||| FROM LOCAL10.COM |||
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Lolita, the ailing orca at the Miami Seaquarium, could be on the move soon, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava exclusively told Local 10 News.
On Monday morning, Sky 10 flew over Lolita’s tank. The 56-year-old killer whale also known as Tokitae or Toki has been here for 52 years in the smallest whale tank in the country as she recovers from a recent serious illness that had her under a 24-hour watch.
“My understanding is she’s stable, and that they’re not concerned for her health at the current time,” Levine Cava said.
The county is waiting for what is believed to be a final United States Department of Agriculture inspection report that will allow the county to transfer the lease and operations of the seaquarium to its new owners, The Dolphin Company based out of Mexico.
“That’s my expectation and my fervent I hope for the protection of the animals and for the world that is watching and concerned,” the mayor said.
Critical will be the findings on Lolita’s pool and stadium, which according to a June USDA report poses a safety hazard to both the animals and the public after the pools and structure were both found in disrepair, work that can’t begin with Lolita and her dolphin tank mates still living there.
“As soon as we get the USDA findings, we are excited to work with the new management team to make sure that she can be safe in her environment and that she can be safely moved,” Levine Cava said.
What’s still unclear is where Lolita will go. There is no other habitat in the Seaquarium where she can live, and The Dolphin Company has never owned an orca before…
To learn about this issue and be guided in taking action, please go to https://sacredsea.org/skalichelhtenaut/ :
“In the Lummi language, the term for killer whales is qwe ‘lhol mechen, meaning “our relations below the waves.”. The Salish Sea Campaign is working to bringing the orca Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut out of the captivity and back home to the Salish Sea. Once called Lolita, then called Tokitae, and now given the Lummi name Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, she was violently taken from L-pod in 1970, and has been held at Miami Seaquarium ever since. In 2017, She still sings the L-pod family song her mother taught her when she was a baby (A recording of her singing this song was made at her Miami Seaquarium tank in the early 1990s. It has been identified by at least two experts as being the L-pod song). Lummi Nation passed a Motion to bring her home; in 2018, Lummi held a press conference in Miami to this effect, and later embarked on a Totem Pole Journey for Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut. In 2019, two individual Lummi women invoked the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and announced their intent to sue Miami Seaquarium if the Seaquarium would not agree to collaboratively work out a plan to safely bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut back home to her family in the Salish Sea. The Earth Law Center is now legal representation for the repatriation effort. The Whale Sanctuary Project is drafting a comprehensive operational plan, grounded in and guided by Lummi ancestral wisdom as well as science, to safely bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut home.”
It is so important that we take strong action right now to support Sacred Sea’s initiative.
The Mayor and the Dept of Ag need to hear from us that another transfer to another business entity, espcially one with no relevant experience is NOT justice for this long-captive orca. Other ways to engage and educate are here: https://sacredsea.org/engage/
Is Lolita the last orca in captivity?
Looks like you’re misspelling your name, Dan. Are you?
I have been following the story of Tokitae for a long time; since I moved here over 25 years ago. She has been held captive for far too long and needs to be returned to her family and her home waters before she dies. It is amazing she is still alive. Please all who can, get her moved here soon.