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http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5154/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8789

Lolita has made her appearance in Miami Pop! Take a look at her story then share and educate others.

She is usually seen puckering up with her footballer beau Gerard Pique.

But Shakira received a kiss from a very different kind today.

The Colombian pop star got a big wet one on the cheek from a giant killer whale as she visited the Miami Seaquarium with her boyfriend yesterday.

-In this day and age with killer whales attacking trainers and showing displays of aggression it was completely irresponsible of the Miami Seaquarium to allow a non professional to interact so closely with Lolita.  Please take some time to share Lolita’s story with Shakira and perhaps she will regret her decision of visiting the Miami Seaquarium and join in the fight for Lolita’s retirement.

*REMEMBER BE POLITE*

http://www.facebook.com/shakira

http://twitter.com/shakira

“During playtime, she enjoys playing with her favorite enrichment devices; these include her wet suit blanket and crushed ice.”

-because she consumes all other “play” devices and has been restricted to a wet suit and ice.

“Lolita also enjoys playing with the hose, which she uses to massage her body and clean her beautiful teeth.”

-In the wild she could kelp or caress her family members

-her teeth, along with most other captive orcas are prone to diseases and infections that can lead to death due to gnawing on cement and metal gates.

-Painful medical procedures know as pulpotomies are often preformed by drilling holes into the teeth so they can be flushed out by a water pick daily.  If they are improperly flushed infections can occur.

“Trainers have the ability to free swim with her, which they are able to do since she enjoys their company. “

-nice advertisement to try to “one-up” SeaWorld, which is not allowed to put trainers in the water with killer whales per OSHA ruling, due to a gruesome trainer death and numerous injuries.

“There is no scientific evidence that Lolita could survive in the open waters of the ocean.”

-Lolita was estimated to be between the ages of 4-6 when captured, wild orcas have been known to develop hunting and foraging skills by 4 years old.

-Lolita’s family is well researched and tracked, if she was retired she would be reintroduced to her family, a number of which are still alive from when she was captured and would likely remember her.

“whims of a small group of individuals who have no firsthand experience working with a killer whale.”

-Many individuals and groups advocating for Lolita’s retirement have first hand experience working with wild and captive cetaceans along with advanced degrees.  Some scientists supporting her retirement are among the most world-renowned killer whale biologists.

“For 40 years, Lolita has been dependent upon being hand-fed daily.  Scientists agree that she has lost her ability to protect and feed herself in the wild.”

- In a study reported in 1993 by Newman and Markowitz in which results showed that a captive killer whale caught in 1969, Yaka, will pursue, capture and eat live fish. The whales in this study used echolocation while in pursuit of fish, as well as at other times.

-Many well respected scientists that have specialized in killer whale research including Kenneth Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research agree that Lolita would be a good candidate for rehabilitation, retirement, and/or release.

-She is hand fed but her diet consists of frozen fish, which decreases the nutritional value, so vitamins have to be added to supplement her.

-It is not know what species of fish Lolita is fed daily.  The Seaquarium just announces that salmon is her favorite (because salmon is what she was taught to forage for by her family growing up).  During shows it is apparent that capelin and salmon are fed to her, but due to the coral coloration and girth of the salmon she is fed during shows it would be logical to assume that her diet of salmon consists of farmed Atlantic salmon, not the natural wild chinook salmon she would consume naturally.  Farmed salmon is also much more affordable than wild chinook.

-killer whales are atop the food chain and have no natural predators other than man.

“She shares her habitat with Pacific white-sided dolphins – animals that could actually be part of her diet if she were in the wild. “

-Lolita is a southern resident killer whale.  SRKW’s are an ecotype of killer whales that are categorized differently because of their primary food source and social structure. They obtain 96% of their dietary needs from salmoniods, and the remaining 4% from other fish or aquatic invertebrates.  Resident killer whales do not eat cetaceans, like Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) transient killer whales do.

“Her habitat has been certified by the USDA as “.meets the intent and the letter of the law with regard to space requirements for orcas.””

-This is because APHIS refuses acknowledge that in the center of her tank a SOILD performance island that is obstructing her direct swim path into the medical pool, which renders her tank only 35’ in width, not the required 48’.  The presented 65’ the Seaquarium advertises is including 12 feet of solid concrete blocking her swim path along with the performance tank and medical tank.

“USDA goes on to say that her habitat, “far exceeds the minimum requirements established by the AWA (Animal Welfare Act) regulations.”

-AWA regulations state “Under the law Section 3.109 of the Animal Welfare Act states: cetaceans must be housed  with at least one compatible animal of the same or biologically related species.”

-Pacific white-sided dolphins do not posses the social or intellectual stimulation that killer whales need for proper enrichment.

“Lolita has learned to trust humans completely, and this longstanding behavioral trust would be dangerous for her if she were returned to Puget Sound, where commercial boat traffic and human activity are heavy, pollution is a serious issue and the killer whale population has been listed as an endangered species by the National Marine Fisheries Service.”

-Well it is true that her family the SRKWs are listed on the ESL, this is in much part due to the captive entertainment industry taking large amounts of their population for captivity display and killing many others during the process.

-Although SRKWs are listed as an endangered species their populations has remained relatively constant with 88 current members, including a new L-pod (Lolita’s pod) calf that was just documented.

-SRKWs spend their summer months in the Salish Sea, they rarely enter Puget Sound, and spend the winter months foraging from N. California to S. Alaska.

-Miami Seaquarium pumps in water for Lolita’s tank from Biscayne Bay, a highly polluted water source located adjacent to the Port of Miami.

“The tragic story of Keiko, the killer whale of “Free Willy” fame serves as a stark reminder of this horrific proposal”

-Keiko was rescued from an inadequate marine mammal park in Mexico, where he was suffering from malnourishment and disease.  He was rehabilitated in Oregon and taught to hunt own his own.  He was released after many years of rehabilitation and survived for five years in the wild traveling 100’s of miles and hunting on his own.

“He died alone, of pneumonia, unable to fend for himself and protect himself from the toxins and viruses found in the ocean.”

- Inquiries were made to all oceanaria that maintain killer whales in North America. Causes of death determined at necropsy included mediastinal abscesses, pyometra, pneumonia, influenza, salmonellosis, nephritis, Chediak-Higashi syndrome, fungus infection, ruptured aorta, cerebral hemorrhage and a perforated post-pyloric ulcer.

-Pneumonia is actually a quite common cause of death in captive cetaceans, you can obtain this information by requesting a MMIR (marine mammal inventory report) from any aquarium in the United States.

“The similarities between the Keiko story and what some individuals have asked us to do with Lolita are startling. “

-Not many similarities exist between Lolita and Keiko except they were both taken from their families and forced into a life of slavery for human entertainment.

-Keiko was a transient from an illusive Icelandic pod, Lolita is resident from the most well researched killer whale pod in the world, inhabiting the Salish Sea for 6 months every year.  Their movements are tracked and pod members are known by saddle patch and dorsal fin markings.

-Keiko was estimated to be caught at around 2 years of age, still developing his hunting and foraging techniques. Lolita was estimated to be captured between 4-6 years of age, observations of SRKWs have shown juveniles in that age range with developed hunting and foraging skills.

-Keiko was a male, which are known to have shorter lifespans than female killer whales.  Lolita is a female with members of her family alive estimated to be ~100 years old, although Lolita’s lifespan will be drastically reduced in captivity she is hardly middle aged when compared to wild populations.

SeaWorld found responsible in the case of trainer Dawn Brancheau’s death

Judge Ken Welsch has reached his decision in the SeaWorld vs OSHA case, in which SeaWorld tried to overturn the citations against them following the grisly death of trainer Dawn Brancheau by the orca whale Tilikum in 2010.

While reducing the penalty to $12,000 and downgrading the citation from ‘willful’ to ‘serious’, the judge has ruled against SeaWorld and has upheld the finding by OSHA (Occupational and Safety Health Administration) that abatement must be made and the fines paid. While the fee may seem like a slap on the wrist for a multimillion dollar business (and it has no doubt cost them more to fight the ruling), it means that SeaWorld will be unable to put trainers back into dangerous conditions and force them to enter the water with the whales.

Documents provided by author David Kirby from the court proceedings make it clear; no more water work – in other words, the trainers must stay out of the water unless their safety can be  guaranteed.

Item 1 of Citation No. 2, § 5(a)(1): The gravity of this violation is very high. Trainers were required to work in close contact with killer whales during performances. The killer whales sometimes engage in unpredictable behavior, including seizing trainers with their mouths, holdingthe trainers under water, and ramming the trainers while in the water. SeaWorld’s operant conditioning program places an unrealistic burden on trainers to recognize precursors and react appropriately to forestall undesirable behavior.

According to Kirby, in his decision, the Judge has upheld the OSHA citations and that is a win for the employees of SeaWorld, because within 10 days after the Judge’s order becomes final, SeaWorld must abate the hazards and provide documentation to OSHA’s Tampa Area Office that the hazards have been corrected.”

Excerpts from the document:

• SeaWorld’s contention that it was unaware working with killer whales presents a recognized hazard is difficult to reconcile with numerous comments made over the years by SeaWorld management personnel, including corporate curators of animal training Thad Lacinak and Mr. Tompkins.
• Whether the trainers were fully immersed and swimming with the killer whales for a waterwork show performance, or standing poolside or on a slideout for a dry work show performance, SeaWorld knew its trainers were at risk for being struck or drowned by a killer whale.
• The Secretary has established that SeaWorld knew working in close contact with killer whales was a recognized hazard.
• SeaWorld’s estimate of 98 plus percent predictability is not based on rigorously evaluated scientific data.
• SeaWorld holds trainers to a near-impossible standard set by upper management, who engage in a form of Monday morning quarterbacking. As a commenter acknowledges in an August 2002 incident report, “Hindsight is always 20/20” (Exh. C-6). Any trainer unfortunate enough to have to file an incident report is subject to second-guessing by his or her superiors, who will always find the trainer did something wrong, otherwise there would be no incident report.
• As with Tilikum, the Secretary proposes that for performances, SeaWorld either install physical barriers between its trainers and killer whales, or require its trainers to maintain a minimum distance from the killer whales. This proposed abatement is technologically feasible; SeaWorld has been using it since February 24, 2010. SeaWorld has banned waterwork with its killer whales during performances, and trainers perform drywork from behind barriers.
• The proposed abatement is also economically feasible. SeaWorld did not argue that performing drywork from behind barriers or banning trainers from waterwork during performances affected it economically. SeaWorld’s killer whales, including Tilikum, have continued to perform in shows at Shamu Stadium without the presence of trainers in the water with them. Trainers perform drywork from behind barriers or at a minimum distance. There was no evidence adduced that the elimination of waterwork or the implementation of barriers for drywork has had a negative impact on SeaWorld’s profits… Prohibiting waterwork and using physical barriers and minimum distances eliminate the trainers’ exposure to the recognized hazard of working with killer whales. Proximity to the killer whales is the factor that determines the risk to the trainers…. The court finds the Secretary established a feasible means to eliminate the recognized hazard.

MANY THANKS TO THE ORCA PROJECT http://theorcaproject.wordpress.com/

DAVID KIRBY AND HIS BOOK “DEATH AT SEAWORD” http://www.amazon.com/Death-SeaWorld-Killer-Whales-Captivity/dp/1250002028

by Kelly J. Conner

Her name was Cathi.  That is what we humans and the trainers and staff of Miami Seaquarium called her and the name she learned to respond to.  Far different from the name she was born with.  That name was a series of clicks and whistles recognized by her pod until that tragic, fateful day.  On November 2, 1971, Cathi was swimming freely in the ocean with her pod, chasing waves, hunting and eating fish, playing with pod mates; seemingly without a care in the world.  She was young, vibrant, happy and alive.  Then suddenly, she was being chased by a boat and captured in a net and hauled into that boat.  Her cries and frantic pleas for help to her pod mates went unanswered.  Or, maybe they did try to answer and they were powerless to come to her rescue against one of the few predators of her species.  On that horrible, fateful day she was plucked from her vast, blue home in the ocean, in the waters off Key Biscayne, Florida and sent to a new home.  That new ‘home” was a small circular tank at a place called the Miami Seaquarium.  It is hard to imagine the terror she must have felt inside when that net trapped her and suddenly limited her ability to move.  She must have been very confused, scared and lonely.  I was two months old when Cathi was captured.

From the early 1960’s, the Miami Seaquarium was in the habit of naming the dolphins it would use in its “Flipper” series either “Cathi” or “Samantha” (aka Sammy for short).  Most of those dolphins were caught in the waters of Biscayne Bay on the coast of Southeastern Florida.  The dolphins were sometimes injured during the capture process and they were immediately placed in a medical tank until their survival from the experience was ensured.  Once the Seaquarium staff was sure the dolphin would survive, they were moved to another tank where they began their training.  Some of the dolphins would die within hours, some within a few days and some would go on to perform for years.  The list from the Marine Mammal Inventory Report is a sad and sorry sight. “Florida Snowball” was captured on October 22nd, 1965 and died on October 25th, 1965.  The dolphin named “Pancho” was caught on January 1, 1970 and survived in captivity for 12 years, 17 days¹.  “Pancho” was famous for his flips in his tank at the east end zone of the Orange Bowl stadium when the Miami Dolphins would score a touchdown or field goal.  Pancho was eventually retired from that post and returned to the Miami Seaquarium.  Pancho’s death was attributed to “intestinal failure”.  He died on January 17, 1982 and his stomach contents included 2 deflated footballs, 31 coins, 21 stones, 1 trainers whistle, 10 penny nail, 2 screws, 1 metal tag, 1 piece of wire, 1 metal staple and several unidentifiable objects².  Such is the life of a dolphin in captivity.  Captive dolphins live a life of endless boredom; swimming in circles and performing the same routine twice daily every single day.  Imagine a life of the same routine day in and day out, week after week, month after month, year after year, never able to leave that small place of confinement.  Dolphins are highly inquisitive and intelligent by their very nature.  Any items thrown into their tank becomes a new toy or object of amusement, even if only briefly.  Frequently, objects are ingested and cause intestinal obstructions, infections and other problems.  Cathi’s fate would not be a death from endless boredom and intestinal issues.  She would not die from pneumonia or the various other infections she would have from time to time throughout her life. Cathi would have many babies as part of a breeding program, but few would go on to survive.  Cathi was stubborn and strong spirited; she was a survivor and when she finally died, it would be from old age.  In the industry of captive entertainment, amusement parks and breeding programs, Cathi could be used as an example of success; and yet she wasn’t.  Her death was denied and kept a secret, her name quickly forgotten.  There will be no commemorative plaques or dedications to her for her lifelong service to those that profited from her captivity.  There will be no acknowledgement of her existence at all, other than her name appearing on the Marine Mammal Inventory Report.  Was her loss even mourned or felt by the profiteers at Miami Seaquarium?

I first met Cathi on January 19, 2011.  I’m sure I had encountered her previously as a small child in the visits I had to Miami Seaquarium, but it wasn’t until my eyes were opened as an adult that I decided I needed to go see for myself how pitiful the lives of captive dolphins were that I became familiar with Cathi.  At the time that I met Cathi, she lived in the tank of dolphin lobby at Miami Seaquarium and performed in the top deck dolphin show twice a day.  Her tank mates included her daughter, Samantha, a singular male named J.J., a spritely younger dolphin named “Disco Denise” and another dolphin’s name I cannot at this time recall.  Cathi was the most easily recognizable of the five dolphins in the tank of dolphin lobby.  She swam in circles with her right eye closed and had a scar from an old laceration just below her dorsal fin on her right side.  Cathi also had what I would come to call “corrosion” on her rostrum, an area of tissue necrosis that was anything but attractive.  The tip of her rostrum (nose) was discolored, appeared to have mold and also looked as though something had eaten away small chunks of it.  Her daughter, Samantha has a similar disease process.  After that visit, I contacted a friend of mine, a marine biology student and talked to her about the dolphins in the tank.  She suggested I bring a mirror to help ease the boredom of the dolphins and provide them with amusement.  It was a wonderful idea!  My future visits, I brought my trusty mirror and got to know the dolphins in the tank of dolphin lobby and I suspect some of them began to recognize me.  Most interested in the mirror was Samantha; she loved to look at herself and the mirror was like a magnet to her.  Denise loved it too and sometimes Samantha and Denise would compete for who could squeeze in front of it more.  At one point or another, all the dolphins would come and take a look at themselves, all but one.  Cathi never came and looked in the mirror.  Cathi was always oblivious to the crowds gathered at the windows.  She swam in circles and paid no attention to the people or the crowds.  Sometimes she swam quickly, as if to escape from the endless staring and tapping on the glass and sometimes she kept more to the center of the tank, swimming in her circles slowly, perhaps taking a break or resting.  Cathi paid attention to the trainers and to the fish she was given during performances, other than that, it appeared that her life was a series of endless circles.  She would interact with J.J. and Samantha the most and sometimes, she would rub herself on the ever dirty pipes at the bottom of the tank as some form of tactile stimulation.  I have come to learn that dolphins in the wild require a lot of tactile stimulation and frequently rub against each other for social interaction and affection.  It became horribly sad to me that Cathi turned to an inanimate object like dirty filtration pipes to satisfy her need for her tactile stimulation.  What a far cry it must have been from those rubs of affection she would have frequently received from her pod mates in her former life in the wild.  I often wonder if she ever yearned for the affection of her former life.  Did she miss swimming free in the ocean, the world as her play place without borders, boundaries or limitations?

On that first visit to Miami Seaquarium, I obtained an annual pass.  It was free as part of a promotion for Florida residents.  I visited Miami Seaquarium frequently, as often as I could and I would take pictures and document what I thought might be health issues or perhaps violations of the Animal Welfare Act.  I began writing to the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service about Lolita, her tank and what I perceived to be violations of the AWA regarding Lolita’s tank and stadium and I frequently wrote regarding Lolita’s welfare and the welfare of the other animals too.  My primary purpose was to try to help Lolita.  I have since come to believe that the USDA/APHIS is useless as a government agency and even though they have been provided with ample proof of violations, they will never admit to it.  USDA/APHIS is like the person that can never admit they are wrong and never offer an apology.  Their interpretation of the law is the final and last word, even if the law quite clearly defines itself and they will write their nice little responses and remain polite and draw diagrams and quote statements and citations and furnish copies of inspection reports (even ones that disagree with what they tell you and support your argument!)  and the list goes on and on and on, but they will never and I do mean NOT EVER admit that they are wrong or apologize.  So along on my quest to help Lolita, I was able to get to know a few dolphins and while I am opposed to the captive entertainment industry, I will shamefully admit that there were times I looked forward to my time with the dolphins in dolphin lobby and playing with the mirrors and lights.  Dare I say, I even enjoyed those moments with them, although I always left Miami Seaquarium feeling sad, frustrated and heavy hearted.  Feeling the oppression of all of the magnificent creatures in their dilapidated and unnatural surroundings is incredibly emotionally draining and downright depressing.  I could never work in a place like that.

It was from my visits to Miami Seaquarium and talking about it that I started to get to know people.  Some of them were former employees of the Seaquarium itself and I started to learn a lot about what goes on behind the scenes in the world of marine park entertainment.  I started asking questions about Cathi.  I wanted to know why she wouldn’t open her right eye.  Did she have an eye or did she lose it??  Why wouldn’t she take an interest in the mirror and why did she rub on those pipes for tactile stimulation when she shared her tank with four other dolphins?  Unfortunately, most of those questions are questions that only Cathi would be able to answer.  Her medical records are unattainable as they are considered confidential because she was not by law an individual, but rather she was a piece of property, a number on an inventory report, a dollar sign for an amusement park, and as she aged and became infirm, she was no longer a dollar sign, but a liability.  A couple of people that knew Miami Seaquarium, Cathi and/or the industry tried as best as they could to answer my questions.  One answer I received was “she doesn’t want to look at anyone.  She’s sick of it and prefers to ignore it and refuses to open her eye.”  Having observed her many times and interacting with her tank mates, I could see the reasoning behind that conclusion.  I never saw her swim in the other direction with her left eye looking out.  She always swam so that we could only see her right side.  Another person told me that her eye was closed because of the chlorine in the tanks and that over time, she had probably had multiple eye infections and that the chlorine burns their eyes and irritates the eyes of captive mammals.  Their tanks are salt water tanks, but chlorine must be added to keep bacteria, fungi and microbial growth to a minimum.  Multiple infections over the course of her life in captivity made a lot of sense too.  Whether it was one or the other or a combination of both, it was a unique part of Cathi and gave me greater understanding into Lolita too, as Lolita only rarely opens her eyes.  What I would not give to have been able to look into Cathi’s eye(s) just once to acknowledge her; to let her know that I did care that she was taken from her life in the wild and that I wished her life would have been different.

Not only was Cathi a part of the entertainment industry, she was also part of Miami Seaquarium’s animal husbandry program.  Cathi was a breeding machine.  She performed day in and day out, whether she was sick or not and whether she was pregnant or not for nearly forty years.  Cathi was a mother and a grandmother.  In honor of Cathi and her life, I will list her calves with dates of birth and death (if applicable) from what I have been able to find from ceta-base.com:

name: Jessica (F)

born: 29-September-1976

died:  23-October-1976

Flippy (sire)

name:  Ivan (M)

born:  27-August-1983

died:  31-July-1989

Papi (sire)

name:  Samantha (F)

born:  06-November-1986

died:  –

Papi (sire)

name:  Tori (F)

born:  19-July-1990

died:  01-October-2000

Papi (sire)

name:  Unnamed 1992

born:  06-August-1992

died:  16-September-1992

Unknown (sire)

name:  Ripley (M)

born:  13-October-1993

died:  –

J.J. (sire)

name:  Orion (M)

born:  28-September-1999

died:  31-October-2002

J.J. (sire)

name:  Abaco (M)

born:  02-May-2001

died:  –

J.J. (sire)

If Cathi had been a human being and had her story been written, the world would lament that such an act of atrocity akin to slavery could occur in this day and age and we would have admired her strength and courage and ability to survive and endure in even the bleakest of circumstances.  Surely it must have been bleak to be taken from the freedom of the vast open world of the ocean and placed in a tiny tank the human equivalent of a bathtub; forced to perform tricks in order to eat; forced to live a life of confinement and servitude.  Surely it must have been bleak to have babies and have those babies die prematurely or have them forced into the same life of pleasing noisy crowds with circus tricks to be fed a few dead fish.  Surely it must have been misery to watch your daughters have babies and watch those babies die or be taken for entertainment.  Cathi was mother to eight calves, three of which are still alive.  Samantha has had four calves, two are still alive; Aries and Zo.  Tori, deceased had a female calf named Denise, who was previously Cathi’s tank mate and at the time this was written, Denise still lives in dolphin lobby at Miami Seaquarium.  What a tragic legacy Cathi left behind.

In late August of 2011, I visited Miami Seaquarium and noticed there were only three dolphins in the tank in dolphin lobby; Cathi and J.J. were missing from the tank.  Dolphins are moved around from one exhibit to another frequently, so I did not find this as a cause to be alarmed.  I took the month of September off and returned again in October of 2011.  Again, I noticed that Cathi was missing and this time I chose in inquire as to her whereabouts.  After the top deck dolphin show, I approached one of the trainers and asked what happened to Cathi and J.J.  I was told J.J. was moved to the Flipper exhibit and Cathi was moved to Dolphin Harbor.  I marched straight over to the Flipper exhibit and confirmed that J.J. was indeed one of the dolphins performing in that show.  Dolphin Harbor is a little more difficult to confirm as it is where Miami Seaquarium has the swim with dolphins program and unless you have a ticket, you are not allowed in that area.  I was disappointed that I had no way of knowing other than to wait.  One year prior, a dolphin by the name of Hollywood lived in the dolphin lobby tank and when she passed away, anyone that asked about her was told she was “relocated to Dolphin Harbor.”  It was two months before anyone was able to confirm that Hollywood died.

Depending on what source you choose to believe, wild dolphins have an average lifespan of about 25 to 40 years, with the females living longer than males.  Animal welfare advocates that are opposed to marine parks often cite premature death from diseases and depression as reason that marine parks should not exist for entertainment purposes.  Given that Cathi was probably a few years old at the time she was captured in 1971 and she had been in captivity for almost 40 years, one would think that perhaps her life should be remembered; that Miami Seaquarium should honor her and celebrate her life and mourn her passing for all that she gave to them after everything that was taken from her.  Would it have been so horrible for the trainer to acknowledge her passing by telling me she was an old gal and passed away?  I will come to think of the words “dolphin harbor” as a profane euphemism for “dead and forgotten.”  Cathi died on August 21, 2011.  It was the day before my 40th birthday and three short months before the 40th anniversary of her capture.  For Cathi, I would say and do what Miami Seaquarium would never do for you, yet should have done:  I will never forget and I will seek to honor your memory.  Thank you for your years of service, even though it was forced upon you.  Thank you for your calves and the legacy you leave behind.  The world will never know how many children’s lives you enriched during your years of performing and captivity.  For Cathi, I will send this far and wide and maybe, just maybe it will be published in some little piece of paper somewhere and if not, then at least I will have tried my hardest.  It is sad, shameful and disgraceful that Miami Seaquarium could not do this for you at the time of your death as you so rightfully deserved.  For Cathi, I’m sorry it took me all this time to find out about you.  I hope that where ever you are, you are at peace and you are now swimming once again with your pod in the wild, jumping on the waves, hunting fish, playing and rejoicing in the beauty of freedom and the vast open spaces of blue before you.  Good bye Cathi, may you rest eternally at peace.

One last little note before I sign off on this “blog” or “essay” or whatever anyone wishes to call it.  If anyone thinks this is too long, let me inform you that living in a tiny tank for 40 years, swimming in endless circles after having known the freedom of the open spaces of the ocean is also too long.  Cathi deserved the best, and my best in this is all that I could give her.

References:

1 http://databases.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/ftlaudMarineMammals4/ftlaudMarineMammals_list.php

2  www.miamiseaprison.com

you can view this post here: http://www.facebook.com/notes/kelly-j-conner/in-loving-memoriam-her-name-was-cathi/10150663385492133

Third Graders from Donna Klein Jewish Academy have had enough of the Miami Seaquarium’s mistreatment of Lolita and APHIS’ inability to enforce their own animal welfare laws and have written letters directly to APHIS and Arthur Hertz of the Miami Seaquarium asking him to retire Lolita!  They learned about Lolita’s situation from a long-term substitute teacher and attended a presentation via FaceTime with Shelby Proie talking about Lolita’s family and how a gradual retirement and reintroduction into her home waters would lead to a better quality of life for Lolita. We here at SaveLolita.com want to give a huge thanks to these third graders (and their teachers) who have taken a stand on this issue and are the kind of leaders we need in the future to make this world a better place for all animals and humans sharing this planet!

Retire Lolita Letter’s

Retire Lolita Letter’s 2

Retire Lolita Letter’s 3

Retire Lolita Letter’s 4