Lolita, an orca captured for public display over 50 years ago, is set to return to her home waters in the Pacific Northwest.
Approximately four years old when she was caught in Puget Sound in 1970, Lolita, also known as Tokitae, has spent decades entertaining paying visitors at the Miami Seaquarium.
Under an agreement with federal regulators, the Seaquarium announced last year that it would no longer stage shows with Lolita.
Lolita, who is now 57 years old and weighs 5,000 pounds, lives in an 80-by-35-foot tank that is 20 feet deep.
During a news conference, an unlikely coalition of the Seaquarium's owner, an animal rights group, and an NFL owner-philanthropist announced the agreement.
Lolita will be flown to an ocean sanctuary in the waters between Washington and Canada where she will initially swim inside a large net while being taught how to catch fish by trainers and veterinarians.
The orca would be cared for round-the-clock until she became comfortable to her new environment.
Lolita's relocation could take 18 to 24 months, and it could cost up to $20 million.
The number of orcas living in Puget Sound was reduced by about 40% as a result of the roundups, and 45 of them were sent to theme parks all over the world, where they are still a problem today.
Animal rights activists, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, have long advocated for Tokitae to spend her final years in a controlled environment.
The legacy of the whale roundups of the 1960s and 1970s continues to haunt the southern resident killer whales, an endangered group of salmon-eating orcas.
The relocation plan is historic, according to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who also noted that "so many have hoped and prayed for this result for many, many years."