Lolita's got a killer jump... having spent 44 years at Miami's Seaquarium.

In the coming days, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency will decide whether to give killer whales endangered species status. This would allow animal rights groups to sue the Seaquarium for Lolita's release.

Animal Welfare Institute scientist, Naomi Rose, says Lolita's tank is illegal because it's too small. 

"So we are suggesting putting her into a sea pen and then gradually, incrementally, rehabilitating her. If it never reached the point where she can be independent she will not be released into the wild, she will remain in that sea pen."

That sea pen is located in the San Juan Islands, about 20 miles from where Lolita's pod spends half their time.

But the Seaquarium's curator, Robert Rose, says she would share the same fate as the "Free Willy" orca... also known as Keiko. 

"She is going to die without question. They are going to take her out their and do the exact same thing they did to Keiko which is to kill him."

Keiko was released... and died the following year after being rejected by wild orcas. 

"And unfortunately this didn't have the Hollywood happy ending where Free Willy jumped over the wall and lived happily ever after. The hard reality of this is that this is an animal that died alone in a fjord in Norway of pneumonia."

But activists argue this stunning killer whale could be successfully reintroduced because she's remained healthy despite living in captivity for decades.