An Orca Named Lolita

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article on Lolita, the orca at the Miami Seaquarium. I received such a response that I had to keep writing. Something inside me is pushing me on to tell her story to the world. I just uploaded Part 7 of An Orca name Lolita.

Lolita was one of the orcas captured on August 8, 1970 in Penn Cove on Whidbey Island, WA. She was sold to the Miami Seaquarium where she has been held captive since that time. She is housed in a tank that is illegal according to the Animal Welfare Act, but nothing has been done to get her out of there.

Orcas are social creatures and live in pods. Lolita has not seen another orca since 1980 when her companion orca, Hugo, died.  Hugo developed a brain aneurism after banging his head repeatedly against the walls of the tank in an effort to get out.  In essence, he committed suicide. 

Orca Network had tried for years to get Lolita out of there. What is it going to take to get this accomplished?  The Center for Whale Research has devised a total plan for her rehabilitation and reintroduction back to her pod. For those who want to compare her to Keiko, please go read Part 7 where I address the differences. 

How You Can Help!

Write to APHIS and ask why this has been allowed to go on for so long and then ask them when they are doing to do something about it!  

Write to: Secretary Tom Vilsack

Secretary of Agriculture

USDA/APHIS/AC

4700 River Road, Unit 84

Riverdale, MD 20737-1234

Then write to President Obama and ask him why APHIS is not doing their job and how long he’s going to allow this travesty to continue.

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC  20500

Make your voice heard! It is time for Lolita to be retired and for her to come home.

An Orca Named Lolita

Where Lolita Belongs - with her family

I have just finished two articles on Lolita, posted on my Examiner.com page (see link below).

On August 8, 1970, she was taken from her home in Puget Sound and sold to the Miami Seaquarium. She is being kept in a tank that is much too small for a creature of her size, and is, by government standards, illegal. So WHY isn't someone doing something about this?

It is time to get answers to why something has not been done about this by now.

It is time for her to retire. She was not put on this earth to be kept captive or made to perform every day.

She is a creation of our earth and her home is Puget Sound.

Her family is here waiting for her return.

It is time for her to come home.

Please read her articles on Examiner.com. I'll be writing soon about how you can help. Go read An Orca Named Lolita

Thanks,

Carole

From Photographer to Writer

A classmate from my Marine Naturalist course is also a writer on Examiner.com. She emailed me about three weeks ago and asked if I'd ever thought about doing something like that. She told me all about it and I was psyched! She said that with my love and passion for the orcas and my photography, I'd be perfect to write on the marine mammals of Puget Sound. I filled out the application and was accepted!  I now have my own page as the Marine Mammal Examiner of Puget Sound. I've written a few articles and will be writing more on events, ways of whale watching, and general information about the orcas and other marine life.

You can visit my page here:  Puget Sound Marine Life

Photo ©2009 Carole May - May not be used without permission. 

Happy Reading!

Who Names the Southern Resident Orcas?

In the Puget Sound area, we have three pods of orcas known as the Southern Residents. I am often asked how our orcas got their names.  

Each orca has both a scientific name and a regular name.  Their scientific name is given to them by the Center for Whale Research. The letter designates to which pod they belong: J, K, or L. The number following the letter is the order in which they were named. J1 was the first member of J pod to be named, J2 the second, and so on. Our newest calf in J pod is J45.

Their regular name is given to them by The Whale Museum. Calves are named after they have survived their first year.  Members of the museum send in their choices for names, a list of favorites is compiled, and a vote is held. All members of the museum are eligible to vote.  One of the cutest sets of  names belongs to J22 who was named Oreo, and her offspring who are J34 DoubleStuf and J38 Cookie. J1 who is probably the most famous is Ruffles because of his tall, wavy dorsal fin. And J2 is the oldest at present. She is Granny who is approximately 98 years old.

A complete set of our orcas scientific names and their regular names can be found on The Whale Museum’s website.

My New Website - Whales and Sails, Etc.

I've added to my list of websites. I've always had a homepage of sorts, with my personal interests. Then when I decided to really focus on my photography and the orcas, I created CaroleMay.com. I have since received a number of requests for prints of my photos, so I have just set up WhalesAndSails.com  When it comes to my photography, my two main passions are the whales (orcas and grays) and sails (boats of any kind, large or small).  

I've been working hard on Whales And Sails, Etc. There are many more photos up now. I've added to the Working Boats of the Pacific Northwest, the Washington Scenics, and many more orca photos.  I'll be taking a lot more this year and am looking forward to seeing the gray whales within the next couple of weeks.