SEATTLE — Federal officials are seeking public comment on a proposal to have a captive killer whale named Lolita included in the endangered-species list for Puget Sound orcas.
Activists consider the announcement Friday by the National Marine Fisheries Service another step toward releasing the whale, which was captured in 1970 and is now housed at the Miami Seaquarium.
The federal government notes in the proposed amendment to the Endangered Species Act listing that releasing Lolita to the wild is not a guaranteed, because sometimes it’s safer to keep the endangered animal in captivity.
The Miami Seaquarium agrees with that assessment. General Manager Andrew Hertz said that the fisheries statement states that the release of a captive animal into the wild might injure or kill that animal, and pose a danger for wild populations.
“Even if Lolita is officially deemed part of an endangered species group, Miami Seaquarium would already be in full compliance with any additional requirements and protections,” Hertz said in a statement.
He added that Lolita has been living at the marine park for 44 years, and is active and healthy.
Lolita’s fellow orcas spend most of their time in Puget Sound and the waters off British Columbia. Lolita is a member of the L pod of killer whales.
The federal government listed these Southern Resident orcas as endangered in 2005. The wild population numbers about 85.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Orca Network and other animal-rights groups filed a petition to encourage a rule change.
“Lolita should never have been excluded from the Endangered Species Act in the first place, and now the government has righted that wrong,” said Jeffrey Kerr, general counsel to PETA in a statement.
Steven Wells, executive director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, said his group and others are doing what they can to get Lolita back to her family.
Comments on the proposed rule are being accepted for two months, either electronically, through the mail and by fax.
