In March, we visited some friends in Whidbey Island, along
the Salish Sea, less than two hours from Seattle. They sent us photographs with
clues, like a treasure map, that led us to their round yurt like cottage, where
we watched the sun set over the bay as we washed down hunks of fresh bread,
brie and apricot jam with local beer.
I hadn’t heard of the “Salish Sea” until Max used the name.
I looked it up, instantly enchanted. Wikipedia described the Salish Sea as an
“intricate network of coastal waterways” between the Canadian province of
British Columbia and the Washington state in the U.S. The inland waterways of
the Salish Sea are separated from the open Pacific Ocean by Vancouver Island
and the Olympic Peninsula.
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| South Whidbey Harbor, Langley |
Winding roads framed by lush green woods led us to the
yurt-like-cottage where Max and Liz lived. Quaint homes and farms were tucked
away behind sharp turns and small bends. It rained some, but not all the time,
and when it did, it wrapped the island in misty curtains that made it dreamier.
Our friends were boat captains, running whale-watching tours
from South Whidbey Harbor. The cute street hugging the harbor had a gourmet
grocery store, yarn shop, a record store, and the Village Pizzeria, where pizza
and beer came with a gorgeous view.
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| Walking around Langley |
That evening, as we settled down with more local brew, Max
told us about Lolita.
In 1970, a young female orca was captured at Penn Cove, Whidbey
Island, and taken to the Sea Aquarium in Miami. Lolita was one of seven
young whales sold to marine parks around the world from this operation
conducted by Don Goldsberry, a collector of SeaWorld, and Ted Griffin. Four baby
whales died during the capture. To avoid public attention, the captors slit the
dead calves’ bellies, filled them with rocks and drowned them. Three of the
carcasses were later discovered, and SeaWorld settled in court and agreed to
never again capture orcas in Washington State. Read more about Lolita's capture here.
Lolita was intended as a mate for a young male orca named
Hugo. Eventually Hugo killed himself by banging his head against the wall of
the aquarium where he was kept captive. He took the only way out that he could
see.
Lolita is still alive. She lives in a pool that’s like a
bathtub compared to her size. She still performs tricks for a cheering audience.
When the show ends, Lolita bobs lifelessly in her pool. That’s all there is to
her life. She could have had an ocean to live and play in. Instead, she lives
in a bathtub, for our entertainment.
Max contemplated about the state of captive orcas and
admitted how wondrous it was for him as a kid to have seen dolphin and orca
shows in SeaWorld and its likes. But what are we really teaching our kids when
we take them to these marine parks?
SeaWorld staff often misinform the audience about how
happy and healthy orcas live in captivity. They even claim that in captivity
these animals live longer. They don’t. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation
project estimates that whales born in captivity only live for 4.5 years on
average. In contrast, they live longer and richer lives in the wild, as evident
in the case of “Granny”, a 103-year-old whale
recently spotted off the western coast of Canada.
Orcas have emotional and social lives more complex than
humans. Their brains are even more developed than ours. They live with their
families and feel emotions like we do, and have a sense of identity. If we
explained that to our kids, would they still want to see orcas in captivity
perform back flips?
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| On a whale-watching tour in the rain, Whidbey Island |
As of February 2014, there are 53 orcas held in captivity around the world, and Sea
World owns 26 of them.
Every time a trainer is injured, or worse, killed by a captive whale, marine
parks have blamed the trainer for the incident. The movie Blackfish features
Tilikum, a whale that has killed many times, and is still held in captivity
because he is such a profit maker for SeaWorld. Whale researchers have pointed
out numerous times that there have been no records of such orca attacks against
humans in the wild.
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| Bluff Trail, Ebey's Landing |
That night I dreamt being trapped in fishing nets and
dragged through a busy highway that looked like the New Jersey Turnpike.
Next morning brought sunshine. We had breakfast and headed
for Ebey’s Landing, named after the first non-native settler of Whidbey Island,
Colonel Isaac Neff Ebey.
We walked up the bluff trail running parallel to the
shore, passing emerald green fields and woods of fir that looked like something
out of an Irish travel brochure. We gazed at the Olympic Mountains rising
behind the coastal waters and spotted bald eagles.
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| Bluff trail, Ebey's Landing |
On the way back, we walked on the beach. Steve and I found
a giant log perfectly balanced to become a seesaw. We collected barnacles and
marveled at the curiously shaped driftwood bleached silver by the sun. I
smuggled a small piece of driftwood in my luggage. When I returned to New York,
April played fetch with it and gnawed at it with unadorned pleasure that dogs
have mastered.
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| Seesaw on driftwood, Ebey's Landing |
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| Peek-a-boo |
Washington state and Seattle holds a special place in my
heart. It’s a place where past and present memories play. Back in New York,
alongside those pleasant memories, Lolita’s story kept coming back to me. So I
found out more about her.
Lolita is a member of the “Southern Resident killer whale
DPS” that’s protected under the Endangered Species Act. The Orca Network
describes her present condition as: “Though a young and healthy adult, Lolita
is one of the oldest orcas in captivity, kept in the oldest and smallest orca
tank in the U.S.”
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| Ebey's Landing |
“The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has
objected to the Federal Government's failure to enforce the Animal Welfare Act
in regard to the small size of Lolita's tank. In short, the minimum horizontal
dimension should, by law, be at least 48' wide in both directions. From the
front wall to the wall that forms the barrier the pool is only 35' wide. Orcas
swim an average of 80 miles a day. Four other infractions at the Sea Aquarium
whale tank have been documented at The Orca Project. Lolita's tank is not a
reasonable habitat for a whale.”
Yet, all previous attempts to free Lolita from Miami Sea Aquarium
have failed.
Today, Lolita awaits a final decision that’s due in
January 2015 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Fisheries that could set her free.
In 2013, NOAA accepted a petition to include
Lolita under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Her family in the wild is
already covered by the ESA and the proposal entails an amendment to remove the
exclusion of captive whales in the regulatory language, which would allow
Lolita to be included in the endangered species list. Advocates for “Free
Lolita” have proposed a safe retirement plan for her that could ultimately
unite her with her family.
The issue of orcas in captivity has gained momentum in
recent years. The documentary “Blackfish” released in 2013 challenged
mainstream perceptions (and lack thereof) of orcas in captivity. In April 2014, SeaWorld lost in the US Court of
Appeals, which upheld the 2010 citation accusing SeaWorld of
failing to ensure the safety of its orca trainers. Shortly thereafter, STA
Travels, one of the world’s leading travel companies catering to young people
and students, announced that it
would not offer trips to SeaWorld or other tourism destinations
which capitalize on the exploitation of animals.
Perhaps, these are small steps that could lead to a sea change
for whales in captivity.
You can also sign this PETA petition urging for her release: https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4951
Let’s hope 2015 brings freedom to Lolita and sets a
precedence to protect whales from captivity. Ahoy!
