‘Lolita’ has been at the facility since 1970. However, the National Marine Fisheries Service feels that the inclusion in the endangered listing for southern resident killer whales will not have any effect on the animal's stay at the Florida facility.
As has been clarified by Will Stelle, regional administrator for the Fisheries Service's West Coast region - it is not a decision to free Lolita, neither does it have any effect on the conditions of the orca's captivity or care at this time. Will Stelle has added that the agency is more focused on doing what it can to recover the wild population of Puget Sound orcas – its population at present is just 78.
Incidentally, Lolita was 4 or 6 years old when she was legally rounded up in 1970 and subsequently sent to the Miami facility.
The federal government had declared the protected Puget Sound orcas as endangered species in 2005 – that decision was not applicable to captive animals.
The decision to include it now is based on a 2013 petition of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Foundation PETA and others for inclusion of Lolita and the Fisheries Service have done so now.
