What You Can Do to Help Lolita!
 

The Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Inspection Service is in charge of inspecting marine parks to make sure they comply with the Animal Welfare Act.  According to section 3.128, the tank to house an orca of Lolita’s size must be a minimum of 48 feet. Lolita's tank is only 35 feet. It should also be pointed out that the Seaquarium is not a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums because the tank is illegal.

You can help Lolita by writing letters. We need to flood the offices of the US Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the Humane Society of the United States, your senators, representatives, and last, but not least, President Barack Obama. Yes, I know the President is busy, but I also think he cares about the issues we care about. The more people who tell him that this is important, the more he will take notice.

Some facts about orcas you can use in your letters:

• Orcas swim 80-100 miles per day and dive to depths of 500 feet in the wild. This is impossible to do in a tank. Lolita's tank is only 20 feet deep at the deepest part.
   

• Orcas use echolocation to hunt for their food. Being in a tank deprives them of using echolocation, therefore deprives them of using their senses.
   

• Orcas live in pods. When an orca calf is born, it stays with its mother and its family for life. Lolita was taken from L pod when she was six years old while her mother watched. 
   

• Orcas are not solitary creatures. They need to be with other orcas (their pods, their family). Lolita has not seen another orca since 1980 when her companion, Hugo, died. (Note: Hugo was so bored in the tank that he constantly banged his head against the wall until he developed a brain aneurysm and died. The Miami Seaquarium didn't even bury him. They had his body carted off to the dump).
   

• Lolita demonstrated that she still remembers the language of her pod. When a recording of L pod was played for her, she began to vocalize with it, responding in a positive way to what she heard.

Lolita needs your help.  It only takes a few minutes to write a letter. Lolita has been held captive for 39 years. She needs to come home NOW.

YOU can make a difference! This is how YOU can help to make a change and help to get Lolita back to her family where she belongs.

This is where Lolita belongs!

 

Write to:

Secretary Tom Vilsack
United States Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
4700 River Road, Unit 84,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1234
E-mail: ace@aphis.usda.gov
Phone: (301) 734-7833 Fax: (301) 734-4978

Also send a copy to Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture at the same address.

On their website, The Humane Society of the United States states, “The sea is to whales and dolphins much as the air is to birds—a three-dimensional environment, where they can move up and down and side to side. But whales and dolphins don't stop to perch. They never come to shore, as do seals and sea lions. Whales and dolphins are always swimming, even when they "sleep." They are "voluntary breathers," conscious of every breath they take. They are always aware, and always moving. Understanding this, it is difficult to imagine the tragedy of life in no more than a tiny swimming pool.”


Write to The Humane Society using their quote above and ask them what they are doing in order to get Lolita out of that tank and back to the Puget Sound where she belongs and never should have been taken from in the first place.

The Humane Society of the United States
2100 L Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Phone: 202-452-1100

Write to the two senators from Washington. Ask them why when the orcas became endangered, there was a clause put into the document to exclude those in captivity. At that point in time, as is now, there was only ONE southern resident orca in captivity. That was Lolita.  It's time for some answers!

Senator Patty Murray
2988 Jackson Federal Building
915 2nd Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98174

Senator Maria Cantwell
915 Second Avenue
Suite 3206
Seattle, WA 98174

And last, but not least, write to President Obama. He promised us change and told us "Yes, We Can!" Make your voice heard and let him know that what we want is Lolita out of that tank and back where she belongs!

President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

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