Associated Press
MIAMI — Tokitae, a Southern Resident orca captured from Whidbey Island’s Penn Cove in 1970 and kept in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium under the name “Lolita,” died Friday. She was 57.
The Seaquarium posted on social media that Tokitae started showing serious signs of discomfort over the past two days. Seaquarium and the medical team from the nonprofit Friends of Toki treated her immediately and aggressively, but the 57-year-old orca died from an apparent renal condition, the social media post said.
“Toki was an inspiration to all who had the fortune to hear her story and especially to the Lummi nation that considered her family,” the Seaquarium post said. “Those who have had the privilege to spend time with her will forever remember her beautiful spirit.”
The Lummi Nation and animal rights activists fought for years to return to the whale, also known as Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, to her home in the Salish Sea.
After decades in captivity, Tokitae was set to return to her native waters. The Lummi Nation released a plan to return Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut to the waters around the San Juan Islands and house her in a large net-pen complex that would have allowed her greater space to swim and dive.
In March, the park’s relatively new owner, The Dolphin Company, and Friends of Toki announced a plan to possibly move her to a natural sea pen in the Pacific Northwest, with the financial backing of Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay.
Over the last two days, Toki started exhibiting serious signs of discomfort, which her full Miami Seaquarium and Friends of Toki medical team began treating immediately and aggressively. Despite receiving the best possible medical care, she passed away Friday afternoon… pic.twitter.com/hx79OhGn2O
— Miami Seaquarium (@MiamiSeaquarium) August 18, 2023
Tokitae was the last remaining of some 270 orcas captured in Puget Sound in the 1960s and 1970s. At least 12 of the orcas died during capture, and more than 50 were kept for captive display. Southern Resident killer whales are the only endangered population of killer whales in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Tokitae retired from performing last spring as a condition of the park’s new exhibitor’s license with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She’s not been publicly displayed since. In recent months, new upgrades had been installed to better filter the pool and regulate her water temperature.
Federal and state regulators would have had to approve any plan to move Tokitae, and that could have taken months or years. The 5,000-pound orca had been living for years in a tank measuring 80 feet by 35 feet and 20 feet deep.
Herald writer Surya Hendry contributed to this story.
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