Change orca space requirements, help Lolita!
- by: Kristen Cowell
- recipient: Ann Veneman, Secretary of USDA, United States Department of Agriculture
Since Keiko has been saved out of his small tank from the brink of death many other orcas have been living in similiar conditions and haven't been noticed. Now the USDA is offering us a chance by changing the orca space requirements.
The APHIS, a branch of the USDA, have been taking phone calls reguarding orca space requirements. USDA said that if they are petitioned to do so they will act accordingly. This means that if we want to change space requirements than we are going to have to come to an agreement on the lengths of the tank. The current space requirements for an orca right now are an MHD of ONLY 48 feet and a depth of only 12 feet. How could an orca being 20-24 feet long swim in that? Orcas spyhop to look at the surroundings. When a orca does that in captivity under the minimal space requirements the whale scraps its fluke on the bottom of the tank. We the undersigned would like to change orca space requirements to an MHD of 120 feet, a length of 96 feet and a depth of 65 feet. With this Lolita's tank will be even smaller then the space requirements call for. Set her free where she belongs. Her tank is even to small for the requirements right now. She has been living like this for 30 years! All indications point that she is able to go back into the wild. Keiko has been reintroduced back into the wild and is thriving for over a month now since Aug. 14th, 2002. Lolita can do the same. Thank you for your support.
