After decades of captivity in a small concrete pond at the Miami Seaquarium, the orca Lolita will finally be released into the Pacific Northwest, the Miami Herald reported. Aquarium executives, along with Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, volunteers from the Friends of Lolita group, and Indianapolis Colts soccer team owner Jim Irsay, presented a plan to release the 57-year-old giant mammal during a press conference Thursday.
Under the plan, Lolita and other dolphins will be transported in a specially designed tank that will fit on a flatbed truck and then ride on the underside of a Boeing 747 or Lockheed C-130 Hercules type aircraft. Finally, another truck and a crane barge will be used to release them into the wild. Moving the animal may take 18 to 24 months and could cost between $15 million and $20 million.
Marine scientists have expressed concern for her health as she has had multiple health problems during her life at the aquarium, but the co-founder of Friends of Lolita said he is confident she will survive.
Lolita, also known as Tokitae, was captured in the waters of Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest when she was 4 years old. Since 1970, she has lived at the Miami Seaquarium and is the last surviving orca of the 45 that were captured for aquarium display between 1965 and 1973.
She is considered an endangered species, and only 75 of this type remain. Lolita’s solitude raises concerns for her welfare, as orcas are social animals. Lolita’s relocation represents a turning point in a long battle for her release, and organizations such as PETA have fought for years for her release. If she is finally returned to her home waters, there will be cheers from around the world, according to the group.