The remains of Lolita, an orca whale that once served as the main attraction at the Miami Seaquarium, will be returned to the Pacific Northwest, the aquarium announced Tuesday.
The orca underwent a necropsy at the University of Georgia, according to the Miami Herald, and the remains will be cremated and sent to the whale's native environment in an agreement with the Lummi Nation. Relevant testing will produce results in at least four weeks, according to the release.
The whale, whose name was changed to Toki, had been experiencing signs of distress from what the aquarium's medical staff believed was a renal condition according to social media posts at the time of the whale's death.
At 56, Lolita was one of the oldest orcas in captivity. Animal activists fought for her freedom for decades, arguing that she deserved to return to her home in the Pacific Northwest while she was alive.
"Kind people begged the Miami Seaquarium to end Lolita’s hellish life in a concrete cell and release her to a seaside sanctuary, where she could dive deep, feel the ocean’s currents, and even be reunited with the orca believed to be her mother, but plans to move her to a seaside sanctuary came too late," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement at the time of Lolita's death.
Plans to move the orca from Miami to the Pacific Northwest were in motion at the time of Lolita's death. Jim Irsay, who owns the Indianapolis Colts, agreed to pay for Lolita's transfer and estimated that, had it happened, it would have cost upwards of $20 million.
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