Florida Park to Free Killer Whale Back Into the Wild

Comments for Florida Park to Free Killer Whale Back Into the Wild

Lolita Killer Whale Back at the Florida Park

Credit: Inside the Magic

11 Comments

  1. Chris

    This is actually quite sad, as she will likely not survive more than a few days in the wild and this is a death sentence for her and would be for any Orcas being released from captivity due to the unique way each pod communicates. This is what the activists fail to mention. I mean yes, it makes some sense to stop the breeding and definitely makes sense to not capture any additional, aside from taking them in for medical care and then releasing them, but to release ones that are already captive isn’t a good idea.

    It would have been better to slowly introduce her into another park with multiple Orcas and let her live out her days with as good of care as possible and provide education about these animals. While not a perfect scenario, it is better than the alternative.

  2. Val Backstrom

    They spent millions to release Keiko and he died after a year, never integrating with other Orcas and would often seek out humans. Keiko was much younger. Releasing Lolita will result in tremendous stress and her death. Regardless of how people feel about captive animals, this is all she knows. She’s not going to go all Plato’s cave when they release her if she even survives the trip. She will die and the entire stunt will cost millions and be probably be considered a success story as Keiko’s is often still framed as when they ignore the part about him dying a few months after, favoring and performing tricks for humans. and never integrating with Orcas. Also, why does it seem that “Philanthropy” overlaps with psychopathy? Something to think about

    1. Ash

      Keiko died 5 years after being released actually, not a year. But, you are probably correct on her not making it out in the wild since it’ll be a different environment than what she is now used to and the fact she has been captive a lot longer than Keiko was when he was released also. Hopefully we are all wrong though and she lives for a lot longer than Keiko did in the wild. 🤞

      1. Ash

        Sorry no, let me rephrase that. He was taken from his tank in Mexico and put into another tank with water closer to his native waters and then released into a seapen into his native waters where they then released him fully into the wild. My bad! But it all adds up to 5 years where he wasn’t considered “captive.”

      2. Angel

        Just to reiterate Keiko did die a year after he was released back into the ocean from pneumonia he was released in 2002 and died in 2003.

  3. T .Blount

    Let’s hope as it’s classed as semi wild, she will survive.She is the same age as me ,its desperately sad for me to imagine all my years being her sad existence.
    It makes you wonder if the money may have been better spent on making her pool larger and more interesting and her staying put ,I don’t know😔.
    Still has 1-2 years for anything to happen …..

  4. Evelyn

    I think she should stay right we’re she is or some were with a bigger pool she has been there long time may be she wouldn’t make it back in the wild and that wood be 😢

  5. Evelyn

    I think she would be better staying right we’re she is may be she wouldn’t make that trip and I don’t think she wouldn’t make it in the wild she may die that would be 😢

  6. Ashley Spitzer

    Killer Whales should never have been taken from their pods as calves. Killer Whales hunt in pods and theirs a family dynamic there. Yet the Orca calves are taken away from their pods and put in Aquariums like SeaWorld and other like Lolita is being captive at. They are captured for one thing only for our own entertainment and that’s extremely wrong! Killer Whales belong out in the wild not for our own personal entertainment. People who captured baby orcas back then should be called evil human monsters! How would they feel if their children were captured like that, traumatized that’s what! And that how Orca Killer Whales felt back then and their calves!

  7. Anne Jarcew

    Please correct my thinking. I sounds like Lolita is too old to perform. Then it is too expensive to keep her. So rather than provide a comfortable retirement in an environment she knows, she is sent out to her death. In a frightening way for the poor Soul. Can this decision be reversed?

  8. Jamie

    Wow so just sitting this poor whale up to die. Disgusting! It’s almost like we shouldnt take them from their pods as calves. This is awful

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