This is a look at efforts to move the killer whale named Lolita from the Miami Aquarium where it had been brought after being captured in 1970, back home to the Salish Sea where is was born as a member of the a pod of whales called resident.
This is a bittersweet film about trying to do the right things a half century after the fact. You see the remorse in the eyes of the people who were there when Lolita and the other whales were taken. It’s a film that makes clear the connection of the whales to people in the land where they live. In this case the Lummi Nation who have fought for years to bring her home. It also makes clear what a terrible thing it was to capture the whales and send them across the globe.
I’m not going to lie and tell you this is a happy tale, it is not. This is a film filled with sadness. It’s a story that needs to be told and needs to be heard. I say that because while there have been numerous stories about orcas in captivity, there has not been one that focused on the people and the place where the whale came from. Yes, there is a whale at the center of this story, but at the same time this is a human story about the humans affected by a whale who was stolen from home a half century earlier.
This film will move you, no matter how you feel about animals, the tale here is one we can all relate to.
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