Kate del Castillo Calls For Lolita to be Set Free at Press Conference at SLS Brickell

Photography by Ryan Troy on January 20th, 2017 in Lifestyle

Kate del Castillo

Miami, FL – January 17, 2017 – On the heels of Ringling Bros.’ announcement that it will shut down its operation in May as well as the death of Tilikum, the subject of the documentary Blackfish, at SeaWorld Orlando after languishing in captivity for 33 years, actor Kate del Castillo teamed up with PETA to urge the Miami Seaquarium to see the writing on the wall and return the captive orca Lolita to the ocean, where she was seized from her family over four decades ago. Lolita hasn’t seen another orca since 1980, when her tank-mate, Hugo, died after ramming his head repeatedly into the side of their tank. Del Castillo says, “Lolita’s story is particularly tragic and poignant to me because I come from a tight-knit family. And so does she.” She continues, “Orca families spend their entire lives together. Lolita should have spent her life with her mother and aunts and siblings. But instead, she has spent 46 long and totally miserable years stuck inside the world’s smallest orca tank at the Miami Seaquarium.”