Miami Seaquarium offers Local 10 exclusive tour to display ‘investments’ as deadline to vacate nears
For the first time since Miami-Dade County told its tenant — Miami Seaquarium operator The Dolphin Company — that it needs to vacate the Virginia Key site by April 21 amid mounting animal welfare concerns, Local 10 News is getting a look inside.
Miami-Dade to issue Miami Seaquarium new Notice of Default after shortage of ‘trained employees’
Miami-Dade County is set to issue the Dolphin Company a new Notice of Default after USDA inspectors in November found that the Miami Seaquarium “still lacks a sufficient number of adequately trained employees.”
After troubling report, county gives Miami Seaquarium 45 days to fix ‘specific violations’
Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces sent a letter to the Miami Seaquarium on Wednesday in the wake of a Local 10 News report documenting the troubling findings outlined in the USDA’s most recent inspection report.
Activists hope Lolita’s death spurs release of Seaquarium’s dolphin, SeaWorld’s Corky
South Florida is still mourning the Miami Seaquarium’s orca Lolita, who died last week, and now activists are hoping her death spurs the release of the Seaquarium’s last remaining dolphin that shared a tank with Lolita and SeaWorld’s Corky.
EXCLUSIVE: Pacific Northwest natural sea pen remains a possibility for Tokitae
Efforts to move Tokitae, the orca known as “Lolita” and “Toki,” out of the Miami Seaquarium to a seaside sanctuary in the Pacific Northwest continue, but that process is mired in legal red tape that could take months to iron out.
Caregivers: Returning orca Lolita to Northwest is risky
An plan announced last week to return Lolita, a killer whale held captive for more than a half-century, to her home waters in Washington’s Puget Sound thrilled those who have long advocated for her to be freed from her tank at the Miami Seaquarium.
‘PR stunt’, ‘Death sentence’: Ex-trainers pan proposal to move Lolita from Miami Seaquarium
Three women who worked with famed orca Lolita at the Miami Seaquarium panned Thursday’s announcement that the attraction’s owners plan to return the captive whale to her “home waters” in the Pacific Northwest.
Lolita’s retirement from shows gives animal advocates hope
Lolita, also known as Tokitae, will no longer be performing shows for profit. The theater and tank where she lives in captivity will be closed to the public. This is giving animal advocates hope that the 20-foot long female orca that has lived at the Miami Seaquarium since 1970 cold one day know freedom and make it back home.
Protesters gather in front of Seaquarium in continued quest to free whale
VIRGINIA KEY, Fla. – A protest is underway at Miami Seaquarium in the latest call to free Lolita, the 20-foot-long, 7,000-pound orca who has lived at the Miami tourist attraction for 50 years. Activists say the tank in which the whale lives is not fit for her size. “She needs us to speak for her,” said Patty Leon, a protester with the group the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest said that under their inherent rights, the whale belongs to them. In October 2018, a federal appeals court rejected a petition to reopen a lawsuit over the Seaquarium’s treatment of the killer whale.
Tribe returns to Seaquarium for annual quest to bring whale home
We have a right to call her home,” said Squil-Le-He-Le Raynell Morris of the Lummi Nation. Lummi Nation tribe members traveled from the Pacific coast to Miami to demand that the Miami Seaquarium free their sister Tokitae. (Local 10 News)The Lummi Nation has vowed to bring her home as their sacred obligation and they believe after 50 years, it’s time for her to retire. Lummi Nation members and their supporters continue their efforts to save Lolita from confinement at the Miami Seaquarium. Lummi Nation members and supporters continue to visit the Miami Seaquarium to demand they free Tokitae.
PETA holds protest outside Miami Seaquarium to demand release of Lolita
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. – The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals held a protest Tuesday morning outside the Miami Seaquarium to demand the release of Lolita. The Miami Seaquarium's last orca was captured 47 years ago in Puget Sound during a "violent whale hunt," PETA officials said in a news release. She was taken from her family, taken from her home, and that's not right. More than 65,000 school children visit Miami Seaquarium each year to learn about Lolita and the other residents of the sea. "Lolita will continue to be an ambassador for her species from her home at Miami Seaquarium."