LOLITA

The General Manager of Miami Seaquarium who watches over Lolita, a 56-year-old orca had encouraging news on Wednesday about her health on Wednesday.

The environmentalist and philanthropist who watches over Tokitae, also known as the Miami Seaquarium’s Lolita, had encouraging news Thursday.

Concern is growing over the health of Miami Seaquarium's Lolita the orca.

The much-awaited independent assessment of Lolita's health says the beloved 56-year-old orca is doing much better.

Miami-Dade County announced that with the Miami Seaquarium under new ownership, third party veterinarians will be allowed onto the property to examine the health of the famed Orca.

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.

Lolita was captured five decades ago in the Puget Sound. Animal rights activists say she's the oldest orca in captivity and should live her final years back home in a seaside sanctuary.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture cleared the way for the Miami Seaquarium to transfer its lease to The Dolphin Company, Miami-Dade County’s mayor announced on Thursday night.

Lolita, the ailing orca at the Miami Seaquarium, could be on the move soon, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava tells Local 10 News.

Businessman and environmentalist Pritam Singh is committing $1 million toward the care of the Miami Seaquarium’s beloved orca Lolita, sources tell Local 10 News.

USDA inspectors were back at the Miami Seaquarium Tuesday following last June's scathing 17-page report citing numerous serious animal welfare violations.

There are conflicting reports about the health of Lolita, the 56-year-old orca that lives at the Miami Seaquarium.

The Seaquarium confirmed to Local 10 News that the famed whale is receiving around-the-clock care.

For decades, activists have argued that Miami Seaquarium housed Lolita, an endangered orca in a tank that's much too small. A new USDA report found other serious violations in how she's been treated.

Miami-Dade County commissioners voted Tuesday to assign the job to The Dolphin Company, a Cancun-based operator of other aquatic parks in Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe.

The Miami Seaquarium will change ownership later this year.

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.

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.

Our new reality, animal activists say, overlaps how the captive animals at Miami Seaquarium go about their daily lives. However, Americans' short-term quarantine doesn't quite stack up to the confinement the marine park's 22-foot orca, Lolita (AKA Tokitae), has endured since 1970. We only have to be in quarantine a few months & we still have some freedom to entertain ourselves & exercise etc. Miami Seaquarium did not respond to multiple emails from New Times. Still, some activists say "excellent treatment" is relative.

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."