After more than 40 years in captivity
Orca Whale LOLITA
has a solid chance to return to her ocean home with Our Help!
Submit your comments to the US Government here: 
WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME TO BE A DIRECT PART OF FREEING LOLITA INTO A COASTAL SEA PEN SANCTUARY

The Animal Legal Defense Fund, The Orca Network, Peta and other groups have worked long and hard to petition the National Marine Fisheries Service to grant Lolita the same Endangered Species Act status that covers all other Southern Resident Orcas in the Puget Sound area off Washington State--the pod from which Lolita was stolen in 1970.

In response to this pressure, the National Marine Fisheries proposed a rule to place Lolita in this status. This is a monumental step--after years of work--opens the door to free her from captivity at the Miami Seaquarium where she has languished for more than 40 years. 

Learn about Lolita here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAB9yn3Wn1U 

Lolita at Miami Seaquarium in a pool barely twice the length of her body


At this time, the National Marine Fisheries Service is asking for public comments before they make their final ruling. This is an unprecedented opportunity we all have to be a voice for this whale's release back to her home in Puget Sound, where her mother still lives.
WE HAVE UNTIL MARCH 28th TO SUBMIT OUR COMMENTS.

Please, give five minutes of your time to help give this whale her freedom.  Thank you!

With much gratitude and love for you and the whales,
Teresa

Please submit your comments at the link below:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013-0056-1841


Feel free to simply copy and paste the comments I sent myself:

Please approve the proposed rule to have Lolita protected under the Endangered Species Act so she can finally be released from the torturous conditions in which she has lived for decades, after being stolen from her home and family. A safe, thorough plan for this whale's retirement to a sea pen has already been proposed by orca experts:

I hope you will read the opinions of scientists who have written about the harm of captivity for orca whales:

Inside the Mind of a Killer Whale: Q & A with the neuroscientist from Blackfish
Dr. Lori Marino
Killer Controversy  Why orcas should no longer be kept in captivity
White Paper by Naomi Rose, Ph.D, Senior Scientist, HSUS, 2011.
Set the Killers Free--A Whale Expert Argues Against Orcas in Captivity
Deborah Giles, a marine biogeographer at the University of California, Davis, with 20 years experience observing wild killer whales, explains to E why there is little scientific and no conservation value in keeping these ocean giants (Orcinus orca) in captivity.
Detailed article regarding captivity from the Orca Project, Jan, 2012
Thank you, 
Your Name


Or, write your own comments with the following guidelines:

Please keep in mind that this is a U.S. Federal Government website, not a Facebook Page where we can appropriately vent our frustrations about whale captivity and other threats in off-the-cuff, earthy sorts of ways. Include facts, not only your feelings. Things to include in your comments:

1. A direct request to have Lolita protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to allow her to be removed from captivity and retired to a coastal sanctuary.

2. Mention that a detailed, safe plan for her retirement has already been formulated by experts in the field.

Details of this proposal:
http://www.orcanetwork.org/captivity/2007proposaldraft.html


3. You may want to include any of the following links with scientific information supporting Lolita's release, stating that you not only personally feel it is cruel to keep her in captivity, but that scientists also hold this position.  

 

I believe passionately that it is time for our relationship with cetaceans to evolve--beyond the inspiration, exhilaration, wisdom and healing we
receive from the whales to move on to accelerating our giving back to the whales--by helping those in physical form who face and suffer from a myriad of threats of human activity on the earth. With such reciprocity, our relationships with whales are balanced, mutually healing and whole. Without it, we are merely exploiting them for our entertainment, for profit, or a spiritual high, while they suffer egregiously in captivity.

If you love whales, love them with your whole heart. Call forth the courage to see all of who they are, and all of what they experience, including their suffering. When you do, you'll be filled with so much love you'll feel like the sun itself. You will recover from any pain you feel about their suffering because love is far, far bigger than pain.  Please, see them and love them with your whole heart . . . and help them get back to freedom.

image copyright Dreamstime.com, used with purchased license
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         Five More Things You Can Do for Captive Whales!    


1. Do NOT buy a ticket to places that hold cetaceans in captivity (marine parks, hotels, or other facilities) and encourage and educate others to not buy a ticket. No tickets equals no viable business. With empty seats, marine parks will be much more willing to release dolphins and whales to their natural homes.  

2. Sign and share petitions about freeing or preventing captivity of these animals that come across your email inbox. Visit my FACEBOOK Page and you'll see a petition to help cetaceans at least once every two weeks, and you will be kept abreast of other news about whales:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sacred-Swims-Communication-with-Humpback-Whales/137123459640515

3. Support organizations that work to free captive cetaceans such as the Cove Guardians, Save Japan Dolphins, The Orca Network and the Free Morgan Foundation.

4. Keep SeaWorld, a publicly traded stock, out of  your investment portfolio.       
5. Send your love, your prayers and healing energy to these animals while they are still imprisoned. Include them regularly in your spiritual practice and healing or prayer circles-not with pity, but with centeredness, strength and loving kindness. Let them know you are a human who knows who they really are and how much you respect them.
image copyright istockphoto.com, used with purchased license
Educational Links for Yourself and to Share

Here are a few things you can do to stay centered, sane and strong as you feel the pain of these whales:

* Take Green Cross Gentian flower essence to help keep your heart and soul intact .

* Listen to the song Never Surrender to fill yourself with the energy to never stop helping the animals of the world who need us.

* Imagine Orca whales who been freed, dancing into the open ocean as they leave their sea pens after their long winter of captivity. (Thank you dear Carol Kozlovich for this wording!)


Liberating Lolita (video) from Dateline
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAB9yn3Wn1U

Death at SeaWorld a book by David Kirby
 


By Dr. Naomi Rose and Dr. Chris Parsons


SeaWorld Is So Pissed Over the Blackfish Documentary
The rebuttals and rebuttals to the rebuttals

White Paper by Naomi Rose, Ph.D, Senior Scientist, HSUS  2011. Humane Society International and The Humane Society of the United States, Washington, D.C. 16 pp.
Set the Killers Free--A Whale Expert Argues Against Orcas in Captivity
Deborah Giles, a marine biogeographer at the University of California, Davis, with 20 years experience observing wild killer whales, explains why there is little scientific and no conservation value in keeping these ocean giants (Orcinus orca) in captivity.

7 Things About Killer Whales  You'll Never Learn at SeaWorld

Documentary Exposes Controversial History of Sea World's Role in Captive Dolphin and Whale Industry

Proposal to Free Lolita from the Miami Seaquarium by Orca Network


NOTE:  The photo of Lolita was sent to me by a client. The photographer is unknown.
image copyright Dreamstime.com, used with purchased license