Three members of Congress called on federal agencies Thursday to relocate captive orca Tokitae, also known as Lolita or Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut, because of the dangers posed by the Atlantic hurricane season.
The endangered southern resident orca has lived in the Miami Seaquarium since she was taken from Puget Sound in the 1970s. A movement led by Coast Salish people has grown over the years to return her to the Northwest.
On Thursday, in a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., joined two other lawmakers in asking that federal officials "explore all available options, in both the short-term and long-term, to ensure Tokitae's safety."
That might include moving her, at least temporarily, to "a more suitable location" until plans to bring her to a permanent location are solidified.
By the mid-1970s, some 270 orcas were estimated to have been captured in the Salish Sea. At least 12 of those orcas died during capture, and more than 50 were kept for captive display.
All are dead but Tokitae. She has lived in a small tank at the seaquarium for more than five decades since she was taken from her family in Whidbey Island's Penn Cove. She's believed to be around 57 years old. Ocean Sun, or L25, is believed to be Tokitae's mother. She is still alive.
In March, the Miami Seaquarium, which was recently purchased by the Dolphin Co., entered an agreement with Friends of Toki, a Florida nonprofit organization, to return Tokitae to an ocean sanctuary in the Pacific Northwest. That's largely thanks to a "generous contribution" from Jim Irsay, owner of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts.
The company then said it's working toward relocating the orca in the next two years.
For years, owners of the Seaquarium wouldn't budge on her release, but Eduardo Albor, CEO of The Dolphin Co., said in December he supported bringing her home.
A report filed by a federal veterinary medical officer in 2021 detailed multiple violations of animal care standards. Tokitae was given meager rations, fed rotten fish and forced to do high-energy jumps and tricks despite a jaw injury from fast swims, the report stated.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which monitors private aquariums, granted the former owner of the Miami Seaquarium a renewed exhibitor's license under the condition it no longer displays Tokitae. Since then, veterinarians have been treating Tokitae's chronic illness, and staff have added water-filtration and water-chilling systems to her tank.
Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, Tokitae was left in her tank, the letter states.
According to reporting by The Palm Beach Post, Tokitae's caretakers had evacuated the park in advance of the storm, and "returned to find Lolita's tank full of debris."
"While she endured then, she may not be so lucky next time," DelBene, and Reps. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., and Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., wrote.
