On Friday, April 1st 2016 Miami and London UNITED to rally against Lolita the orca’s cruel captors. Kidnapped from her family when she was just 4 years old. Lolita has been living at Miami Seaquarium ever since, in a tank so small it violates Animal Welfare Act regulations.
Organized by Shut Down Palace, coordinated protests were held on Lolita’s behalf at Miami Seaquarium and Arle Captial in London. Palace Entertainments, owners of Miami Seaquarium and Lolita, is the US operating subsidiary of Parques Reunidos – a European based company. They are owned by Candover, a private equity fund which is managed by London-based Arle Capital Investments.
- Our press release written by Caroline Burgess-Pike secured an article in The Sunday Times exposing Arle Capital’s involvement with Lolita’s captivity which led to further press articles:
- Independent: Activists fight to free Lolita the whale after 46 years of captivity
- Sunday Express: Should lonely killer whale Lolita be freed?
- People: Activists Fight to Free Lolita, the World’s Longest-Held Captive Orca
“The eyes of the world are on the decision-makers in both places, and we are looking for a genuine awareness that holding her in that tiny tub to wring the last dollar out of her while letting her die there is profoundly immoral. Massive human energies are now dedicated to seeing Lolita/Tokitae taken to a protected cove in a peaceful bay in the heart of the San Juan Islands, where she’ll feel the healthful waters she remembers in that massive cerebral cortex of hers, to regain her stamina and strength, to explore the waters she was born and raised in, and to one day meet and communicate with her family, whose unique vocal signals she calls in every day. She has always been ready to come home. When we will be ready to bring her there?”
Howard GarrettOrca Network
