SEATTLE (AP) - Lummi Nation tribal members traveled to Miami to call for the release of a whale that was taken from the Salish Sea 47 years ago.
The Seattle Times reported Tuesday that the orca, Lolita, has been captive at the Miami Seaquarium since being taken from her family in Penn Cove. About a third of the southern-resident population was taken from Puget Sound and sent to theme parks all over the world during the 1960s and 1970s.
The newspaper reports that the critically endangered southern-resident orca population has never recovered from the loss.
The Lummi Nation has launched a campaign to bring the whale back home to retire her to a netted cove on Orcas Island. So far, the Seaquarium has refused to engage with the Lummi Nation on the proposal.
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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com
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