Miami's Lolita Named to Endangered Species List

A killer whale that has called Miami home for more than four decades has been added to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s endangered species list.

As of Wednesday, Lolita officially shares the same protected status other Southern Resident Killer Whales enjoy, the agency announced in a media release. Despite recognition from NOAA, “the decision does not impact her residence at the Miami Seaquarium,” the release stated.

Lolita was captured in the Puget Sound area in 1970 and has called Miami home ever since. The population of whales she came from has long been protected under the Endangered Species Act. “However, because that listing included an exemption for captive members of the population like Lolita, she did not share the endangered listing status of the Southern Resident population,” the release stated.

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The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Foundation, PETA, began petitioning NOAA Fisheries for Lolita’s inclusion on the list back in 2013.

“NOAA Fisheries considered the petition and concluded that captive animals such as Lolita cannot be assigned separate legal status from their wild counterparts,” the release stated. “The final rule NOAA Fisheries issued today will include Lolita in the endangered listing status of the Southern Resident killer whale population.”

While the seaquarium is not proposing to move Lolita, any future plans to release or move her would require a permit from NOAA Fisheries, the agency noted.

PETA officials are calling NOAA’s decision a victory.

Jared Goodman, the foundation’s director of animal law, was quoted by the Miami New Times as saying his organization’s next step is to ensure Lolita lives up to conditions worthy of her endangered status.

“Right now she’s being held in conditions we believe are in direct violation of the Endangered Species Act, both in terms of her woefully inadequate enclosure, living without another member of her own species, and being subjected to the hot Miami sun without any opportunity to seek shelter,” Goodman was quoted as saying.

PETA also wants to lobby for Lolita’s retirement from the spotlight. That move, however, would require NOAA approval since the group would like to see her return to her family pod or be moved to a sanctuary in Washington state, the New Times reported. It is unclear if the seaquairum is entertaining the idea of retiring Lolita at this time.

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Photo from the Miami Seaquarium’s Facebook page

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