More Freedom on the Horizon for the Orca Lolita (Tokitae)

Freedom for the Orca Lolita (Tokitae)

I saw the image above of three members of the Lummi Tribe at Seaquarium Miami singing to and praying for the orca Lolita (Tokitae) and it made me cry! (Image shared by permission).

I heard her story in 1995 and it changed my life forever!

Not long after, I quit my job as an engineer and manager in the pharmaceutical industry and moved to the San Juan Islands to be near her family and co-found a non-profit to try to get her home.

We flew to Miami to meet the orca Lolita, and what an extraordinary meeting it was. The deep energetic connection I felt with her is deeper than any human connection I’d ever experienced. It was as if she was the long lost sister I never knew I had. I took that image while we were there.

We received a special invitation to attend a Lolita Symposium created by the Governor of Washington to strategize with other non-profits, national environmental groups, and others to form a plan to bring her home.

Eventually, my non-profit co-founder and I parted ways and the organization was disbanded. But I never forgot the orca Lolita and wanting to help her get home.

I wrote an article about Lolita and her family that was picked up by newspapers and magazines across the globe.

Over the years, I’ve reached out to her through the ethers to reconnect, send her love and blessings, wish her well.

Many other organizations have come and gone over the years trying to get her returned to her native waters.

Owners Refuse to Return Her to Washington

For decades the owners would not budge on the matter … even though a large number of people and organizations have appealed on her behalf.

Both the governor of Washington State and mayor of Miami have been supporters of her return. Many famous musicians and celebrities like Harrison Ford and Elton John lent their names to a “Free Lolita” campaign. The Orca Network organization on Facebook has over 200 thousand members. And there are many other group whose aim is to help get this beautiful whale back to her family.

Regardless of the support she received, the Seaquarium owners always replied with “she’s not for sale.”

It seemed all hope was lost … for a very long time.

Big Changes for the Orca Lolita

But then lots of things began to change:

The Southern Resident Whales (of which she is a member) were put on the endangered species list.
The film Blackfish raised massive awareness about the barbaric and inhumane concept of cetaceans in captivity.
The Lummi tribe (the original people of the Northwest) took up a “sacred obligation” to free her.
New owners took over Miami Seaquarium.
COVID shut down theme parks (and profit).
Officials declared she must be retired because of declining health and poor tank conditions.
And then Indianapolis Colts owner, Jim Irsay, got involved.
On March 30th, 2023 – Miami Seaquarium announced that it had entered into a contract with the nonprofit group Friends of Lolita to transport Lolita the orca to an ocean sanctuary (where she will be cared for).

I’ve said for a long time that, “Until we free cetacea (dolphins / whales), we will never be truly free ourselves.”

Sadly, after I wrote this article, as plans were being made to release Lolita to a sea pen in the Northwest, she died.

Bestselling author Debbie Takara Shelor signature

P.S. If you love dolphins and whales, join my Wild Dolphins Lovers group on Facebook. We do NOT glamorous, romanticize, or condone captivity in that group.

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