Rep. Matt Gaetz this week questioned the housing of mammoth sea mammals housed in marine theme parks for exhibition, saying such a practice “debases our humanity.”
The Fort Walton Beach Republican was reacting to the death of Lolita, an orca whale held in captivity for more than 50 years at the Miami Seaquarium. Lolita, estimated to be 57 years old, died Friday of kidney failure, according to the Associated Press.
The orca had been kept at the Seaquarium since being captured in 1970 in Puget Sound, off the coast of Seattle. The Dolphin Company, which owns 27 such facilities in Florida and around the world, had retired the whale from active performances last year.
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The 5,000-pound Lolita had for years lived in a tank that spanned just 80 feet by 35 feet, and was 20 feet deep.
“I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Lolita, an orca whale who had been at the Miami Seaquarium for decades after being captured in 1970,” Gaetz said on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday. “Her story reiterates the urgent need to reconsider the ethics of holding marine mammals in captivity.”
“As one of the two oldest orcas in captivity,” Gaetz added, “she lived in an 80-foot by 35-foot tank. To commercialize such a tortured existence debases our humanity.”
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The AP reported in March that a group led by Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, who partnered with animal rights activists, announced a plan to move Lolita back to the Pacific Northwest.
Activists believed that Lolita’s mother, a whale more than 90 years old, still swam in the waters where Irsay and the others wanted to send Lolita.
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