Miami Seaquarium gets eviction notice several months after death of Lolita the orca

abcnews.go.com:

The Miami Seaquarium, which was home to the beloved orca Lolita, is being evicted from it's waterfront location in Miami

MIAMI — The Miami Seaquarium, an old-Florida style tourist attraction that was home to Lolita, the beloved Orca that died last year, is being evicted from the waterfront property it leases from Miami-Dade County.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava cited a “long and troubling history of violations” in a lease termination notice sent Thursday to the chief executive officer of The Dolphin Company, which owns the Seaquarium. The company was told to vacate the property by April 21, according to the letter from the mayor's office.

The company did not respond to an email seeking comment from The Associated Press. Palace Entertainment, which owned the Seaquarium from 2014 to 2022 also did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment.

But Seaquarium officials sent a letter last month to Levine Cava, inviting her to visit the park so she could witness the animals’ wellbeing for herself. The county had advised the park in January that they were looking to terminate the park's lease following a review from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates the treatment and care of captive animals.

Eduardo Albor, CEO of The Dolphin Company, said in a Feb. 29 post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that it was “a shame” to see the mayor ignore the request. “We stand with our great staff and support them,” Albor wrote.

Levine Cava said during a Thursday afternoon news conference that representatives of the county's parks department have made regular visits to the park over the past year and a half.

“The current state of the Miami Seaquarium is unsustainable and unsafe," Levine Cava