Here is a speech from June 16th this year in which Dolphin Freedom calls upon Thomas Cook to withdraw its endorsement of Lolita and Miami Seaquarium and also remove the marine park from their website as No1 thing to do in Miami.
Lolita is a female orca, measuring 20 feet long and weighing 7,000 pounds. She is currently held captive in a tank that violates the Animal Welfare Act at Miami Seaquarium where she has been a prisoner for the past 48 years.
She was taken from the ocean when she was only 4 years old. She lives in the smallest orca tank in North America, trapped in a space that is only four times her length at its longest point. The concrete tank is only 20 feet deep at its deepest, and 12 at its shallowest. In the wild, orcas have the entire ocean to explore and would swim up to 100 miles a day and dive to depths of hundreds of feet. For Lolita to achieve this distance she would have to swim across her tank 6600 times.
Lolita is not alone in these atrocious conditions, she is also confined with Pacific white-sided dolphins, who she is incompatible with. Records show that the dolphins raked (bit) her a minimum of 52 times in 2015, to the extent that she sometimes required antibiotics. Miami Seaquarium provides no shade for Lolita, which results in her skin becoming cracked and dry. She has no escape from the blistering Florida sun, where wild orcas can dive to escape the rays she does not have this option.
Lolita is frequently drugged, with many prescriptions being administered with no clinical evidence that they were necessary. She has been administered antibiotics, antifungals, narcotics, steroids, hormones and more. There was not a single day in 2015 (with only four days in 2014) when she was not given at least one medication. Every treatment she receives is for problems caused by captivity, and despite all these inhumane and barbaric practices, Lolita is still forced to perform again and again. She endures this abysmal existence because the public are paying to see an unnatural display of forced behaviour.
While activist groups like Dolphin Freedom are working tirelessly to raise awareness and to prevent people from buying tickets to places such as Miami Seaquarium, travel company Thomas Cook promotes Miami Seaquarium as the No. 1 thing to do in Miami on their website.
Since Thomas Cook have announced they are going to stop selling tickets to SeaWorld and Loro Parque immediately we urge Thomas Cook that they also drop Miami Seaqurium too.
Thomas Cook have promised they will end all orca attractions by summer next year, which is great news, but we urge Thomas Cook not to contribute to another year of Lolita’s misery and sever ties immediately.
We also call upon Thomas Cook to remove their promotion of Miami Seaquarium as No.1 thing to do in Miami.
There is a comprehensive care plan in place for Lolita and she could be retired to a sea sanctuary where she could live out the rest of her life in a more natural environment. Find out more and join us in asking Thomas Cook to stop promoting Miami Seaquarium on their website by heading to www.dolphinfreedom.net/thomas-cook/ and signing the petition. July 31 – Update In response to our previous post regarding Thomas Cook promoting Miami Seaquarium as the No.1 thing to do in Miami (June 13 – https://bit.ly/2Oxcj5h) we have had a reply from Thomas Cook stating that it will be “amended to remove reference to this attraction”. They are also in the process of removing Miami Seaquarium from sale “in line with the announcement over the weekend.”
Many thanks to everyone who sent an email! Thomas Cook #DropTheDolphins #DFUK
** – Thomas Cook have amended their blog and the Number 1. thing to do in Miami is now Tour the Art Deco District!
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