VIRGINIA KEY, FLA. (WSVN) - A devastated community came together to hold a moving memorial for Lolita, the beloved killer whale who called Miami Seaquarium home for over half a century.
After more than half a century of living in captivity, the orca, also known as Toki, died on Friday, Miami Seaquarium officials said.
Animal rights advocates who spoke with 7News did not hold back when reacting to the marine mammal’s passing.
“She was stolen as a baby from her family when she was meant to be living in the wild,” said one advocate.
“Her miserable existence at the Miami Seaquarium for days, years and decades is finally over,” said a representative from the animal rights group PETA.
At least 20 mourners gathered outside the Miami Seaquarium on Saturday. They held up signs and placed flowers in front of a makeshift tombstone.
“It’s like a family member died. I’m really upset, really upset right now,” said a mourner. “I’m upset because I’m very disappointed that it had to end this way.”
It was at the Seaquarium where, according to PETA, Lolita lived in the world’s smallest orca tank.
Friday night, PETA representatives held signs with the phrases “Captivity killed Lolita.”
Activists who spoke with 7News on Saturday said her living conditions were horrific.
“It’s like equivalent to a person living in a bathtub for that long, and eventually she got sick,” said animal rights advocate Lynda Pardo. “In the wild, she would have lived to 100 years old, probably.”
On Friday, the Miami Seaquarium said, “Toki started exhibiting serious signs of discomfort, which her full Miami Seaquarium and Friends of Toki medical team began treating immediately and aggressively. Despite receiving the best possible medical care, she passed away Friday afternoon from what is believed to be a renal condition.”
However, just a few days before, the Seaquarium released a video with positive progress updates, which now some question.
One of Lolita’s former trainers, Edward Akromas, weighed in on the video.
“The Seaquarium three days ago , they said she’s doing amazing, and they’re continuing to prepare her this move, three days ago. Now for the last days, she’s had renal conditions, right?” he said. “OK, for working with zoological animals for over 20 years, you’re testing those blood levels very regularly.
Akromas did not mince words about the killer whale’s care.
“I do question if this was something coming for a while, and they just played it up like she was doing great,” he said.
One of the orca’s former veterinarians, Dr. Jenna Wallace, also reacted to the Seaquarium’s video..
“My gut and my intuition, as well as her veterinarian of 22 years, her and I both, since the moment we left that park, we knew she was not ever going to make it out of that pool,” she said.
Wallace said she only worked at Miami Seaquarium for six months. She said she was the initial whistleblower for a June 2021 report and a key witness in a federal investigation that hasn’t been made public.
“I am sad, but I’m angry, and I’m so angry,” she said. “If people could have put their egos aside and their paychecks aside, she could have potentially made it,” she said. “I am hoping that every veterinarian and every staff member that lied to the media and lied to [U.S. Department of Agriculture] inspectors, I hope that they get what’s coming to them, and I hope there are repercussions, because this was criminal, what happened to her.”
Advocates pushed for her release because they did not agree with her life in captivity. Many animal rights groups protested for changes — year after year after year after year.
“Plans to move her to seaside sanctuary came far too late,” said a PETA representative.
In the 1970s, Lolita was taken from her pod in the Pacific Northwest, where her family is reportedly still living. She along with other mammals were sold to marine parks.
Many say she was the heart of Miami Seaquarium. People from around the world came to see her.
In the mid-1990s, officials said, it would go so well to release Lolita after many years in captivity, but in March of this year, plans moved forward to make that happen.
Friday night, a Florida Highway Patrol escort took Lolita to another location. The Miami Herald on Saturday reported that the mammal’s body was transported to Georgia, and it’s there where her cause of death will be determined.
“It brings me so much sadness, because so many people were rooting for her to be free finally,” said. “She didn’t get that, but she’s free now.”
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Miami Seaquarium confirmed the park would remain closed on Saturday so their team can “reflect on Lolita’s life and legacy.”
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