Protesters campaigning for the release of a Florida orca plan to pay another visit to Kennywood today.
That’s because Kennywood is owned and operated by Palace Entertainment, which also owns Miami Seaquarium, home to “Lolita,” a killer whale that has been captive for 45 years, according to Wendy King, who is organizing the protests nationally.
“We would like Palace Entertainment to retire Lolita,” she said today. The orca, she said, is being held in the smallest whale tank in North America.
The activists plan to be at Kennywood from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. They also visited the park on May 9, and plan to stage small protests at several other Palace Entertainment properties today.
According to Ms. King, Lolita was caught on Aug. 8, 1970 in Puget Sound near Seattle, and was about 4 years old at the time of her capture. The whale has been in captivity ever since.
Palace Entertainment says that it follows USDA and the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums guidelines in caring for its animals.
Palace is a subsidiary of to Parques Reunidos, a Madrid, Spain-based company, and has owned Kennywood since 2007.
– First Published May 23, 2015
