Lolita, an orca whale held captive for more than 50 years, has died at the Miami Seaquarium as caregivers prepared to move her from the theme park in the near future.
The Seaquarium posted on social media on Friday that Lolita — also known as Tokitae, or Toki — started exhibiting serious signs of discomfort over the past two days.
Seaquarium and Friends of Toki medical team began treating immediately and aggressively, but the 57-year-old orca died from an apparent renal condition, the social media post said.
“Toki was an inspiration to all who had the fortune to hear her story and especially to the Lummi nation that considered her family,” the Seaquarium post said.
“Those who have had the privilege to spend time with her will forever remember her beautiful spirit.”
Animal rights activists had been fighting for years to have Lolita freed from her tank at the Miami Seaquarium. The park’s relatively new owner, The Dolphin Company, and the nonprofit Friends of Toki announced a plan in March to possibly move her to a natural sea pen in the Pacific Northwest, with the financial backing of Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay.
Lolita retired from performing last spring as a condition of the park’s new exhibitor’s licence with the US Department of Agriculture. She had not been publicly displayed since. In recent months, upgrades had been installed to better filter the pool and regulate her water temperature.
Federal and state regulators would have had to approve any plan to move Lolita, and that could have taken months or years.
The 2200-kilogram animal had been living for years in a tank that measured 24 by 11 metres and six metres deep.