Tokitae, World’s Oldest Orca in Captivity, Dies at Miami Seaquarium
The killer whale was taken from the wild in 1970, and was kept in a tank for over 50 years.
Lolita performing at Miami Seaquarium. Credit: Piotr Domaradzki, Miami, FL, 1998
The world’s oldest orca in captivity has died.
Tokitae the killer whale, also known by her stage name Lolita, was taken from the wild back in 1970 and spent the rest of her life in captivity at Miami Seaquarium.
The Seaquarium took to Facebook to announce that Tokitae had died on Friday afternoon, likely from a renal condition. She was believed to be 57 years old.
Her lifetime in captivity received sustained attention from animal welfare groups who led various decade-long campaigns that called for her freedom and a return to her natural home.
In a bittersweet victory, Tokitae’s freedom was finally secured earlier this year when the aquarium announced that it will begin the process of sending the orca back to her natural habitat within the next two years.
The unprecedented project was spearheaded by Florida-based non-profit organization Friends of Toki, and was supported financially by philanthropist and owner of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts football team, Jim Irsay.
The relocation process was set to fly Lolita to an open sanctuary in the waters between Washington and Canada, where she would have been re-taught how to hunt and fish by trainers and veterinarians. Rescuers were hopeful that Tokitae would eventually be able to be reunited with her mother, called Ocean Sun, who is still swimming free at around 90 years old with other members of her pod.
Lolita’s Tragic Life in Captivity
In 1970, Lolita and her family pod of Southern Resident killer whales, were violently ambushed and separated from their mother in Puget Sound, Washington, during which five died, and seven were captured, and sold to marine parks.
Credit: Orca Network
She then spent over fifty years confined to a shallow, 80-by-35-foot concrete tank, where she was forced to perform, sometimes two to three times a day.
During her time in captivity, she experienced multiple tragedies. In 1980, after ten years of companionship, her orca tank mate Hugo died after repeatedly bashing his head against the seaquarium glass walls. She never again experienced the companionship of another orca. Instead, she was forced to share her tank with dolphins - the pairing was said to be incompatible, with the dolphins repeatedly attacking her, including at least 52 documented attacks in one year alone.
She was finally “retired” from performing by the seaquarium last year, as part of an agreement with federal regulators.
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