Lolita The Killer Whale Could Be Freed After 52 Years At FL Aquarium

MIAMI, FL — More than 50 years after Lolita the killer whale was captured and put on display at the Miami Seaquarium in Key Biscayne, the orca could be returned to the wild.

If all goes as planned, the whale will be released in Pacific Northwest waters where her mother, now nearly a century-old, is believed to still swim.

“Today, March 30, for the first time ever, a private company with marine mammals under human care, and a nonprofit animal welfare organization executed a binding agreement with one goal — return the beloved Lolita to her home waters,” The Dolphin Company, which bought Seaquarium in 2021, said in a statement. “Lolita will receive the highest quality care as the team works to make relocation possible in the next 18 to 24 months.”

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The company has worked closely with Miami-Dade County Mayor Danielle Levine-Cava, the nonprofit group Friends of Toki, and Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay to relocate Lolita.

It could cost as much as $20 million to prepare her for the release and to transport her by plane to waters between Washington and Canada.

When she’s first released, she’ll initially swim inside a large net and be under 24-hour care. During this time, she’ll work with trainers who will teach her how to hunt and build up her muscles for the long swims – about 100 miles - that orcas typically make daily.

Lolita was four years old when she was captured and brought to Florida, Raynell Morris, an elder of the Lummi Indian Tribe in Washington who also serves on the board of Friends of Toki, said.

At that age, “she was learning to hunt. She knows her family song,” he said. “She’ll remember, but it takes time.”

She’s been at Seaquarium since 1970, living and performing in an 80-by-35-foot concrete tank, according to the Miami New Times.

The whale was retired from performances last spring after The Dolphin Company took over the marine attraction and made an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. To have Sequarium’s exhibitor license transferred to the company, the new owners had to agree to take Lolita and Lii, a Pacific white-sided dolphin who was the orca’s tankmate, off display.

This story includes reporting from The Associated Press.