainer Brian Rokeach by the leg, pulled him to the bottom of the pool and held him under water for about 26 seconds.

The LA Times brought out more details from the report after it had been retracted:

According to the report, Kasatka had twice before made threatening moves at Peters, in 1993 when she came at him "as if to grab him" and in 1999 when she "came at him in the water and showed him her teeth." ...Although zookeepers deal with wild and dangerous animals, the report said, they do not perform tricks with them. "The humans that swim with and perform with orcas in this setting are putting their lives in danger every time they jump into the pool," it concluded.
SeaWorld has long been criticized by conservation and animal rights groups for keeping orcas in captivity. The state report had brought immediate support from such groups in the United States and abroad. Andrina Murrell, an official with the London-based Marine Connection, said the Nov. 29 incident was a sign of the stress that the whales suffer by living in a pool much smaller than their natural range. "Captive killer whales are simply a caricature, a Disney character which bears no relation to their wild counterparts, nullifying any educational benefit," she said.

The LA Times then reflected on this latest episode of Sea World demonstrating its dominance over whales and governments in an editorial):

...Yes, as the state agency notes, killer whales are dangerous. That's the whole point. Why else would people pay to see puny humans in a giant pool with a smart carnivore almost 50 times their body mass? ...But a more compelling work issue here may be whether it's a fair thing for the whales to be confined to swimming pools. In the wild, pods of orcas can travel more than 100 miles a day. Not so at Sea World. No wonder they sometimes get ornery in captivity.

In other news, Lolita has received some publicity recently in articles about an effort here on Whidbey Island to uncover the remains of orcas killed during the infamous captures of 1970, when Lolita was taken from her family. In the March 5 Seattle Post-Intelligencer):

Researchers seek bones of Puget Sound orcas killed in roundups
It took bombs, planes and speedboats to corral the orcas at Whidbey Island's Penn Cove, where the youngsters were separated from their pods and shipped off to aquariums around the country.
Now, researchers are trying to locate the bones of a handful of orcas killed during those roundups in the 1960s and '70s, hoping that analyzing the remains will help them better understand the endangered animals.
Four or five of the killer whales are believed to have been buried on the central part of Whidbey Island, near Coupeville. Susan Berta, program director of the Orca Network, a Whidbey Island group that tracks the whales, identified three possible burial spots using the accounts of witnesses.
Puget Sound's three southern resident orca pods, known as J, K and L, were granted protection under the Endangered Species Act in 2005. DNA samples and eating histories of the long-dead killer whales could help prove that the Puget Sound killer whales are different enough from other orcas to further validate their listing as endangered, Berta said. Only one orca captured from Puget Sound during the 1960s and '70s remains alive: Lolita, who lives in the Miami Seaquarium in Florida.

Please help us make June Washington Orca Awareness month! You can sign the petition.

One last note: In the February issue of Jane magazine is a full page photo of lovely fashion model and Lolita freedom campaigner Anne-Marie Van Dijk, whose cutout quote is:
"It's important to me to speak out against keeping whales and dolphins in captivity."
Anne-Marie goes on to say:
"People don't realize how much the animals suffer, because the entertainment parks don't want you to know."

Our thanks and appreciation go out to Anne-Marie for her dedication.
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Free Lolita Update #86 - Kasatka sends a message

December 4, 2006

Dear Friends of Lolita,

"The trainer was pinned by the whale at the bottom of the pool," said an onlooker. On November 29, at Sea World in San Diego, Kasatka, a 17-foot long 5,000+-pound Icelandic orca about 30 years old, grabbed the foot of veteran trainer Ken Peters and held him at the bottom of the 36-foot-deep pool. The incident occurred at the end of the afternoon show, when Peters and Kasatka were at the bottom of the tank to set up the trademark act: the whale rocketing to the surface with the trainer diving off her nose. After almost a minute, Kasatka brought Peters to the surface by his foot, then took him back down for nearly another minute. Peters' foot was broken.

Kasatka was captured off Iceland in 1978, and is the mother of three, Kalia and Nakai, also kept at SW San Diego, and her oldest, Kalina, who was taken to SW in Orlando. For complete lists of captive orcas, see: (http://www.orcahome.de/orcastat.htm).

A SW trainer said one of Kasatka's offspring had vocalized just before she grabbed his foot. That may be a clue to explaining the incident. Orcas are members of their families and societies. Kasatka no doubt tries to create a pod for her two offspring and the four other orcas in the tanks, in spite of being separated, moved and ordered around by trainers. Kasatka was doing the show alone. Possibly she just needed to comment on the trainer's attitude or behavior that day. Holding the trainer underwater seems like a meaningful gesture.

As AP reported: "Some mornings they just wake up not as willing to do the show as others," said Ken Balcomb, director of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor. "If the trainer doesn't recognize it's not a good day, this will happen." Naomi Rose, marine-mammal scientist for the Humane Society, said the incident is proof that orcas should not be kept in captivity and made to perform tricks.

One trainer said a different whale dived with a trainer's foot in its mouth two or three weeks ago but then released the trainer uninjured. Far more common, but seldom reported, the orcas simply refuse to act as directed.

We don't have the words to describe the intelligence, awareness and cultural complexity of the orca. Trainers maintain the illusion that they are in control of captive orcas, but the reality is the whales cooperate in part because food is withheld until the show is over, and because orcas are inherently social and cooperative and usually prefer to accommodate the wishes of the trainers rather than cause anxiety.

The amazing thing about the Sea World incident is that it doesn't happen more often, or that these intelligent, social beings didn't attack their captors when they were brutally taken from their pods in the wild, when young calves were separated from their mom's sides and trucked away to perform the rest of their lives, most to die an early death. Some have committed suicide by either slamming their heads against the tanks or by voluntarily stopping their breathing.

Orcas in the wild (who swim 75-100 miles a day) have never hurt a human, and are not aggressive toward each other. Resident orcas live in tightly bonded pods, the calves staying with their moms for LIFE, learning the language, social structure, & cultural traditions of the pod. Each orca community has a different language or dialect, and different traditions. Corky's pod (a Sea World whale), the Northern Resident community, has a "rubbing beach" they visit to rub their backs along smooth rocks in a shallow area. The Southern Resident orcas (Lolita is the last survivor of 50+ So. Residents captured) have traditions such as playing with kelp, wearing salmon on their heads & bodies, etc. These are amazing, intelligent, social, cultural communities that researchers are just beginning to understand.

Unfortunately, the Southern Resident community is now on the Endangered Species List, endangered because their population is so small they may not survive. The first big blow to their population was in the 1960's & '70's, when the marine park industry captured 1/3 to 1/2 of the entire So. Resident population, with many orcas being killed during the captures. After the captures the population was down to 71. The population has increased some but fluctuated and is now only at 86. These orcas now face other threats - lack of salmon and too much pollution, but the removal of such a large percentage of this population to perform for humans is what first sent them down the road to being endangered.

Last week Federal fisheries officials released their plan to help Puget Sound's orcas but said they won't protect some waters that are important to the killer whales: the Sound's shoreline out to 20 feet depth, Hood Canal and the Pacific Coast. Some property rights advocates say helping orcas survive is unnecessary.

The complete recovery plan can be found here:

The recovery plan included this quote:
One Southern Resident whale from the live-capture era, known as Lolita and a member of L pod, remains alive in captivity at the Miami Seaquarim. Efforts have been made to raise support to relocate this whale to the wild and reunite her with the Southern Residents, although similar captive release efforts, involving one killer whale (e.g., Keiko) and other delphinids, have been largely unsuccessful. Lolita was captured in 1970 prior to the establishment of the MMPA and therefore, does not fall under the jurisdiction of NMFS."
The example of Keiko is often used to claim that returning orcas to the wild doesn't work. This overlooks the fact that Keiko was never taken to the vicinity where he was captured, off the east coast of Iceland (he was allowed to swim off the south coast of Iceland, 200 miles from where he was captured) so the orcas he found, but never remained with, were most likely unrelated foreigners to him. The key to any return to the ocean is to return the whale to its family, or it won't work. As we all know, Lolita's family is seen on a regular basis in the Pacific Northwest.
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Free Lolita Update #85 - Capture Commemoration

July 30, 2006

Dear Friends of Lolita,

Orca Network invites you to our annual Penn Cove Orca Capture Commemoration in memory of the 45 Southern Resident orcas captured in Washington State, and the 13 orcas killed during the captures, and in honor of Lolita, the sole survivor

Tuesday August 8th, 4:30 - 7:30 pm
Island County Historical Society Museum
908 NW Alexander St., Coupeville, Whidbey Island WA
Admission - $20

Dedicated to the memory of L98/Luna with a special Luna presentation by Suzanne Chisholm

Educational Presentations & Displays, Silent Auction, Wine & Appetizers
Purchase tickets by contacting: info@orcanetwork.org or 1-866-ORCANET or at the door
Orca Network is a 501 c3 nonprofit and Washington State Charitable organization

On this anniversary of the Penn Cove Orca Capture in which Lolita (the only survivor of all the captures) was taken, Orca Network holds its annual commemoration of the 58 Southern Resident orcas captured or killed between 1965 and 1976.

This year is special on several counts: The sad and tragic loss of Luna, or L98, in March will be remembered with a touching presentation by Suzanne Chisholm, of Mountainside Films. Suzanne and her husband Michael Parfit spent over two years with Luna in Nootka Sound, working on a book and documentary about this solitary sociable orca. Their observations and reports kept many of us in tune with Luna's daily life in Nootka Sound. Unfortunately, in March Luna was killed in an accident with a tug boat before he could be reunited with L pod, bringing a sad end to his story.

Meanwhile, Lolita remains alone in her small tank at the Miami Seaquarium, somehow surviving decades of solitary confinement, through hurricanes and horrible living conditions. The Seaquarium owners will not relinquish ownership of Lolita, as she is their primary money-maker, and it appears they plan to force her to perform until her death.

But there is some good news as well. At this year's event, we will show an award-winning documentary on the Penn Cove Orca Captures produced by Coupeville High School Students Connor Tasoff and Megan Smith as part of their History Day project. It's heartening to see future generations learning from the mistakes of past generations.

And Lolita's family, the Southern Resident Community of orcas, has been given the highest level of protection available by NOAA Fisheries when they were listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act in November 2005. We'll describe the mind-boggling new discovery that orcas live in cultural communities that led up to the ESA listing.

Research and conservation efforts have been increased to protect and preserve this population, including one research project that might finally bring some good out of the Penn Cove Orca Captures. NOAA Fisheries scientists are working to recover the skeletal remains of the four or five orcas killed during the 1970 Penn Cove orca capture, in hopes of finding information through DNA testing that might answer some of the questions and mysteries of the decline of the Southern Resident orca community. One answer we already have is that the removal of approximately one-third to one-half of the entire population during the capture era put this population on fragile footing, taking several decades for the population to recover, and leading in part to their current endangered status. But through the bones of the orcas killed in 1970, answers about nutrition, genetics, toxins, and more could be found, and some positive outcome may finally result out of this unfortunate part of Penn Cove's history.

Orca Network is asking anyone who was around during the Penn Cove orca captures who has information on where the whales were buried, photos, or other information and stories of interest about the captures to please contact us at 1-866-ORCANET or info@orcanetwork.org. Or if anyone is aware of any other orcas that may have washed up on the shores of Puget Sound and buried in locations that are now accessible, this could provide invaluable information for researchers trying to unlock the secrets of the past and work toward a better future for our orca communities.
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There's not much we can report about Lolita lately. Her routine of repetitive daily shows resumed after the Seaquarium was closed for four months due to damage from Hurricane Wilma last October. As Miami waits to see what the next hurricane will do, and how rising sea levels will impact south Florida, the Seaquarium is greeting fewer tourists while borrowing more money to keep its doors open. As the movie title says: "Something's gotta give." Here's a sign that this dilapidated amusement park is digging itself ever deeper into financial ruin:
PURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 12, 2006--MVC Capital, Inc. (NYSE: MVC), a publicly traded business development company that makes private debt and equity investments, today announced that the Fund has provided $12 million of debt and $2 million of equity financing to Marine Exhibition Corporation which owns and operates the Miami Seaquarium, a family-oriented entertainment park. The Seaquarium, located less than 10 miles from downtown Miami, opened in 1955 and is South Florida's most visited gated attraction, providing visitors of the theme park access to more than 100 species of animals. The Seaquarium's main attractions include a Killer Whale show, Dolphin and Sea Lion shows, and a Swim with the Dolphins program. The Seaquarium is well known for its marine mammal husbandry, mammal surgery and breeding practices, and for its specialized expertise in the care of dolphins, manatees, and sea turtles. The Fund's investment is intended to support the refurbishment of the Seaquarium which was damaged during Hurricane Wilma in October 2005 [...and the multimillion dollar upgrade to meet county safety codes after Russ Rector and Tim Gorski exposed severe deterioration throughout the park]. The refurbishment project includes improvements to the Flipper Dolphin Stadium that will increase the capacity of the Swim with the Dolphins program.
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Free Lolita Update #84 - Seaquarium news

May 7, 2006

Dear Friends of Lolita,

We assume these updates are read by the upper management of the Seaquarium. So as a personal message to Arthur and Andrew Hertz, we hope you are paying attention to the two news items below. They concern the consequences of two global phenomena that won't be getting better any time soon. The first is the result of America's slide into a fortress mentality and the obstacles and indignities facing visitors from foreign lands who might wish to come here. The second concerns the increasingly intense hurricanes and rising sea levels that are the result of ignoring the evidence for global warming over the past few decades. Maybe it's time the Hertz family cut its losses and began to divest itself of that obsolete and vulnerable marine park and allow Lolita to return to the waters of the Salish Sea where she was born and raised.

These two news articles both add to the impression that the Seaquarium is facing difficult times. You may remember that in February, 2006 the Miami Herald reported:
"Attendance still hasn't recovered from the post-9/11 downturn, and the park has fallen almost $2 million behind in rent payments on its county-owned site while funding a costly three-year renovation effort."
The situation hasn't improved. One of today's articles clarifies that Seaquarium's customers from foreign countries have mostly quit coming to Miami.

Where are the foreign visitors?
Miami sees fewer foreign tourists than it used to, making the segment a hold-out in a tourism boom.
"Miami-Dade's weakness in foreign travel is showing up in slower ticket sales at the Miami Seaquarium, said general manager Andrew Hertz. The usual influx of South American children dried up at the marine park's summer camp. Hertz blames it on Latin Americans taking fewer extended vacations in Miami at a time of more travel and visa restrictions after 9/11.
''You don't see the South Americans coming and staying for months at a time as you did before,'' Hertz said.
With new Homeland Security precautions, foreign visitors find it much more complicated to get into the country. Visas that once were available through travel agents now require personal visits at U.S. consulates.
That can mean booking a trip to a home country's capital city -- a journey that often requires air fare and a hotel stay -- just to get the paperwork for an American vacation.

Perhaps more ominous, especially for Lolita and all the marine mammals, fish and reptiles at the park, is the new threat of hurricanes brought on by global warming. The Seaquarium was closed for four months during the height of the Miami tourist season after hurricane Wilma slammed through Key Biscayne last October 24.

May. 06, 2006
Katrina-size hurricane would devastate South Florida, scientists say
MIAMI - Seven feet of sea water swamps 45 miles of coastline from Miami Beach through Fort Lauderdale to Deerfield Beach. Salt water surges through countless houses near the coast. Waist-deep fresh water blankets vast regions of suburbia.
Ferocious winds crush tens of thousands of roofs and gut numerous office buildings. Residents who defy orders to evacuate skyscrapers along the coast and in downtown Miami could be blown out of their apartments. Power outages persist for months.
According to simulations conducted for The Miami Herald by scientists at the National Hurricane Center and to interviews with a wide range of experts, those are realistic sketches of what could occur when South Florida is blasted by a hurricane as strong as last year's Katrina was when it devastated the Gulf Coast and New Orleans, or Wilma when it wrecked portions of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
"We know that it happened in southeast Florida before and there's no doubt in my mind that it will happen again," said Max Mayfield, the hurricane center's director. "I can't tell people when, but I can guarantee that it will happen."
The sketches produced by the experts and simulations offer a glimpse of a historic event that could transform the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area much as Katrina transformed New Orleans.
The scenarios developed for The Miami Herald reflect the likely consequences if South Florida's Atlantic coast were hit head-on by the Category 3 version of Katrina, which slammed New Orleans, or by the slow-moving Category 4 version of Wilma, which ravaged Cancun and other parts of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.
"But what we really have to be worried about is the Category 4 or 5 storm that exceeds Katrina," Saffir said.
Which brings us to another Wilma, even more powerful than Katrina. What would residents see after such a storm?
"You're looking at major, major, major destruction," said Charles Danger, the director of Miami-Dade County's building department. " . . . You will lose infrastructure and the place where people need to go to do their jobs and work in this economy. You are paralyzing a complete city."
The weaker Wilma that struck South Florida on Oct. 24 severed power to 98 percent of Miami-Dade County and Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale. Electricity to some customers wasn't restored for nearly three weeks.

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Free Lolita Update #83 - Luna has died

March 11, 2006

Dear Friends of Lolita,

Our report for this update is not from Miami, but from the opposite corner of the continent. Luna has died in Nootka Sound, BC.

A death in the family

March 10 was a sad day for all of us who have been following Luna's story and hoping for a much happier ending. At around 9 am, in Nootka Sound, B.C., Luna approached a 104' tugboat that had pulled into a cove, idling, to get out of rough seas. As in recent reports from Mike Parfit, Luna commonly approached the wash of props, and was apparently sucked in to the props of the tug. Though Luna had been around many tugs, this was a larger tug than he was accustomed to. It is believed he died instantly, and his body apparently sank, though fisheries staff headed to the scene to look for evidence.

We mourned Luna's death when he first went missing and was presumed dead in June 2001 (never before had a resident orca gone missing and showed up again, with or without its pod). Luna was always special to us, because we had met him shortly after his birth in September 1999. During a short visit to San Juan Island, just before we had to leave, L67 swam by the Center for Whale Research with her new little calf, L98/Luna, swimming along behind her - we were all so surprised & excited - it was almost as if she was bringing him by to show him off!

Luna's story was full of little mysteries from the very beginning - when L67 swam by with her new calf, she was alone, L pod was nowhere to be seen. Later in the day she had rejoined L pod, and K pod was around as well - but then the new calf showed up with a K pod whale (K 18) instead of L67. For a week or two, researchers wondered just who L98 really belonged to, as he was seen often with K18 rather than his mom.

Then he ended up back with his mom, L67, and seemed to be a normal little guy, staying with mom and his pod until his disappearance in 2001. It has been speculated that maybe he strayed from L pod when his uncle, L39, disappeared - the theory being the uncle was dying and fell behind the pod, and Luna stayed with him, losing track of the rest of the pod, then wandering up to Nootka Sound alone. No one really knows for sure, but we know that adult males and their young nephews often travel together for long periods. And we know that Luna's mom sometimes strayed away from him, even on the day he was born. However it happened, he was a lost soul, apart from his family, looking for attention and companionship in the people he met in his new chosen home.

He was discovered in Nootka Sound in July 2001, and his presence was made public by Canada's Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in late January, 2002. We remember that day so clearly - as we had mourned the loss of this special little whale when he disappeared, we now celebrated with great joy the miracle of his "re-birth!" Then came the many ups and downs of his life in Nootka Sound: the belief of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation that Luna embodied the spirit of their deceased Chief Ambrose Maquinna and should never be captured, the attempts to keep Luna away from people and boats, and the attempts to keep people and boats away from Luna, the making of plans to relocate him, the fear that marine parks were lurking by to take him in, the attempted capture and relocation of Luna by DFO and NOAA Fisheries, the interception of Luna during the capture attempts by the First Nations people who didn't want Luna captured, and the stories of all who provided monitoring and stewardship in Gold River and Nootka Sound over the last five years, trying to keep Luna safe from people, and people safe from the growing orca's inquisitive approaches.

We are especially thankful to Mike Parfit and Suzanne Chisholm of Mountainside Films for their amazing dedication at monitoring and observing Luna from a safe distance, and reporting on his behavior and his welfare in a very heartfelt way. Their regular reports on Luna have helped us understand a bit more about Luna's life in Nootka Sound, and we all came to know and love him even more through their eyes and words. We also appreciate the efforts of the folks at ReuniteLuna.com, all those who worked on the various stewardship projects during Luna's stay in Nootka Sound, and all who worked on the LunaLive project, attempting to set up a system of listening in to Luna and listening for L pod in the hopes of facilitating a natural reunion. Volumes of photographic and acoustic records will help tell his story for years to come.

We will always remember Luna as a special little whale, who touched many hearts around the world and gave a personal face and story to the plight of his family, the endangered Southern Resident orcas who share our Salish Sea waters. He was one of our own. We can only hope he is now again swimming alongside his uncle L39, wherever their spirits reside~
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Free Lolita Update #82 - Seaquarium open again

February 12, 2006

Dear Friends of Lolita,

As we reported last fall, the Seaquarium has been closed since October when hurricane Wilma blew across Florida from the southwest, delivering 116mph winds to Key Biscayne. Seawater poured over the park as trees, poles and fences blew down and debris piled up on every surface. The park announced that the storm caused $2.5 million in damage, and $4.4 million in revenue lost by closing for 16 weeks, during the height of Miami's tourist season. In addition, since 2003, when Russ Rector and Tim Gorski exposed massive electrical and safety code violations, the Seaquarium has been required to upgrade the park to the tune of $8.5 million. We don't know how much of that work got washed away by Wilma, but the financial squeeze on the park is obvious. Add to those woes that fact that attendance has been down for the past five years. It's no surprise that on February 7 the Miami Herald reported that:
"The bottom line has probably never mattered more to the Seaquarium, which plans to reopen Saturday after a 16-week closure brought on by Wilma's Oct. 24 assault. Attendance still hasn't recovered from the post-9/11 downturn, and the park has fallen almost $2 million behind in rent payments on its county-owned site while funding a costly three-year renovation effort."
The park has now cleaned up the muck, captured another thousand fish, birds and reptiles and repainted the walls. So it's back to business as usual. But now we know that this marine park, builT on a man-made island at sea level in Biscayne Bay in south Florida, is even more dangerous than we thought. Considering that global warming will intensify hurricanes well into the foreseeable future, it's clear that the USDA's APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) must immediately require the Seaquarium to relocate all marine mammals from the Florida coastline to a safer place. For Lolita the only safe place is her actual home and family, which is L pod of the Southern Resident orca community found along the coast of Washington State. Please consider writing a letter to the director of APHIS to strongly request that federal action be taken to remove Lolita from the dangers she faces each day at the Seaquarium. You can find a sample letter with address and email address at http://www.orcanetwork.org/help/usdalet.html.

We don't have direct reports to know how Lolita has fared during this long hiatus, or whether caretakers have been working with her or keeping her company, but Miami TV news shows her apparently performing as usual yesterday. You can see the video.

The same video clip shows a banner flying behind an airplane over the park, as it did all day Saturday and Sunday according to Tim Gorski, saying in bold letters: LOLITA IS DYING MIAMISEAPRISON.COM 954-830-3511.

Across the country, in Monterey, California, a Whale Fest was held and the Lolita table was a huge success! 2 banners made by kids for Lolita were on display. The links for the Monterey Whale Fest photos - of kids making Lolita banners is:
http://www.whalefestmonterey.com/page/jan06/
http://www.whalefestmonterey.com/page/jan06_6/ -

Howard Garrett, Susan Berta
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Free Lolita Update #81 - Seaquarium closed

October 25, 2005

Dear Friends of Lolita,

This news just arrived. With winds clocked at 116 mph on Key Biscayne, there may have been far more damage than was reported. We are especially concerned about the rusting metal awning that extends over the whale stadium. We are trying to determine exactly what happened, which is difficult because no doubt the Seaquarium is locked down and reporters are not allowed inside.

This is when we need responsible officials to investigate the park, shut this obsolete roadside attraction down completely, rescue Lolita and the dolphins and other animals from the danger they are in at this inadequate facility, and allow Lolita to return to her home waters.

We will keep you informed about further developments. Thanks for caring about Lolita.

Seaquarium closed indefinitely (subscription required)
Miami Herald
Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2005
Biscayne Bay poured over the seawall at the Miami Seaquarium during Monday's hurricane and the marine park expects to be closed for weeks if not months.

None of the park's dolphins, sea lions, manatees, and other animals -- including Lolita, the killer whale -- was injured and none escaped when Wilma's sea surge overflowed into the park, said Eric Eimstad, vice president of sales.

The water did pour into the Flipper's Lagoon dolphin tank, he said, but had no effect on the dolphins that live there.

He declined to offer details on the extent of the Virginia Key park's damage or speculate when it would reopen.
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Free Lolita campaign email updates #81-90

October 25, 2005 to September 23, 2007

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Free Lolita Update #90 - A new Phase Begins

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Springer's back so you better get this party started
Victoria Times Colonist - Friday, July 13, 2007

Five years ago, Springer, then a sickly orphan, was rescued from Puget Sound and carried back to Johnstone Strait, where she rejoined her family.