Beloved orca will return to Seattle after performing for 50 years

The Miami Seaquarium announced Thursday what they described as a historic initiative to return the beloved Orca “Lolita” — known locally as Tokitae — to her “home waters.”

Tokitae was only a few years old when she was captured in the Puget Sound more than 50 years ago. She was shipped to Miami, where she performed until recently.

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Thursday’s announcement involved the new owner of the Seaquarium, the group “Friends of Toki,” and philanthropist Jim Irsay, the current owner of the NFL franchise Indianapolis Colts.

Supporters of the effort to bring Tokitae back said their hope was renewed when the Seaquarium’s new owner, Eduardo Albor of the Dolphin Company, signaled he’d be willing to send her back to the Pacific Northwest.

“100%,” Albor said when asked if he wanted to see her retire in the sea, according to Miami’s WPLG TV. “100% committed.”

Several federal agencies would have to sign off on any plan to relocate Tokitae.

The indigenous-led nonprofit “Sacred Lands Conservancy” drafted a plan to bring the whale back, including where she’d hypothetically live. It has been drawn up and described as a large netted structure in the Salish Sea.

The Lummi Tribe has been active in trying to bring the whale home.

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In an interview on Seattle’s Morning News, a Lummi tribe member and activist, Ellie Kinley, explained the tribe shares stories about the whales, who are considered family.

“They’re our family that lives under the waves,” Kinley said. “It’s our responsibility to always take care of them, and we failed at that.”

The Orca has been a symbol of the West Coast for many thousands of years, according to the Georgia Strait Alliance, as the animal has been a symbol for many local Indigenous peoples for belief systems, art, and storytelling.

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Why so much trouble for one whale? Kinley says people have not cared for the Salish Sea as they should have.

“We believe her mother’s still swimming with their southern residents,” Kinley continued. “Here’s the first step in healing. We’re going to say we are bringing your daughter home, and we are sorry.”

Although it’s unclear how well the whale, who’s lived in captivity for 50 years, would adapt to the wild again, Kinley remains confident.

“I do know that she knows her Southern Resident song, it’s been played for her, and she still recognizes it,” Kinley said.

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