Female orcas generally live into their 50s though they can live decades longer. Lolita, who is estimated to be about 44 or 45, is the last surviving orca captured from the Southern Resident orca population during the 1970s.
The agency is still reviewing the lawsuit, said Monica Allen, a spokeswoman with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose fisheries service oversees marine mammals. The lawsuit alleges Lolita is confined in an inadequate tank without sufficient space and without companions of her own species. Plaintiffs include two other individuals, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals The lawsuit filed in November alleges that the fisheries service allows the Miami Seaquarium to keep Lolita in conditions that harm and harass her and otherwise wouldn't be allowed under the Endangered Species Act. "The fact that the federal government has declared these pods to be endangered is a good thing, but they neglected to include these captives," said Karen Munro, a plaintiff in the lawsuit who lives in Olympia, Wash. Activists are now suing the federal government in federal court in Seattle, saying it should have protected Lolita when it listed other Southern Resident orcas as an endangered species in 2005. Over the years, celebrities, schoolchildren and even a Washington state governor have campaigned to free Lolita, a killer whale captured from Puget Sound waters in 1970 and who has been performing at Miami Seaquarium for the past four decades. Annual demonstrations have demanded her return to the Northwest. SEATTLE - Supporters have offered $1 million for her release.
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