Lolita/Tokitae Has Died

8/20/2023

We are sorry to share the horrible news that the orca known as Lolita has died.

Lolita, more appropriately known as Tokitae or simply Toki, lived for 53 miserable years in the most vile tank in the United States. Her tiny container was just four times her body length at its widest point. If you can imagine spending 53 years in a single room with no contact with any other human being and nothing to do except walk around and around and around, you can begin to imagine how horrific Toki's existence was.

If you are not familiar with her story, please click here for more information.

She was imprisoned at Miami Seaquarium, which indicated that they intended to send her to sanctuary later this year. And it was the Seaquarium that shared the news of her passing yesterday afternoon, stating that she apparently died of renal failure.

CWI has been advocating against marine mammal captivity since our inception and took a larger role in the fight for Toki's freedom in 2017, when we were a part of the March For Lolita event. During that same period, CWI Executive Director Carrie did a "speak out" at Toki's tank and was thrown out of and banned from the Seaquarium.

Her death has sent shockwaves through the anti-captivity community. Toki's chance at sanctuary was a beacon of light after decades of campaigning by thousands of activists. We are horrified that she has passed without ever again knowing her home waters.

If you are also grieving at this time, we invite you to our Remembering Toki Facebook event page where you are welcome to share your thoughts, feelings, and memories.

CWI will continue advocating for Toki's dolphin companion Li'i and all of the other animals still confined at disgusting Miami Seaquarium.

Presently, we ask that The Dolphin Company, Miami Seaquarium, and Friends of Toki hear this message: In the wake of Lolita/Toki's tragic death, please keep your promise to Li'i, the Pacific White-Sided dolphin, who was her companion for the last 35 years.

While Lolita had not been allowed to see another member of her own species for 43 years, Li'i, Loke, and a myriad of other small dolphins were housed with her.

Li'i and Loke were captured from California waters in 1988. Two weeks ago, Loke was sent from Miami Seaquarium to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Li'i and Loke deserve their chance at retirement in a seaside sanctuary pen. Miami Seaquarium acted too slowly to retire Lolita but her dolphin tankmates deserve that opportunity.

Li'i has sired at least 9 calves in captivity and Loke has given birth to at least 6 calves in captivity. Do not allow these theme parks to keep cashing in on these beautiful animals!

Give them the retirement to a natural seawater pen they so richly deserve. Start a sanctuary and start a precedent for retired dolphins!

Contact the following: - https://miamiseaquarium.com/hours-and-directions/contact-us/ - https://thedolphinco.com/contact-us/ - Polite emails to: info@friendsoftoki.org

Example text: "I urge you to continue with the retirement plan for Pacific White-Sided dolphin, Li'i. He spent the last 35 years held captive at Miami Seaquarium, in the same small tank as Lolita. He has performed for millions of adoring tourists and now deserves a humane retirement, outside the walls of a concrete pool. Loke, another Pacific White-Sided dolphin, sent to Shedd Aquarium recently, also deserves her retirement after decades of service. Loke and Li'i were captured in 1988 from California. In the wake of tragically losing Tokitae, please urgently seek retirement arrangements for Loke and Li'i to a spacious, enriching seaside sanctuary pen in their native waters, where they can swim fast, dive deep, and feel the ocean tides again whilst remaining under human care as long as needed."

Additionally, please be aware of this important information:

While it is perfectly fine to direct anger towards Miami Seaquarium, there are a lot of bad guys in this story--and Palace Entertainment is chief among them.They owned MSQ from 2014 to 2021.

Wometco is the original evil behind bringing orcas to Miami and confining them in the worst tank in the country. They were the ones that brought the tv show Flipper in for filming thus popularizing dolphin interactions (Ric O'Barry can tell you more about that).

Wometco and Palace Entertainment were the ones that ignored all of our pleas for Toki's release.

Miami Seaquarium is currently owned by The Dolphin Company. We don't have an ounce of goodwill towards them either, as they own numerous animal captivity facilities and encourage direct interaction with dolphins. But please remember that they only took over the Seaquarium in 2021, and that--as a condition of their USDA exhibitor's license--they have not been able to put Toki on display or use her likeness for promotion since 2022. They were also the ones who "apparently" were fully cooperating with the joint effort to send her to a seaside sanctuary.

Palace Entertainment is a subsidiary of a company based in Spain and as a whole they operate MANY animal captivity facilities in Europe and the U.S including Living Shores Aquarium in Glen, NH and Sea Life Park in Hawaii. Their headquarters are in Pennsylvania. Don't forget about Palace Entertainment when you are looking for someone to direct your anger at. If you are near either Living Shores or Sea Live Park, please contact us at info@cwint.org if you are willing to protest.

We will share additional information and actions in future posts, and in our monthly newsletter.