Lolita

## Tokitae

Photo taken on April 7th, 2018 at the Miami Seaquarium by Flickr user "Jennifer Stuber".

## Physical Traits

### Species

Killer Whale

Tokitae (stage name Lolita) was killer whale (*Orcinus orca*) that lived at the Miami Seaquarium. She was captured in Penn Cove, Washington on Augsut 8th, 1970.

Tokitae was a Southern Resident orca who was born in the L pod. Her mother is believed to be L25 Ocean Sun, who is still alive today. On August 8th, 1970, all three Southern Resident pods were herded into Penn Cove, where they were then trapped. Eight young orcas, including Tokitae,were captured. Five whales died in the capture, including four calves and an adult female. They had gotten tangled in the nets meant to keep the orcas in the cove. Their bodies were filled with rocks and sunk to hide the deaths. After capture, She was transferred to a holding facility in Seattle, where she was called Tokitae. Tokitae is a Salish greeting meaning "bright day, pretty colors".

In September of 1970, Tokitae was moved to the Miami Seaquarium after being purchased by them for about $20,000. The park had just finished their new orca tank, 80 by 35 feet, where they housed Tokitae and their other orca, a male named Hugo. Hugo, another Southern Resident, had been captured two years earlier. It was at this point that Lolita was renamed from Tokitae, getting her new name from the titular character in the novel *Lolita.* Tokitae and Hugo performed together for ten years, and mated several times.It's believed that Tokitae has got pregnant for many times but all failed. On March 4th, 1980, Hugo reportedly smashed his head several times into the concrete wall of his tank. He later died of a brain aneurysm. Tokitae had not seen an orca since. Over the years, she had lived with several different species of cetacean, including pilot whales and Risso's dolphins. She lived with Li'i,Loke,Elelo and Catalina before.

Tokitae was not known as an aggressive whale, though she had shown aggression to humans before. Former Miami Seaquarium trainer Manny Valesco recalls both Hugo and Tokitae becoming aggressive towards trainers. Tokitae had also been recording snapping at guests, though no one has ever been injured. Despite this, Tokitae was used in waterwork up until 2010. After the incident in which SeaWorld orca Tilikum killed trainer Dawn Brancheau, the Miami Seaquarium chose to stop waterwork with Tokitae. As of 2015, they are legally not allowed to enter the water with her.

There has been much controversy surrounding Tokitae's living conditions, especially regarding the size of her tank and her lack of orca companions. Many believe that Tokitae should be retired in her home waters, or at least moved to a better facility. In 2003, the controversy surrounding Tokitae was featured in a documentary called *Lolita: Slave to Entertainment.* In 2011, several animal activist groups and individuals filed a lawsuit to get Tokitae included in the Endangered Species Act of the Southern Resident orcas. Though Tokitae was included, it did not impact her captivity at the Miami Seaquarium. The Miami Seaquarium has also faced legal challenges for supposedly violating the Animal Welfare act. The Miami Seaquarium is against retiring Tokitae citing her advanced age and habituation to people.

In 2020, there was a brief social media panic when videos of trainers swimming with the Pacific white-sided dolphins Tokitae shares her home with seemed to show Tokitae's tank without Tokitae in it. There was speculation that she had been moved to another facility, or had possibly died. Trainers at the Miami Seaquarium later clarified that the video simply did not get Tokitae in the shot and that she was fine.

In February 2022, Tokitae had pneumonia. In March 2022, the tank of Tokitae was closed. In October 2022, Tokitae was sick again and was expected to die ,but she then recovered.

In April 2023, the Miami Seaquarium, in part with the Dolphin Company, announced that they entered a binding agreement to return Tokitae to her home waters, working to make it possible within 18 to 24 months.

Saddenly,on August 18,2023,Miami Seaquarium announced on Instagram,Facebook and X that 57-year-old Tokitae died at afternoon of August 18,2023 probably due to renal condition. She was the last Southern Resident orca in captivity.