‘Free Willy’ whale had a tragic ending in real life. Don’t let that happen to Lolita | Opinion

At a press conference on Thursday, the mayor of Miami, the owners of Miami Seaquarium, Friends of Lolita and Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, promised to set Lolita the killer whale free to her home in Puget Sound.

Lolita, or Tokitae (Toki), has lived at the Miami Seaquarium for more than 50 years. Over the decades, many have talked about improving Toki’s conditions, but nothing has happened, and the press conference laid out no executable plan of action.

Current efforts to free Lolita are spearheaded by philanthropists, billionaires, indigenous representatives and scientists who study wild marine mammals. None of them are Lolita’s actual caretakers.

I am a lawyer and former killer-whale trainer at Orlando’s SeaWorld. I am a part of a group called Truth for Toki, composed of 25 marine mammal experts with 350 years of experience among us. We are Toki’s current and former trainers, veterinarians and caretakers. If you genuinely care about Toki, listen to us.

We know that Toki is sensitive to the subtlest of changes, and a move is likely to cause tremendous stress. Toki is 58 years old, not in optimal health and not an ideal candidate for transport.

The push to free Lolita is not unique. The 1993 movie “Free Willy” romanticized the idea of freeing a captive whale and inspired a movement to free its real-life star, Keiko. Activists want to see another real-life release: Toki reuniting with her family in Puget Sound. But this dream is based on the illusion that Keiko’s release had a happy ending.

Keiko was young and healthy prior to his move. It took two years of rehabilitation at the Oregon Coast Aquarium before he was moved to a sea pen and later released. But Keiko never integrated with wild killer whales and repeatedly sought out the humans and died soon after his release.

We have learned from the failures of Keiko’s release, and we don’t want Lolita to end up the same way. In spite of her sub-optimal situation, Toki has survived because her trainers and caretakers provided a consistent environment for her to thrive.

We know there was trauma when Toki was captured and taken from her family. Regardless of its squalor. Miami Seaquarium is Toki’s home, and ripping her away from the only place she knows will only contribute to more suffering. We accept that the public may not agree with captivity, but we can all agree we want what’s best for Toki. So we need to be involved.

If Toki cannot stay at the Seaquarium, we propose that she be relocated to SeaWorld Orlando, the closest facility capable of housing her for the remainder of her life. This is the most feasible option. SeaWorld Orlando’s five killer whales could continue to perform in shows — they would only lose access to one pool. Toki could live in Shamu Stadium’s G pool, which would more than triple the size of her current pool and create an immediate positive change in her quality of life.

We have a profound sense of duty because we had the privilege of working with Toki and will never stop advocating for her welfare. We have given up our lives to work with this animal, and our advocacy doesn’t end when some billionaire believes there are angels and “whale whisperers” bathing Lolita along her journey to freedom.

“Free Willy” once had a different ending: The whale ends up at SeaWorld. The directors rejected the ending because it wasn’t powerful enough for a movie. But this is real life. Let’s get Toki to SeaWorld, where they actually know how to take care of her.

Let’s make it a real happy ending for Toki. She deserves that.

Valerie Greene, an attorney, is a former killer-whale trainer who worked at SeaWorld.