After years of pressure to set the Miami Seaquarium orca free, Lolita was scheduled to spend her final days in her natural habitat sometime next year. On Friday, she died of a "renal condition."
The marine mammals have been "attacking" sailboats since 2020. But those encounters are becoming more frequent, and some say the orcas' tactics are evolving.
Orca moms spent precious resources feeding their fully grown adult male offspring. A new study finds that this may limit how many more young they produce.
A killer whale more than 20 feet long died after beaching itself in Palm Coast, Fla. This is the third known orca to be stranded in the southeastern U.S. and the first since 1956, an official says.
In recent years, orcas have been damaging the rudders of pleasure yachts, mostly along the coasts of Portugal and Spain. Scientists and sailors are struggling to understand the encounters.
Lolita was captured five decades ago in the Puget Sound. Animal rights activists say she's the oldest orca in captivity and should live her final years back home in a seaside sanctuary.
"Within seconds we realized, oh my God, a pack of killer whales is attacking a blue whale," researcher John Totterdell from the Cetacean Research Centre in Australia, told NPR.
