Tokitae & Kiska

Okay, we're in the homestretch.

I've been going slowly over this prompt because it was the hardest to talk about. Reading about the history of these two orcas was a lot to take in, and they're not the only two who went through these experiences. Trying to summarize it without somehow lessening the importance is also a challenge. I don't want to make this into some kind of depressive spiral, but I also feel its important to share, you know?

So here we go <3

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Kiska

She was captured in 1979 in the North Atlantic Ocean when she was about three years old. She was sold to Marineland in Canada, alongside another killer whale named Keiko who was later sold to an aquarium in Mexico (wild fact: that is the same Keiko who starred in Free Willy)

She was kept for breeding purposes and had five calves in total, all who died too soon. Marineland made a deal with Seaworld, to borrow one of their orca males as a breeding partner for Kiska. But he was too young at the time and so the park owners decided it would be a chance for the two to bond first. Things were taking too long and Seaworld wanted their orca back, and Marineland refused. The issue was taken to court and Sea World won, and their orca was flown back to their park. It would be the last killer whale Kiska would ever see. From 2011 up to her death in 2023 she remained completely isolated in her tank. She was nicknamed the World's Loneliest Orca ;__;

In 2019, the Canadian Parliament passed the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act which made Kiska the last orca in captivity in Canada. Besides banning future attempts of putting ceteceans in captivity, the act also prohibits animals still in captivity to be used for entertainment or breeding purposes.

A man named Phil Demers, whos also called the Walrus Whisperer, brought attention to the conditions Kiska lived in. Videos of her swimming in circles, floating aimlessly, and even bashing her head against the tank walls went viral. Kiska's situation sparked a lot of conversation about the treatment of killer whales in captivity. Orcas are extremely intelligent and emotionally complex animals who live in social groups and this turned a spotlight on the cruelty of the industry and a call to figure out more humane solutions.

Unfortunately help didn't come fast enough for Kiska, and she passed away from a bacterial infection in March 2023. The biggest issue was coming up with ways to provide sanctuaries for whales and dolphins still in captivity. Groups like the Whale Sanctuary Project are working to model a seaside sanctuary in Nova Scotia for orcas and other ceteceans who can't go back into the wild. Sea Life Trust in Iceland has created the first beluga sanctuary with with Whale and Dolphin Conservation, and their first residents arrived back in spring of 2020.

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Tokitae

She had a similar story like Kiska. She was a southern pacific killer whale who was captured in the 70's when she was only three or four, then she was shipped to a seaquarium in Miami. There she was penned with a male orca named Hugo who was caught a couple of years earlier. For a time they were kept separated in fear they wouldn't get along. But Hugo was also a pacific resident and when they were heard calling to each other they were put together.

Over the years she was trained and performed with Hugo. Tokitae's name was changed to Lolita, according to he owners they "didn't want people to know where she came from." She also became pregnant several times but Tokitae never delivered a live calf.

In 1980 Hugo died from a brain aneurysm and despite that, Tokitae was pushed to perform. It was said she would look for Hugo but the owners brushed it off saying she got over the loss. Since then the seaquarium had her paired off with several tank companions including a pilot whale, a risso's dolphin, a short beaked common dolphin and several pacific white sided dolphins.

In 2019 the Luumi Nation called for Tokitae's release. They gave her the name Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut which meant that she is a member of Sk’aliCh’elh, the resident family of orcas who call the Salish Sea home. And two Luumi women invoked the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) which calls for the protection and return of Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony.

The Luumi Nation consider killer whales to be their kin, therefore Tokitae belonged with them and in her natal waters in the Salish Sea. Several members of the Luumi Nation made comparisons of Tokitae's situation to that of native children being stolen and indoctrinated. It was their duty to bring her back.

The Miami Seaquarium came under legal fire in 2021. A 17 page report was released by the USDA about the conditions Tokitake and other cetacean residents were living under. Such as ignoring the vet's advice in letting Toki rest, instead the trainers continued to make her perform high energy behaviors which ended up causing Tokitae to injure her jaw. Both she and the dolphins were fed rotting fish. And Toki developed eye injuries due to the highly chlorinated water in the tank.

In 2022, The Dolphin Company took full ownership of the Miami Seaquarium, and Tokitae was retired and taken off display, mainly to help her recover from the jaw injury she sustained earlier. Then in 2023, the seaquarium partnered with an organization called Friends of Tokitae to return her to the Salish Sea. With the guidance of the Luumi Nation the plan was to build a sea pen which would take 18 to 24 months. Tokitae would be safe, but never be wild again, as the main concern was acclimatizing her and the dangers of exposing any infections or diseases she carried to the already endangered pacific resident orcas.

But like Kiska, Tokitae passed away in her tank in August of 2023 due to old age and other chronic illnesses she had. She spent over fifty years in captivity. Her ashes were given to the Luumi Nation and they were taken to a sacred spot and spread in a traditional water ceremony in September.

It was said the southern resident killer whales came together in a super pod the day Tokitae died.