Under new ownership, third-party veterinarians will be allowed into Miami Seaquarium periodically to perform independent medical evaluations to examine the health of Lolita the orca. The Dolphin Company confirmed this latest move at a press conference. Marine Connection welcomes this news as it hopefully means there will also be more transparency with the public on Lolita’s welfare. In August 2021, the Dolphin Company reached an agreement with Palace Entertainment, a subsidiary of Parques Reunidos, to take over operations at the seaquarium but only recently received the Class C License as Exhibitor under the Animal Welfare Act from the USDA to operate the facility.
The company has agreed to retire Lolita, according to a letter from the USDA and Lolita will no longer be on view to the visiting public, however, it has not been decided when the evaluations will begin or what the future holds for this long-suffering whale who has endured over 50 years in a tiny tank. The new management would not comment at the press conference whether the Lolita would be retired to a more suitable location than her current tank but instead said it will be a step-by-step process with step one being to confirm the current health of Lolita.
