My 10 yr old daughter is a huge killer whale fan, she studies about their lives & also spends time learning about how to become a trainer. Anyway, she stumbled across this website for a killer whale named Lolita in Miami Florida that is in the Miami Seaquarium. This whale has been in captivity for 35 years and is 41 years old, her tank is way too small for her and this place has been saying they will fix it since 1986 or so but never have they done anything. My daughter would like to do something to help free Lolita but i dont know what in the world she could do to help this animal. I love that she has this idea and would like to encourage her to believe in what she is doing i just dont know what we can do - any ideas or suggestions? raising money would be something but i dont even know where the money would go - the guy who owns this whale has been quoted saying "its all about the money" so he has no intention of getting rid of this animal cuz she brings in money during shows.
2007-06-23 16:30:43 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
As we saw with Keiko, reuniting a captive whale with its family generally doesnt work. it has been a very long time with Lolita and a lot of "wild whale knowledge' has been lost for her. As sad as it may be, freeing her may be the worst thing for her, but giving her a good place to live may be the best. As much as we want Lolita to go free, the stress of moving, leaving all she has known for the last 35 years and trying to reintroudce her into a family unit may be too much. The family unit may not except her either. I would encourage her to do something to help improve her condition, as well as other captive animals, as opposed to trying to free her. There is nothing worse than having to explain how after all the work and effort put in (and attachment) the whale died upon release. You may also wish to adopt a whale. Ive included a website for a place where she can adopt a whale and the money goes towards education and research. You may also want to redirect her enthusiam towards other animals in her community such as cats and dogs and raise money to help them so she can see a more direct impact for her efforts. Raising and sending money to free a whale will not have a result that she can see since it is highly unlikely that this event will happen in the wake of keiko.
2007-06-23 18:18:45 · answer #1 · answered by cero143_326 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here is a website with a LOT of information about Lolita's predicament, prospects, and the whole situation. Be sure to click the different parts of the report listed at the bottom of the page to get the whole picture. From what I just read, it looks like this report claims that the whale would have a very good chance of reuniting with its family, even after several decades in captivity, and would have the prospect of several more healthy decades at sea.
I did this quick search with the expectation of learning that such a whale would have too difficult of a time trying to live in the ocean after such a long captivity, but this report did not agree with that expectation.
Have a look for yourself. The page indicated here also mentions a foundation to which you can contribute funds.
http://www.orcanetwork.org/nathist/releasability/recommen.htm
2007-06-23 23:45:27 · answer #2 · answered by ecolink 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋