Broward County Commission Regular Meeting

MOTION TO ADOPT Resolution No. 2017-539  the title of which is as follows: (Mayor Sharief)
 
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, URGING THE MIAMI SEAQUARIUM TO RETIRE LOLITA, THE ENDANGERED ORCA WHALE, AND RELOCATE HER TO A SANCTUARY THAT WILL REINTRODUCE LOLITA TO HER NATURAL HABITAT IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST; DIRECTING THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE MIAMI SEAQUARIUM, OWNED AND OPERATED BY PARQUES REUNIDOS SERVICIOS CENTRALES S.A., AND TO THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

ACTION:  (T-10:32 AM)  Approved.

VOTE:  8-0.  Commissioner LaMarca was not present.

Formal Board approval is necessary for the adoption of a Resolution.

Enables the adoption of the above Resolution.

The orca whale "Lolita" was captured from Penn Cove, Puget Sound, Washington, on August 8, 1970, and sold to the Miami Seaquarium (now owned by Parques Reunidos Servicios Centrales S.A.) for $20,000. Lolita is now 22-feet long and approximately 7,000 pounds, and has lived for over four decades in an enclosure measuring only 80-feet by 35-feet, with a depth of only 20-feet.
 
A 2017 audit by the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that Lolita's enclosure fails to comply with the space requirements defined by the agency's Animal Welfare Act regulations, and that the design of Lolita's enclosure denies her sufficient space for adequate freedom of movement. A comprehensive transport, rehabilitation, and retirement plan has been developed by Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research and Howard Garrett of the Orca Network, to bring Lolita to Eastsound, Orcas Island, in the state of Washington for rehabilitation and reintroduction into her natural habitat. This Resolution expresses Board support for the relocation and rehabilitation of Lolita to reintroduce her to her natural environment.