Lolita/Tokitae/Sk'aliCh’ehl-tenaut

As we approach the end of Orca Action Month and our Lasting Legacies series, we honor and celebrate a living legend, Lolita/Tokitae/Sk'aliCh’ehl-tenaut.

Toki, as she is often affectionately called, was taken from her family during the horrific Penn Cove orca capture of 1970 that took the lives of at least 5 Southern Resident orcas and the freedom of 7 more. For 53 years, Toki has lived at the Miami Seaquarium, performing daily in the oldest, smallest orca tank in the United States. She is the sole survivor of the Southern Resident orcas who were captured in the 1960s and 1970s. She has been without another orca companion since her tank-mate Hugo died in 1980. And somehow through it all she has remained gentle, courageous and resilient.

Check out the story below to read a narration about Lolita/Tokitae/Sk'aliCh’ehl-tenaut, written by Orca Network’s Education and Advocacy Coordinator, Cindy Hansen.

Collage of Tokitae. Photos: Wallie Funk, Jill Hein, Jo Phillips.

Lolita/Tokitae/Sk'aliCh’ehl-tenaut

As we approach the end of Orca Action Month and our Lasting Legacies series, we honor and celebrate a living legend, Lolita/Tokitae/Sk'ali’Chehl-tenaut.

Toki, as she is often affectionately called, was taken from her family during the horrific Penn Cove orca capture of 1970 that took the lives of at least 5 Southern Resident orcas and the freedom of 7 more. For 53 years, Toki has lived at the Miami Seaquarium, performing daily in the oldest, smallest orca tank in the United States. She is the sole survivor of the Southern Resident orcas who were captured in the 1960s and 1970s. She has been without another orca companion since her tank-mate Hugo died in 1980. And somehow through it all she has remained gentle, courageous and resilient.

Tokitae’s retirement was first proposed in 1995 by whale biologist Ken Balcomb. For decades activists, non-profit organizations, and the Lummi Nation have fought to bring Toki home to the Salish Sea, never giving up on her despite the Seaquarium’s unwillingness to release their star attraction. But in 2022 the Miami Seaquarium was purchased by The Dolphin Company, and things began to change. On March 30th, 2023, an historic announcement was made. An agreement had been reached between the Seaquarium’s owner Eduardo Albor, the non-profit Friends of Toki, and financial backer Jim Irsay, with a shared commitment to retire Tokitae to a seapen back in her home waters. The next steps involve securing the proper federal permits and constructing a seapen, a process that could take up to a few years but one we hope will happen much more quickly. Meanwhile Toki waits at the Miami Seaquarium, no longer on public display, while a team of trainers and veterinarians monitor her health and enrichment and prepare for the day when she is finally able to come home.

Over the years, Tokitae’s story has touched people of all ages from around the world. She has been the subject of books, documentary films, poetry, blog posts, music and art, including the beautiful graphics we have used throughout Orca Month this year. Follow the links below for a few examples of her extraordinary Lasting Legacy:

Toki’s return home is not scary — Orca Network

Bring Lolita Home Artists for Orcas - YouTube

Derik Nelson & Family - "Lolita" (original song) - YouTube

Better Days (Bring Tokitae Home) - YouTube

Perchance to Dream - Animated Short - YouTube

Photo Credits:

First photo: Collage of Tokitae. Photos: Wallie Funk, Jill Hein, Jo Phillips.

Second photo: Drawing by Monika Wieland Shields.

Third photo: Tokitae looking at her family in Miami Seaquarium. Photo: Susan Berta.

Fourth photo: Tokitae graphic by Sara Hysong-Shimazu.

Fifth: Tokitae with calf graphic by Sara Hysong-Shimazu.

Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales

The creation of a Recovery Plan is an important and required step following a species’ listing under the Endangered Species Act. The plan is generally created with input from federal, state, local, nongovernmental and tribal sources. It serves as a roadmap for recovery and outlines the actions necessary to restore the wild populations and the habitat that supports them, with the ultimate goal of recovering the species to the point they can be removed from the endangered species list.

The Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales, completed in 2008, identifies the knowns and unknowns about the Southern Residents, including listing the main threats as prey availability, contaminants, vessel effects, oil spills, and small population size.

Check out the story below to read a blog post on the Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales.

Video: J Pod, San Juan Island ©Cindy Hansen.

Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales

The creation of a Recovery Plan is an important and required step following a species’ listing under the Endangered Species Act. The plan is generally created with input from federal, state, local, nongovernmental and tribal sources. It serves as a roadmap for recovery and outlines the actions necessary to restore the wild populations and the habitat that supports them, with the ultimate goal of recovering the species to the point they can be removed from the endangered species list. As part of tracking their progress, NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency that oversees the management and recovery of the Southern Residents, reviews their ESA listing and progress on the Recovery Plan at least every five years. This review can determine whether recovery is on track, identifies accomplishments and challenges, and makes a recommendation on a status change (or not) under the ESA.

The Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales, completed in 2008, identifies the knowns and unknowns about the Southern Residents, including listing the main threats as prey availability, contaminants, vessel effects, oil spills, and small population size. The plan identifies a range of actions to address these threats and lists a recovery goal of 2.3 percent growth per year for 28 years. This number is based on a positive average growth rate through two generations. Unfortunately, we are far from achieving this goal, and while there have been hopeful periods of many new calves, overall the population has continued to decline since being listed in 2005, with only 73 individuals remaining. While the Endangered Species Act is an incredible piece of legislation that is responsible for saving many species from extinction - including some that share the orcas’ ocean home - it is clear that for the Southern Residents, a Recovery Plan alone is not enough to reach the ultimate goal of removal from the Endangered Species List. To be successful, the plan needs sufficient funding for implementation, a strong body of scientific data to inform the best path forward, political support and willingness to make the changes identified in the plan, and partnerships between governmental, tribal, and nongovernmental entities, as well as the public sector. We can all do our part by reaching out to NOAA and our elected officials at every level, urging them to dedicate the resources and have the will necessary to fully implement the recovery plan and lead to recovery of the Southern Resident orcas.

Follow this link to read the Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/15975

Photo: Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales ©National Marine Fisheries Service.

L25 Ocean Sun

Today we highlight a living legend, L25 Ocean Sun. She is currently the oldest orca in the Southern Resident population, estimated at 95 years old. Along with Tokitae/Lolita, who is still being held at the Miami Seaquarium, Ocean Sun is the only Southern Resident alive today who experienced the capture era. Imagine the horrors she witnessed as she watched dozens of orcas taken away from her community. It is possible that L25 lost immediate family members during the capture era – Tokitae is potentially a close relative but we won’t know for sure until DNA testing is done. Ocean Sun had one presumed daughter L23 who died in 1982, and her presumed grandchildren also died in the 1980s. But she now seems to enjoy playing a grandmother and caretaker role to other whales in her pod.

Read a story below about Ocean Sun babysitting young L pod members, written by naturalist and boat captain, Sara Hysong-Shimazu.

L25 "Ocean Sun" closely flanked on either side by L113 "Cousteau" and L119 "Joy" ©Sara Hysong-Shimazu.

L25 Ocean Sun

It was a foggy day out in the Strait of Juan de Fuca years ago when L119 was just about a year old and L113 was just a few years older. The group of whales known as the L12s, which is actually several different matrilines that closely associate, were foraging and socializing together. The whales were spread out in singles or in small groups and in the distance we caught sight of three fins, surfacing together.

As we drew closer we could see it was L25 "Ocean Sun" closely flanked on either side by L113 "Cousteau" and L119 "Joy". She seemed to be on babysitting duty. The younger whales were feeling a bit rambunctious, rolling around together and with their guardian as the three milled in the area, not really going anywhere that particular morning. I always find it intensely fascinating and lovely to watch some of the older whales closely associate with the youngest members of the pod. It reminds me of our own family gatherings. But eventually, just like us, we're tired of babysitting.

Ocean Sun gave a couple percussive slaps of her flukes and within a few minutes the group was joined by L77 "Matia", Joy's mother, who seemed to take charge of the young ones while Ocean Sun headed off into the fog. We later found her swimming with L41 "Mega" off a couple of miles from the rest of the family. Perhaps she was getting a bit of a break after a morning with the kids.