Miami Seaquarium has been accused of reneging on an undertaking to return to the ocean the male dolphin Li’i, the former tank-mate of the killer whale Lolita, which died last month.
Instead of being transferred to a sea-pen, the dolphin has now been relocated to another captive facility, SeaWorld San Antonio in Texas.
“By violating its promise to send Li’i to a seaside sanctuary and condemning him to spend the rest of his life in yet another concrete cell, the Miami Seaquarium has failed this long-suffering dolphin, just as it failed Lolita,” stated Tracy Reiman, executive vice president of international charity PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
“Li’i deserves the chance to return to his ocean home, to explore, dive and finally feel some sense of freedom after nearly 35 years spent in a chlorinated concrete tank. PETA urges the Seaquarium to give him the peaceful oceanic retirement he is owed and send him to a seaside sanctuary.”
The death of Li’i’s tank-mate Lolita, which at 57 had been the longest-lived killer whale in captivity and had spent all but her first four years in a tank, was reported on Divernet in August.
In 2022 a federal report revealed that Miami Seaquarium had restricted its dolphins’ food by up to 60% for months to make them more compliant for performances.
The same year the Dolphin Company took over Miami Seaquarium, and PETA is calling on the company and others such as SeaWorld not to delay plans to relocate all their captive animals to sanctuaries as quickly as possible.
‘Home and sanctuary’
Asked about its decision, Miami Seaquarium referred Divernet to a statement by US accreditation body the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA): ”Once again, the compassionate professionals at Seaworld have stepped up to provide a home and sanctuary for an animal in need, accepting the call to help the last Pacific white-sided dolphin at Miami Seaquarium…
”AZA-accredited facilities, including all of the Seaworld parks, define the highest standards of excellence in the care and well-being of animals, and are frequently asked to step in during times of need such as this one. The Dolphin Company, which currently manages four AZA-accredited facilities, is committed to improving the facilities and standards of care at Miami Seaquarium.”
The Seaquarium also told Divernet: “It is in the best interest of Li’i to live with other members of his own species. His advanced age and health conditions require specialised care, none of which is available in a sea-pen today.”
But PETA‘s Reiman rejected this argument: “The Miami Seaquarium was working to ensure that Lolita and Li’i would be transferred to a seaside sanctuary and receive expert care but has now, following Lolita’s death, abandoned those plans and thrown Li’i out with the bathwater,” she told Divernet.
“There’s no reason why plans for his new home couldn’t have moved forward and included others of his species – such as his former tank-mates, whom the Seaquarium shipped off to another facility just last month.”
In the free world of cetaceans
Meanwhile, there have been some unusual wild orca and dolphin sightings off the UK recently. A killer whale was spotted several miles off the Yorkshire coast for the first time in 16 years, at Bempton Cliffs Nature Reserve near Bridlington on 11 September.
It was RSPB ornithologists who on five occasions saw the distinctive high dorsal fin of an orca at the surface, heading south with a pod of minke whales. The male was believed to be from much further north – part of the well-established Shetland/Orkney population.
Another recent sighting that could be a UK first was of two apparent hybrid dolphins – crosses between common and striped dolphins – off Falmouth in Cornwall. Spectators on a tourist boat saw the pair accompanying a pod of common dolphins, and the sighting was reported to the Sea Watch Foundation.
The dolphins were said to combine the hourglass belly pattern of a common dolphin with the black-and-white flank stripes of a striped dolphin, and to be slightly bigger and more prone to vertical breaching than common dolphins. However the SWF said that it could not confirm the identification without a DNA sample.
Cetaceans often interbreed but such hybrids have not been noted in the UK before. Striped dolphins are only occasional visitors, though they are common further south in the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean. Bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises are the species most often seen in the UK.
Also on Divernet: Malta park blames diver for dolphin deaths, Wildlife charity names ‘exploitative’ travel companies, Russia reinforces anti-diver dolphin squad, Dolphins guard Russian warships against divers
all in it for the money!! not the welfare of beautiful creatures, that belong in the open sea they should be in!!. I will never visit them places!!..as u can sea them!!!!. in there free and open water world!! on a boat??. no thought for all the amazing animals in the world!! just dollar signs!!..
Agree. I saw dolphin’s in the ocean from the beach on my vacation last summer. That’s how it should be. SeaWorld isn’t what people think it is. I would never bring my family there or anything other kind like it. People need to watch Empty The Tank’s on YouTube. It’s a sad life for the whale’s and Dolphin’s. Lolita was in a pool to small. SeaWorld was fined and never fixed it. It’s heartbreaking they will be in captivity until they die.
Blackfish on Netflix is another heartbreaking documentary about orcas in captivity. It couldn’t stop crying 💔
Sea world are DISGUSTING THE WAY THEY TREAT THERE WILD LIFE MAMMALS YOU SHOULD LET THE GO FREE YOU TOOK THEM FROM THE WILD OK YOU CAN SEND THEM BACK. EVIL SEA WORLD
Maybe…just maybe…do a damn tour. You are very misinformed about how they treat they animals. Especially since most of them are injured when they get to the SeaWorld facilities.
It’s so sad and disturbing to think that these beautiful animals are worked like slav s then when they die they are dumped like trash. I visited SeaWorld one time and me or my kids never went back. My daughter was five at the time. She said ” Mommy the whale is sad and crying” . This broke my heart, because even a child can see the sadness these places bring to the God sent animals. Gotta fight for their freedom and shut these places down
Absolute disgrace they make a fortune out of these animals and treat them so badly. This practice should be abolished world wide. Tony maggs animal rights activist
The only way captive animals will be freed is when humans stop paying to watch these creatures perform.
Will live in a society that is run by greed and want
So true!
Maybe we should put the humans in there situation.
How evil and cruel are these people doing this and the people pay to watch .
Educate the children and All humans to realise they are the same as humans.
And have the same needs.
Pray to our heavenly Father to shut these cruel places down All over the world.
Where there is cruelty to animals.
Disguusting!!! Please let this fantastic creature live out the rest of its days in freedom! Woud it b able to survi e in the wild now? Woud it be rejected by other dolphins? It will b heartbroken and confused by the death of its freind it at least shoud NOT BE ALL ALONE in a concrete cell!!! THIS IS MANS INHUMANITY to an intelligent creature!!! Boycot tbe place and start an online petition to bombard the place in Gods name stop this INSANITY!!!
SeaWorld is full of lies and talk shit
Well said 👏
Yeh its full of swety’s who are ex cheerleaders and brainless’ generally called mandy, mindy, or Chelsea. And the so called boy’s are chuck, brad, or Twathead. I think that in this day and age intelligent mamals are being held captive by below average intelligent seaworld Fannies. But what would you expect from a country who would have sleepy Joe Biden as president even in Scotland we allow Nessie (the Loch Ness monster) freedom and its favourite spot is Urquhart Castle which is 76 fathoms deep. And morag in Loch (lake) morah which is deepest lake in Britain peace aswell, and the families are doing fine.
This is absolutely horrendous
This is absolutely discusting !! These beautiful creatures deserve their freedom. They are meant to be in the sea their home not captive for human enjoyment!!!!!!
I totally agree he should be free. How would the people who did this like it if the shoe was on the other foot . All for money 💰
This dolphin should be moved to a better environment ..all captive animals should be free…what an dreadful life for this creature shame on them …they should be held accountable and this dolphin should be in a better environment as much as possible with his conditions. They make enough money ..I’m not a marine expert but surly there is a better place for him ….please do the right thing.
Let this poor soul go free. Its a disgrace that dolphins are captive . Who goes to these sea world parks anyway. Should be resigned to history books.
Show some empathy and compassion for this vulnerable prisoner and return to a sea sanctuary. For goodness sake, show some mercy!
This does not surprise me. Greed as usual determines the fate of all those unable to speak up and have a voice. Shame on them.
Absolutely disgusted that they have just totally reneged on getting this poor creature back to its normal habitat.
Can anything be done?
So fed up with reading of the misery, mistreatment and deaths that should never happen.
These people don’t just need to be fined they need to be incarcerated and see what it is like.
💯!!
There should be a worldwide ban on keeping wild animals captive for “our pleasure”! This should also apply to the millionaires keeping exotic animals as “pets”!
Humans are the most dangerous animal on this planet…..let the cull begin!!
Please release him. He shouldn’t be held in captivity. The open sea is is home, not a “concrete cell.”
The chanses of it surviving in the wild is none and peta knows this don’t get me wrong I wish thay where free that being sed look at what happened to the killer whale thay let free it died and look at how many animals peta puts down as well just saying
* Chances
Yes, it can survive these are creatures are a community *family they hunt & share together and have a close bond and watch over another. He can mate and establish his own community *family also.
In captivity for 35 years. No..it cannot survive. That’s too long. And has health issues. Maybe pay attention to details
Oh for goodness sake. That going around about Peta is a slimy manipulation of statistics. The animals that arrive tend to be those that other places will not accept because they are in such poor condition- too ill to be a candidate for no kill shelters which tend themselves to be very picky. Although the latter should be so obvious. Can’t for the life of me understand how people fail again and again to get how most no kill shelters work. Where do the animals too unwell to redone end up? Places operated by Peta and other kill shelters. I wish the corruption and hubris of various so called charities and non profits was something that their supporters and the public were more willing to acknowledge- including that of Peta but in this case it is distortion of facts as best and lying by omission at worst.
Heartbreaking story, how we can do this to these beautiful creatures is just beyond me, these people need to be brought to justice and this amazing mammal needs to be allowed at least some life before he dies
They don’t know for definite that the white sided dolphin is the last one. The professionals have been wrong before. I don’t get why you would take him out of his environment makes no sense to me. Sea world should be closed down it’s been reported before about neglect.
Disgusting all these places care about is money the law should make them relocate all animals if they don’t massive fine and close these places forever ALL WILD ANIMALS BELONG IN THE WILD NOT IN A CONCRETE TANK
I don’t think much of PETA. They almost seem like a militant type of advocate for animals. Not everything is black or white.
I love animals and would do anything to prevent cruelty to them, but PETA is going to far in this matter.
Dolphins should be free to live in ocean and not held captive …let that dolphin live in peace…y’all at this facility should be ashamed you treat a animal like this can’t imagine how you treat another human ..we are all living creatures🤬🤬🤬🤬
Disgraceful and inhumane allow these beautiful creatures to be set free in an environment where they can experience some joy and normality but still have an eye kept on them they have worked their socks off and deserve this freedom immediately god bless them all
All animals belong in the wild, their natural home. Not in a glass and concrete cell. I don’t even visit zoos as I don’t agree with it all.
They belong to the sea not to us they haven’t been put here to entertain humans do the right thing or lose all tourists
Just refuse to support these Seaquarium places all together
Put the dolphins and orkes back in the wild if you can ,then get some humans chuck them in to do tricks, under feed them and bribe them with food . Should of never been aloud they should be back in the sea .
Just like the Indians, and all other agreements, who cares about God’s creations. God does! If humans keep treating them badly, wonder if the creator is going to get angry. You bet He will!! Humans have messed up enough already. Read the Bible, Gods has written what will happen, is anyone listening? Honor the contract, God’s going to honor His. Jesus gave His life for All, choose !
What these people do to living creatures in order to make money is absolutely disgusting! They look at them as a commodity instead of a living breathing beings with thoughts and feelings. These poor creatures are stolen from their families and natural habitats, usually at a very young age and forced to do tricks on command for food. How anyone can justify that is beyond horrific and disgusting! We ended people zoos a long time ago, I think it’s high time we ended these horrible displays immediately for the same reasons. I don’t understand why people think doing this to animals is any bette or justify in any way
I personally think that this company should lose their licence, not only have they gone back on their promise to semi free Li,ii. But also for starving him and his late tank companion. To my mind they have proved themselves, unfit to care for such intelligent creatures.
I’ve seen Orca, dolphins and sun fish swimming free in the ocean, for less than the price of a ticket to these awful places. They remind me of the freak circuses of the 19th century. Time they were all hone.
Have a bit of bloody humanity,and do right by this dolphin
Is there anything we can do?
Disgusting excuse for humans, wonder if they treat their kids the same. Stolen from Nsture and forced to suffer for our “entertainment ” we are not entertained
I so wish the people who keep dolfins in “jail” could suffer the same as the poor animals from whom their freedom was stolen!! 😡
Let the whale go!!!
I think they should leave the animals in the ocean. They are not here to entertain us, they are here to be admired and loved. So let them go home and leave them alone. Humans are so cruel and heartless.
People are just awful human beings, the poor baby deserves to get out of that hell hole
as beautiful as these mammals are to watch at seaworld, they dont belong in captivity it is cruel and inhumane to train them like dogs! its time whales dolphins and all sea creatures were returned to their natural habitats! So sick of humans making money off animals and mammals we are a shit race!!!!
So sad they were going to dump them into polluted waters where they could easily scale the net and be terrorized and killed by the resident killer whales who were threatened Keiko.
How will Li’i survive? She needs a friend or must be rehabilitated to go back into the sea.
Mean people to do this humans are so cruel and heartless all for money but every one has to pay the piper and I don’t think anyone involved in this sort of thing will have an enjoyable life a life changing car accident bankruptcy and every horrible thing should go thier way in the end it’s all for money
I know these animals might be loved but they should be in their natural environment. They’re not here to perform for humans. This particular dolphin should be allowed to retire in freedom. Humans are seriously the most selfish species on the planet. We use our superior intelligence to exploit animals and it’s obscene. It’s one thing if it’s for food but just for entertainment is crossing the line.
Its pretty discusting what they do with sea mammals….
THEY NEED TOO BE SHUT DOWN..
EVERY SINGLE 1….
Animals should be treated with care and respect. We use them for entertainment and to make money. Is it any wonder environment is in peril. Animals have been used and abused by people for thousands of years. In all the problems humanity is dealing we are the worste offenders.
My heart breaks for all the animals in captivity. All of God’s creatures should be free to live and roam where they are meant to be. Humans are greedy and selfish. I often wonder if humanity has any compassion left for this world (which, by the way, is a gift to us that we have not taken care of). I do not support these places at all. These creatures feel and have emotions just like we do. If you do not love and spend quality time with them, they become sad and depressed and will give up hope for living. It’s not fair. It’s not what God intended humans to do.
What do you expect from such a backward country like USA they really are the main problem in the world selfish grey and no empathy like spoilt children they should grow up and take responsibility itsnot Al about money but being one with the planet Americans will never get that
Parents must start realizing that these beautiful mammals are being held in captivity. They are only captured to make money, they spray paint them to cover scars, bruising, sunburn, and a multitude of other horrible problems. Do not take Tyler children to see captive animals, go to the ocean if you can, or an approved sanctuary. Research the places before subjecting your children to the false joy these places are selling. It usually starts in Japan. They hurd the dolphins by scaring them with with drums, and kidnap whichever they can. Then they kill the not so perfect ones in a Bay in Taijii. I ts wrong disgusting and will only stop when people realize the wrenching pain and trauma these beautiful cetecean’s go through. So please think before you pay, if the money stops this hopefully will stop. It breaks my heart that it still continues in our world because we know better. Please think about it. Thanks, Pearl.
How anyone can do these totally inhumane acts upon intellegent, harmless, beautiful creatures and not have a second thought about it except $$$$$ is not only crul and heartless it’s purely evil.
They should be ashamed, but of course they would first have to have a concious.
How can this happen in a supposed 1st world country thats a super power?
COME ON AMERICA DO BETTER !!