Tokitae – also known as Lolita – the second-oldest orca in captivity, has died aged 57 in her tank at the Miami Seaquarium, where she spent 53 years of her life in a pool measuring just 80 x 35 feet (24.5 x 10.7m) in size. Her death comes less than six months after a plan to release her into a coastal sanctuary was announced.
A statement issued by the Miami Seaquarium and the Friends of Toki organisation reported her death was due to a ‘renal condition’. The news follows a health update at the end of July which described Tokitae’s condition as ‘relatively stable’, but added that she was ‘experiencing another bout of abdominal/stomach discomfort.’
‘Over the last two days, Toki started exhibiting signs of discomfort, which her full Miami Seaquarium and Friends of Toki medical team began treating immediately and aggressively,’ said the statement. ‘Despite receiving the best possible medical care, she passed away Friday afternoon from what is believed to be a renal condition.’
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Plans to release Tokitae and two Pacific white-sided dolphins into a sanctuary based in Puget Sound, from where she was originally captured in 1970, were announced in March this year.
The project, estimated to cost in the region of $20 million, was being funded by businessman and philanthropist Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts American Football team.
At the time of her death, Tokitae was undergoing conditioning for her planned return to open water. She had been introduced to artificial kelp to simulate conditions she may experience in the waters of the Salish Sea where she would be released, and was being familiarised with the sling with which she would have been lifted from her tank.
The plan to release her was not without criticism, however, with some saying that half a century spent in captivity, and chronic ill health, meant Tokitae would be unable to survive in the wild. She was suffering from a lesion to one of her lungs which required daily medication and had only recently stopped a course of antibiotics following a ‘near fatal’ bout of pneumonia in 2022.
Opponents of the move drew parallels with Keiko, the orca star of Free Willy, who was freed after a campaign following the movie’s release, but died within two years, having never successfully integrated with wild orca and constantly seeking out human companionship as a result of his conditioning.
Truth4Toki, a group of 35 trainers, veterinarians and caretakers, had raised a petition calling for her to be moved to SeaWorld in Orlando, suggesting the much larger establishment would be able to provide better care and better facilities in which to live out her days.
Tokitae’s tragic history began in 1970, when she was separated from her L-pod group of southern resident orcas in the waters of Penn Cove, Whidbey Island, off the coast of Washington State.
She was part of a group of around 80 orcas that were rounded up in the cove, and one of six calves that were separated from the pod and sold to marine parks. She shared her tank with another orca – Hugo – until his death in 1980, but none of the other calves survived more than a year in captivity.
Washington’s indigenous Lummi people adopted Tokitae as one of their own, naming her Sk’ali’Ch’elh-tenaut, and campaigned for her to be released back into her native waters.
Members of the Lummi Nation travelled to Miami Seaquarium in 2018 and again in 2020 – the 50th anniversary of Tokitae’s capture – to demand her release.
‘Toki was an inspiration to all who had the fortune to hear her story and especially to the Lummi nation that considered her family,’ said a statement from Friends of Toki.
‘Those of us who have had the honour and privilege to spend time with her will forever remember her beautiful spirit.’
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