Tokitae/Lolita: Another Step Toward a New Home

By Mark J. Palmer

In August 2021, the Dolphin Company, a Mexican company that is one of the world’s largest swim-with-dolphins programs with 27 facilities in eight countries, purchased the Miami Seaquarium, where the orca whale Tokitae has been held in captivity since 1970, more than 50 years. The Seaquarium’s former owners kept Tokitae (also known as Toki, Lolita and Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut) in a tiny run-down tank and stadium that has now been condemned.

The new owners have determined that they do not want to keep Tokitae and announced in December that they are open to relocating her to another facility or potentially to a seaside sanctuary in the Pacific Northwest.

A pair of outside veterinarians, Dr. James McBain and Dr. Stephanie Norman, working with the nonprofit Friends of Toki and closely with the care staff of Miami Seaquarium, has been assessing Toki’s health. The latest report indicates, despite a serious infection last year, that Toki is showing signs of significant improvement and better health.

This dramatic change opens the possibility of her transfer out of the Sequarium and to her home waters in the Pacific Northwest, where her relatives are still living, including her 93-year-old mother.

There are still major impediments to any such a move. It would require permits from the US National Marine Fisheries Service, determining that Toki is well enough to survive the stress of a transfer from Miami to the Pacific Northwest – she’s the second oldest orca in captivity at 57 years. It would also likely require a determination that the facility for Toki would not pose a disease transmission risk to the endangered population of the Southern Resident orca population, now numbering only 73 individuals.

Notwithstanding the permitting situation, funds would be required for locating the site for a sanctuary and building the infrastructure and care team necessary for taking care of Toki.

Several organizations have contributed their funds and expertise to the effort to rehabilitate Toki and plan for a move, including Friends of Toki, a nonprofit founded by philanthropist and environmentalist Pritam Singh, the Whale Sanctuary Project, representatives of Miami-Dade County, and the tribal government of the Lummi Nation. David Phillips, Director of the International Marine Mammal Project, sits on the Board of Directors of the Whale Sanctuary Project, one of the organizations active in helping rescue Tokitae from her current situation and find a safe and healthy place for her to retire.

In 1970, Toki was captured in one of the last drive hunts for live orcas held in the Pacific Northwest. During that era, almost 50 orca young were captured for aquariums around the US. Many died during the captures. All remaining orcas who were captured have died in captivity except for Tokitae, who survived for more than fifty years in a small tank at the Miami Seaquarium. The captures seriously depleted the Southern Resident orca population, which is now further threatened due to the decline of salmon runs and widespread toxins in the marine food chain.

Many have advocated for Tokitae’s return for many years. Perhaps that return will happen, if remaining barriers can be overcome.

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The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) is dedicated to ending the captivity of orcas and other whales and dolphins currently in captivity and ending the captures of cetaceans in the wild for captivity. Based on the latest scientific research in cetacean intelligence and on the atrocious record of facilities failing to keep these animals healthy and alive in captivity, it’s past time to end the shows and retire these exploited marine mammals. Breeding and imports of whales and dolphins for captivity should end in the US, as they have in Canada and many other nations. Captive whales and dolphins would greatly benefit by being transferred from their small, sterile concrete tanks to spacious seaside sanctuaries. You can help end captivity by donating to IMMP today. Thank you for your support!