Look here for background on The Lolita Come Home Project.

Here's the most effective way to express your wish to see Lolita return to her home and family.

The obstructions to Lolita's return to her home and family are twofold. First, the Seaquarium owner, Arthur Hertz, has refused to listen to any request to release her or any informed opinion that Lolita is in danger in Miami and that she can and should be returned to Puget Sound.

Second, although the whale tank at the Seaquarium is illegal, the USDA, entrusted to enforce the Animal Welfare Act, has consistently looked the other way, mismeasured the tank, and for at least 15 years has repeated Mr. Hertz' promise that he will build a new tank.

Since there is a better chance of persuading the USDA to uphold the law than to persuade Mr. Hertz to look at Lolita with some understanding of her needs and abilities, we are asking Lolita supporters to please write, phone, email or visit the USDA to vigorously request that they at long last perform their duty.

Recently a new life-threatening hazard has developed in the form of hurricanes intensified by global warming. APHIS must require the Seaquarium to relocate all marine mammals at the Seaquarium to to safer locations.

Please copy and paste the following letter into a word processor, add to it if you wish, make it yours, and send it to Mike Johans, Secretary of Agriculture, and Dr. Ron DeHaven, Administrator of the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Thank you.


Secretary Ed Schafer
Rm 200-A
Whitten Bldg
U.S. Department of Agriculture
14th & Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20250
202-720-3631
Email: agsec@usda.gov
USDA Telephone: 202-720-2791
USDA Fax number: 202-720-2166

cc: Cindy Smith
Acting Administrator
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
4700 River Road, Unit 97
Riverdale, MD 20737-1234
Email: APHIS.Web@aphis.usda.gov

Dear Sec. Johanns:

I am writing to request your urgent action to uphold the intent of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regarding the tank enclosure for Lolita, the killer whale at the Miami Seaquarium.

Lolita's stadium lies directly in the path of hurricanes growing ever more intensive due to global warming. Lolita and all the marine mammals at the park should be relocated to a safer location. For Lolita this means she should be transported back to her native habitat and her actual genetic family for retirement under human care with the option to rejoin her family of birth.

But first, please be clear that the Seaquarium WILL NOT build a new tank for Lolita. Since at least 1978 the USDA has reassured critics with the promise that a new tank would soon be built on the Seaquarium grounds for Lolita. Lolita is nearing the end of her show business career one way or another, and it is impossible to capture orcas worldwide or to purchase one on the open market. Despite 16 captive births since 1993, the number of orcas in captivity has remained at around 50. Mr. Hertz will not invest in a big new tank with the likelihood that there will be no orca alive in Miami or available on the market to perform in it.

The existing tank is, by the intent of the AWA, illegal. The minimum horizontal dimension in this enclosure, from pool's edge to the work station is only 35 feet. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regulations for the humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of marine mammals (9 C.F.R. Section 3.104 - Space Requirements) state that the primary enclosure for a killer whale (Orcinus orca) must have a minimum horizontal dimension (MHD) of no less than 48 feet. Measuring over and ignoring the slideout station to the back of the medical pool gives an MHD of 60 feet, but only by illegally ignoring that the station presents a concrete wall that obstructs Lolita's ability to travel to the medical pool in that dimension.

The intention of the space requirement regulations found at Section 3.104 -- the MHD was to describe the minimum distance required for a straight line of travel across the narrowest point of a primary enclosure, not to describe the circumference of said enclosure.

Two, whenever an animal is confined in the Seaquarium's medical pool under veterinary supervision, this area behind the work station is temporarily no longer part of the primary enclosure, and the MHD of her primary enclosure unequivocally becomes 35 feet. This is in violation of Section 3.104 of the APHIS regulations.

Lolita has been without adequate space for decades. APHIS has been aware of this on-going violation, yet has consistently failed to enforce its own regulations and the Animal Welfare Act. Therefore, I strongly urge APHIS to address this situation immediately. In the interim and until the situation has been corrected, I will explore legal options, including the filing of an action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1361.

Thank you for your prompt consideration of our concerns regarding this matter.

Sincerely,