Rep. DelBene calls for ‘immediate action’ to bring orca Tokitae back to Salish Sea from Miami

Washington Rep. Suzan DelBene is calling for “immediate action” to bring the orca Tokitae back to the Puget Sound from the Miami Seaquarium before the start of hurricane season in the southeast.

Known as Lolita by the Seaquarium, the orca was captured from the L-pod in the Puget Sound in 1970. It was announced in March that she would be released back into her home waters. The timeline has remained unclear, though, with DelBene citing health concerns linked to the fact that Tokitae currently lives in “the smallest orca enclosure in the world.”

“Through a June 2021 AWA inspection report, we learned that Tokitae was fed rotten fish, had her diet drastically cut, and was made to perform behaviors that resulted in injury,” DelBene said in a letter addressed to NOAA and U.S. Department of Agriculture leaders. “... we also know that the Whale Stadium is in very poor condition, having been the subject of a 2021 repair or demolish order from the Miami-Dade Unsafe Structures Board.”

“With the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season (June through November) now underway, we are gravely concerned that Tokitae’s tank will not withstand another storm like Miami experienced in 2017,” the letter continues.

The process of moving an 8,000-pound orca across the country is also a complicated one, particularly since reintroducing captive whales into the wild has proven to be difficult. The plan right now is to eventually release Tokitae into a netted sanctuary space spanning the size of roughly two football fields.