Lolita Update #65
September 13, 2003

Dear Friends of Lolita~

Finally - inspectors from Miami-Dade County (rather than inspectors hired by the Miami Seaquarium) have responded to taped evidence of serious code violations at the Miami Seaquarium, where Lolita, or Tokitae (L pod whale captured off Whidbey Island in 1970) has lived for the past 33 years. Below are excerpts from several news stories - visit our website news page for the full stories.
These violations describe a park that is literally crumbling. All 15 buildings in the park require repairs, in some cases major structural overhaul. The roof canapy over the whale stadium is "damaged beyond repair." It is a scandal that Miami-Dade County has accepted the word of Seaquarium contract employees until now.
The Seaquarium may be forced to shut down permanently rather than rebuild almost the entire park from the ground up. In that case, the question is:

What will happen to Tokitae?

We will be launching a letter-writing campaign to Miami-Dade County and the USDA, stay tuned for more info. Keep in mind this inspection revealed dangers to human and animal safety and welfare. The USDA Animal, Plant Health Inspection Service is responsible for the safety and welfare of the animals at the Seaquarium and we feel they have not been doing their job to make the Seaquarium follow regulations that are in place to ensure the safety of their animals. More to come soon......

Susan & Howard
Orca Network

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!