Tokitae aka Lolita

** Update: yesterday morning at Miami Sea Aquarium, Tokitae passed away in her fishbowl of a home. Right before her release. We will forever miss you and your memory lingers on in you mothers heart and your pod. Rest easy. **

Tokitae's lifeless body

"“They put her on a stretcher and lifted her up in the sunset sky. She was covered with a shroud. You could still see her white and black snout, radiant and beautiful. A flock of Ibis birds flew over her, tears were running down my face. I was holding my breath with her, hoping this was just a bad dream. My heart is broken.. I am sorry Sk’AliCh-elh-tenaut, forgive me, I love you.”"

Lolita aka Tokitae was captured from L-pod in 1970 along with others and is the second oldest orca in captivity and also resides in the smallest pool in the world for her size ratio. She is currently living in Miami Seaquarium and was recently diagnosed with pneumonia. Activists have been advocating for her return into the wild to reunite her with her home pod (L). She is believed to be the daughter of L25 "Ocean Sun" and is also the last living Southern Resident killer whale in captivity. She is 55 years and has outlived 4 of her children. This page is dedicated to her and her ultimate return to the wild before she passes away from a sad and preventable death.

Toki was captured on August 8th, 1970 in the infamous 1970 Penn Cove capture. She was captured along with Clovis, Jumbo, Lil' Nooka, Winston, Ramu IV, and Chappy. All seven orcas were held at the Seattle Aquarium after capture. Dr. Jesse White, a marine mammal veterinarian, went to the

aquarium to pick out a whale for the Miami Seaquarium, a marine mammal park in Miami, Florida. He selected Toki, and named her "Tokitae" after a Coast Salish greeting meaning "bright day, pretty colors". Dr. White is said to have seen something special in the whale. - source

In September of 2021, a damning 17-page report was released by the USDA that revealed the concerning conditions that Tokitae, along with dozens of other animals at the Miami Seaquarium, were living in. In January of 2021, Miami Seaquarium's Training Curator decreased Toki's base from 160 pounds to 130, despite objections from the attending veterinarian. The training curator also decided, again against the attending vet's advice, that Toki should continue to perform high-energy behaviors such as high-jumps and fast swims during shows. Not only were these behaviors over-exerting her and causing her to become winded, but they also caused her to injure herself. During a behavior, likely a fast swim, she hit her lower jaw against her tiny pool and had an injury for at least a month. In late February of 2021, Toki and the rest of the cetaceans at the park were fed foul-smelling and partially decomposing capelin, once again against the advice of the attending veterinarian. The bad fish was fed to the cetaceans for 8 days. Several animals, including Toki, became sick or showed abnormal behavior and blood results. Blood work indicated that Toki had developed inflammation. In April of 2021, Toki developed eye injuries due to an excess level of chlorine in the water. During the inspection in June, the USDA discovered inconsistencies in the levels of free and total chlorine, and that the levels of total chlorine were only tested once a week for almost a year. The USDA also reported that Toki's habitat did not have proper shade, and that guests were sitting their children down and dangling objects such as phones and cameras within reach of Toki. The USDA required the Miami Seaquarium fix many of these issues within a year or less. [8] Following these revelations, the animal rights group PETA demanded that the Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle investigate and charge the Miami Seaquarium with animal cruelty. - source