SCIENCE / ORCA

Captured 53 Years Ago, This Orca Is Going Home

Miami Seaquarium working on arrangements to return 'Lolita' to Puget Sound

By John Johnson, Newser Staff
Posted Mar 30, 2023 1:58 PM CDT

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Plan to return Lolita the orca to 'home waters' over 50 years after capture announced

Lolita had fallen ill in recent years, with the company then taking over the Miami Seaquarium, MS Leisure, announcing last year that the roughly 7,000-pound orca would no longer be put on display in the whale stadium.

March 30, 2023, 6:54 AM EDT / Updated March 30, 2023, 12:38 PM EDT
By Chantal Da Silva

More than 50 years after being captured in the Pacific Ocean and held for decades at the Miami Seaquarium, a plan to return Lolita the Orca to "home waters" to live out the rest of her days was announced Thursday.

Lolita's hopeful fate was announced at a news conference Thursday held by the Miami Seaquarium, along with Florida non-profit Friends of Lolita and philanthropist and owner of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts Jim Irsay.

The Miami Seaquarium did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment from NBC News.

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