Lolita Update #108
Monthly Demo July 25 - "Walk for Lolita August 8th -
Orca Capture Commemoration August 9th
"Perchance to Dream" premiere tour
July 8, 2009

All are invited to protest Lolita's cramped and lonely captivity and support her retirement plan on SATURDAY, July 25th in front of the Miami Seaquarium, 12 Noon til 2 PM. Every last Saturday of the month we'll have a protest, same time, same place. Please pass the word on to friends and family.And check out the new Lolita website at SaveLolita.com.
-Shelby

Penn Cove Orca Capture Commemoration
Sunday August 9th, 2009, 4-7 PM
Coupeville Rec Hall, 901 NW Alexander, Coupeville
Whidbey Island WA

In memory of the 45 Southern Resident orcas captured in Washington State, and the 13 orcas killed during the captures, and in honor of Lolita, the sole survivor
Featuring historic KING 5 TV news clips of the 1971 Penn Cove capture, with commentary by the late Don McGaffin.
Purchase tickets by contacting: E-Mail or 1-866-ORCANET or at the door.
Orca Network is a 501 c3 nonprofit and Washington State Charitable organization.
Proceeds from this event support Orca Network Educational programs.
On the 39th anniversary of the first Penn Cove Orca Capture, Orca Network holds its annual commemoration of all the Southern Resident orcas taken during the capture era, and honors Lolita, the only survivor, who lives alone at the Miami Seaquarium where she was delivered in 1970.
These news clips recently surfaced, and include moving documentation of the whales being captured, commentary by Don McGaffin, and interviews with a diverse cross-section of politicians, biologists, and marine park personnel from the 1970s.
Finally in 1976 a count was taken of the remaining orca population, and it was discovered that one third to one half had been removed, all of them younger whales, the impacts of which are still felt today on this fragile, small population. With just 71 orcas remaining, the captures were stopped, and the Southern Resident population slowly climbed to nearly 100 by the mid 1990s. But humans have continued to hamper the survival of the Southern Resident orcas. Their population crashed to just 78 whales in 2001, due to salmon depletion, toxins in the water, and habitat disturbance, and they were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2005. The population currently is around 86, and their survival still hangs in the balance.
Please join us on Sunday August 9th to learn more about the orca captures, Lolita - the sole survivor of all orcas captured - and her family. The event takes place from 4 - 7 pm at the Coupeville Rec Hall, 901 NW Alexander, in historic Coupeville, Whidbey Island.
In addition to a showing of the historic 1971 news clips, the evening will include displays of photos of the 1970 Penn Cove capture by Wallie Funk and Dr. Terry Newby, a waterside ceremony, silent auction, appetizers and beverages. Cost is $20/person, with proceeds going to Orca Network educational programs and projects.
Tickets may be purchased in advance from Orca Network via E-Mail or 360-678-3451, or at the door. Donations of auction items welcome.
For more information, visit: Calendar of Events

Walk for Lolita
August 8th, Key Biscayne

39 years after Lolita's capture off the coast of Washington State a "Walk for Lolita" will be held to urge Seaquarium owner Arthur Hertz to retire his lone orca back to her natural waters. 30-50 body painted activists will walk from the first beach on Key Biscayne to the Seaquarium's parking lot entrance in barely anything more than paint, while handing out flyers on the beaches and attracting a large amount of onlookers. The walk starts at the first beach on Key Biscayne at 12:00 PM and will end around 2:00 PM at a demonstration in front of the Miami Seaquarium.

Shelby Proie in collaboration with Orca Network invites fellow Miami residents and media to come out and support this cause. We hope to see Lolita retired into a sea pen in her native Pacific North West waters where she will be taken care of for the rest of her life unless she chooses to rejoin her pod that lives there as well.

She has been living in an illegal tank at the Seaquarium for the last 39 years, and has taken a backseat to the newly developed swim with the dolphins program. This backseat has raised controversy as to why she shouldn't be retired, because the Seaquarium is not allowed and won't build her a bigger tank.

If retired she will initially reside in a generously sized "sea-pen" where she will be fed, taken care of and slowly reintroduced back into the wild. After rehabilitation it will be her choice to continue to live in the "sea-pen" or leave to rejoin her pod. In 1970 Lolita was captured in Penn Cove. Since then, much controversy has surrounded the safety of the Seaquarium's actions with their animals. Hugo, an Orca captured 2 years earlier from the same pod as Lolita, killed himself at the Seaquarium in 1980 by bashing his head off of the illegal tank; after showing strong signs of depression. Many have offered more than what Lolita's insurance policy is worth for her retirement, but owner Arthur Hertz of The Seaquarium has yet to agree. People coast to coast are concerned that Lolita has done her time in living quarters too small and arguably unsafe conditions.

Information on Lolita, the conditions of The Seaquarium, and the CNN Headline News interview with Shelby Proie can be found at www.orcanetwork.org and www.savelolita.com.

For information on the protest contact:
Shelby Proie
E-mail: shelby@savelolita.com
Phone: (412) 983-0994
Website: www.savelolita.com and www.orcanetwork.org

Perchance to Dream

Miami Times says: "The film offers a new perspective in the life of Miami Sea Aquarium's star performer, Lolita the Killer Whale. Brutally taken from her family and home waters in Puget Sound, Washington and flown across the country to live in Miami, Lolita is expected to perform daily to an enthusiastic crowd; a crowd completely ignorant to the plight of her gentle spirit."

Lauren Kimball saw Lolita as a child, and the experience troubled her.

"To see her in these outdated conditions just broke my heart," she said.

Her film, "Perchance to Dream," is the stuff of which Lolita might dream -- freedom, the open oceans, interacting with other whales -- after audiences leave the aquarium each day. It gives the film audience a view of how Lolita sees the world from her small tank.

Kimball's combined passions led to international acclaim in March when she received the Golden Flamingo under the Viewers Choice Award category at the 2009 South Beach International Animation Film Festival in Miami. , Fla. It's the highest award audiences viewing films in the festival can bestow upon a contestant.

Kimball, 21, competed against veteran companies and directors in the animation industry, such as Aardman Animation Ltd., which has won Oscars for its animation work.

In mid-May, Perchance To Dream was shown at the short corner at the Cannes Film Festival in France . Also Perchance to Dream won, in addition to the Golden Flamingo, best animated short of the South Beach International Animation Festival.

Much is going on to help bring Lolita home and to inform and advocate for her and her family Please consider a tax-deductible contribution to help Orca Network continue this work. Thank you!