When plans were announced to free Lolita — a.k.a. Tokitae — an orca that had been in captivity in the Miami aquarium for more than 50 years, I objected. It would be cruel, I thought, as I wrote here.
The Seaquarium is the only home Tokitae knows. As the story notes, she can’t fish anymore and will have to be trained to fend for herself. She could starve if training in that regard does not go well. Moreover, orcas are social animals. Lolita could end up alone, not part of a pod, perhaps an object of predation because of her advanced age. (An orca’s life span tops out at about 50 years.)
I understand the motive, but this could be a case of ideology trumping actual animal welfare.
Well, Lolita just died of pneumonia at an elderly — for an orca — age of 57 before the plan could be carried out. Frankly, I think that is for the best for the reasons stated in my earlier piece.
But this brings up an important animal-welfare issue — to be distinguished from animal rights. Should we hold orcas in captivity? I say no. The human benefit is not of such urgency that it justifies the suffering caused by removing a highly social and intelligent mammal from its natural habitat.
So going forward, no more capturing of wild orcas. Let’s be in awe of these magnificent largest of dolphins — from the decks of whale-watching boats.