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Today marks the 37th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act.

12/28/2010

 
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When it comes to threatening Lolita, the government is even more villainous than the Miami Seaquarium.

Her well-being should be ultimately ensured by the government; instead it effectively ignores her legal rights to special protection as a Southern Resident Killer Whale, ignores scientific evidence of captivity's harmful effect on cetaceans, and thereby further endangers Lolita and her entire family.

Through its inaction the government has accomplished just the opposite of the intent of the Endangered Species Act, which was signed into law by President Nixon on this day 37 years ago. 


To mark this occasion, contact your elected officials in the U.S. and Canada and insist the government be held accountable for failing to provide Lolita legal protection to which she has been entitled under the ESA for more than five years.


The Southern Residents are true international residents as their Salish Sea home waters are not bound by the U.S./Canadian border.

There are also provisions for private citizens to take legal action against the government to make sure the act is enforced.


If politicians and bureaucrats won't take appropriate action, then the citizens must!

Carole May's "An Orca Named Lolita"

12/21/2010

 
Carole May's comprehensive and engaging series, previously published in the Puget Sound Marine Life Examiner. 
(May you rest in peace, Carole)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19

Lolita Deserves Her Legal Rights

12/19/2010

 
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The Endangered Species Act 4(d) rule "take" prohibitions could provide a legal precedent to protect Lolita from harmful conditions at the Miami  Seaquarium and the local, state and federal governments which fail to prevent such harm.

"Liability  for a take may not always rest with the  entity directly responsible  for the action. A series of recent cases  demonstrates that governmental  entities (federal, state, or local) that  license or regulate conduct  that results in harm to listed species can  be indirectly liable for  take." 


As the government is not providing protection for which Lolita is legally entitled,  the government itself should be held liable.

Let's hope that attorney Steven Wise will choose Lolita as the subject of his case for recognizing the legal status and rights of cetaceans as "persons."

There are far too many compelling reasons Lolita needs protection and legal rights:
  • Lolita has been held captive in the smallest facility for the longest time
  • She is the only living, captive, endangered Southern Resident  Killer Whale
  • The market demand created by the Miami  Seaquarium for the capture of wild orcas was a primary contributor  to her species becoming  endangered
  • The government has failed to protect Lolita under the Endangered Species Act for half a decade.
Please ask your elected officials to support government intervention to ensure the legal rights Lolita deserves.

Ric O'Barry speaks against cetacean captivity on the 40th anniversary of Lolita's capture from Penn Cove

12/19/2010

 

Unsuitable habitat for endangered species!

12/16/2010

 
These disgusting facilities are far from being suitable habitat for endangered Resident Orcas, Lolita and Corky.
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Lolita has been doing "hard time" in solitary confinement in this tiny, illegal prison pool at the Miami Seaquarium for more than 40 years.
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Corky's pool is somewhat larger but presents an equally harmful threat to captive cetaceans, especially when imprisoned for long periods of time. SeaWorld and Miami Seaquarium allow human employees to retire after more than 40 years so why not Lolita and Corky?
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Captive orcas die far too young compared to their wild cousins. This list shows only the known orca deaths at SeaWorld parks.
1. Shamu - 6 years
2. Ramu - 15 years
3. Kilroy - 11.5 years
4. Kandu - 4 years
5. Orky2 - 20 years
6. Nootka - 20 years
7. Winston - 15.5 years
8. Kandu3 - 4 years
9. Sandy - 4.5 years
10. Kona - 6 years
11. Canuck - 2.5 years
12. Frankie - 5 months
13. Kandu - 15 years
14. Kenau - 15 years
15. Gudron - 19.5 years
16. Canuck2 - 4 years
17. Kona2 - 10 years
18. Kandu5 - 12 years
19. Winnie - 24.5 years
20. Kotar - 16.5 years
21. Shawn? - 1 year
22. Kahana - 12 years
23. Nootka4 - 12 years
24. Haidi2 - 9 years
25. Samoa - 8.5 years
26. Baby Shamu2 - 11 days
27. Katerina - 10.5 years
28. Splash - 15.5 years
29. Kenau's baby died in womb
30. Samoa's baby died at birth
31. Taku - 14 years
32. Nyar - 2 years
33. No Name- - 8 days
34. Hayln - 2 1/2 years
35. Taima - almost 21 years along with her stillborn baby
36. Bjossa - 21 years
37. Haida 2's baby died in womb
38. Stillborn to Kalina
39. Stillborn to Gudron
40. Stillborn to Nootka 4
41. Kona 2's baby died in womb
42. Corky 2 had miscarriage
43. Kandu5 had stillborn
44. Unna had stillborn
45. Sumar - 12
46. Kalina - 25 years

The Miami Seaquarium also contributes to this horrible list:

47. Southern Resident Killer Whale Hugo, who died in captivity 30 years ago at the Miami Seaquairum; he was Lolita's only companion. She has since been sentenced to solitary confinement.
48. Stillborn to Lolita (reported by the St. Petersburg Times in 1973) 


 "There is as much educational benefit in studying dolphins in captivity as there would be in studying human beings by only observing prisoners in solitary confinement." Jacques Cousteau

Don't allow Lolita's and Corky's names to be added to these lists: Boycott the Miami Seaquarium and SeaWorld parks!

Graphic & list courtesy of Taiji Action Group/Mark Bamberry

    Previously on
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    August 2015
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    December 2010

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