Retirement plan urged for whale

Lolita's life changed on Aug. 8, 1970, when the capture nets closed in on her family of orca whales. Her days of swimming and foraging for salmon in Puget Sound ended abruptly, and she was sold to the Miami Seaquarium to live out her days as a performer.

After more than 25,000 shows, Lolita continues to be an attraction at the Seaquarium.

While Florida may be a retirement haven for people, there is no retirement plan in the orca-entertainment industry. But Lolita has family and friends in Washington state, and those friends want to bring her home for her retirement.

The family is a group of 43 orcas, known as L pod, from which she was taken. Lolita continues to vocalize in her native L pod language, which orca experts say may help her to be recognized after such a long absence. Fourteen of the whales who were in the area with Lolita are still alive.

The friends are human supporters willing to pay for her return to Puget Sound and for rehabilitation they hope would lead to her release.

Efforts to bring Lolita home began in the mid-'90s, when Ken Balcomb, executive director of the Center for Whale Research, and then-Gov. Mike Lowry first called for her return. Balcomb wants to give her "a place of honor in her home waters."

Orca Network, a nonprofit-advocacy group on Whidbey Island, offered $1 million for Lolita in 1996. Miami Seaquarium turned that down, as well as a quiet offer of $1 million-plus a few years later from the Free Willy/Keiko Foundation.

Endangered status

Lolita's family, the southern resident orcas, was listed as endangered in 2005. This distinct group of 88 whales is composed of the J, K and L pods, which are referred to as the southern residents for their annual return to the waters of Puget Sound and southern British Columbia. Of the southern residents the National Marine Fisheries Services recorded as captured during the 1960s and '70s, Lolita is the only known survivor.

Miami Seaquarium says the endangered status is the best reason for Lolita to stay in her present home.

"It would be irresponsible for us to treat her life as an experiment and jeopardize her health and safety," said Carolina Perrina, public-relations coordinator for the Seaquarium, "especially given the fact that scientists have added the members of the resident community of orcas, who reside in the waters of Puget Sound, on the endangered-species list due to a distressed ecosystem.

"Lolita has learned to trust humans completely, and this long-standing behavioral trust would be dangerous for her if she were returned to Puget Sound, where commercial boat traffic and human activity are heavy."

The capture of orcas contributed to their endangered status. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, the captures "likely depressed their population size and altered the population characteristics sufficiently to severely affect their reproduction and persistence."

The work done by the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor has made the orcas that swim in Puget Sound the most extensively studied group of whales in the world. Relying on the unique characteristics of their dorsal fins and "saddle patches" (gray markings behind the fin), each whale has been tracked and identified on a yearly basis for more than three decades.

In addition to ongoing education and advocacy work for whales, Orca Network tracks daily whale sightings reported across Puget Sound and beyond.

Stardom on the wane

When Lolita first arrived at Miami Seaquarium in 1970, she was just a few years old and not yet full-grown. Hugo, an orca captured previously from her extended family, greeted her. Lolita became a performing orca and earned her stage name, the Star of Miami.

Today, that star is fading. Her companion died 27 years ago, leaving this social creature alone except for three dolphins who share a tank with her that measures 80 feet across at its widest point.

Nor does Miami Seaquarium give Lolita star billing anymore. The entrance sign touts its new "dolphin encounter" program. The only postcard available features Salty the Sea Lion. Except for the hour she performs each day, Lolita, unlike the other animals, is hidden from view in her locked stadium.

If you ask Florida residents about Lolita, many have a look of distant recognition. People who have lived in Miami all their lives remember her fondly but seem surprised she is still alive. Female orcas can live 80 to 90 years in the wild, but Lolita is believed to be the oldest whale in captivity. Now an estimated 40 years old, she has grown to 20 feet long and remains in good health.

On a sunny Saturday in December, there are no lines to get into the shows. Stacy Leets, who works nearby and brought her young daughter for her first visit to the Seaquarium, acknowledges that most of today's generation of kids has never heard of the whale. After the show, she expresses concern about Lolita's environment and even rethinks her decision to come to the park.

"I don't know if I want to come back anymore. It kind of reminds me of the circus."

During Lolita's performance, the audience claps and screams, urged on by loud music and waves of chilled water that wash out of the pool and cascade down on the first several rows of spectators in a half-full stadium. When the music ends, a smaller crowd congregates by the side of the pool for one last glimpse of Lolita.

Help for other animals

Miami Seaquarium prides itself on helping endangered species but doesn't publicly acknowledge that Lolita qualifies for this designation. The Seaquarium rescues, rehabilitates and releases manatees and sea turtles. The sea-lion show even includes a pitch for protecting the endangered conch shell.

"Lolita plays an important role in educating the public about the need to conserve killer whales that populate our Northwestern shores," said Perrina. "She plays a vital role in our society's understanding and appreciation of these magnificent animals.

"Unlike residents of Seattle, most people who come to see Lolita at Miami Seaquarium have never had the opportunity to see an orca up close. We believe that this opportunity helps people develop an appreciation and fondness for the magnificent orca and consequently a desire to protect the environment in which these animals live."

When asked why Orca Network is redoubling its efforts to bring Lolita home now after so many years, founder Howard Garrett said, "We're desperate. We just need to motivate people and to tell her story and to give the scientific facts of what can be done."

Keiko proved that an orca can be set free, but some of the important differences in the two whales' stories could lead to different outcomes.

David Phillips, founder of the Free Willy/Keiko Foundation, acknowledges that Keiko was "probably the most difficult reintroduction candidate." In addition to his young age at capture and subsequent poor health, very little was known about his family history.

"Even with that, Keiko was brought back to health, made it back to Iceland and swam with wild whales. He never found his family per se, but he did extremely well."

After his release to the foundation, Keiko spent time at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. In 2003, five years after his return to Iceland, Keiko died of pneumonia after taking up residence in a Norwegian fjord.

Phillips believes the Keiko experiment shows that "orca reintroduction is eminently doable. I would think Lolita would have a great chance for success."

Perrina disagrees: "Lolita has been part of the Miami Seaquarium family for more than three decades. Some people would like to see Lolita returned to the wild. She's been in a loving home for more than 30 years, and if she left now, there is no scientific evidence that she could survive in the open waters of the ocean."

Family matters

In contrast to Keiko, Lolita would be set free only if contact could be established with her family. Orca Network believes the support of her family would be crucial for her survival in the wild. For this reason, a rehabilitative pen would be situated on the west side of San Juan Island, a location the L pod passes almost daily in summer.

There, Lolita would build her strength and learn to catch her own food. An orca pod swims up to 100 miles a day, equivalent to more than 1,500 laps in her current home.

Garrett thinks that the pod's matriarchs, three of whom might potentially be Lolita's mother, would accept her and that the others would follow. "We assume with recognition of her vocal call, she would be recognized right away. That is ascribing some pretty high abilities to them, but I think it is warranted."

Lolita is a long way from freedom, though. The biggest obstacle in returning her to Puget Sound is not the logistical issue of transporting a 7,000-pound whale across the country; it is her status at the Seaquarium. Owner Arthur Hertz has shown no sign of wanting to give up his orca, despite the Star of Miami's fading status.

Another side of the entertainment industry is starting to get involved, though, with plans to increase calls for Lolita's release. The effort, led by philanthropist and actor Raul Julia-Levy, includes actors, musicians, producers and politicians. Julia-Levy's hope is that the mix of money, political pressure and public outcry will sway Hertz.