#Dolphin Company

[orcinus-veterinarius]

hi, i learned about Tokitae/Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut thought my engagement in Indigenous environmental justice projects and subsequently the Lummi's efforts to have her repatriated. i initially felt very strongly about this but since learning more from you about marine mammals in captivity and how awful the whole Keiko situation was, I'm no longer sure. what are feasible options for an orca as old as her assuming the priority is continued good health? is releasing a long-captive wild-caught orca something that necessarily ends badly?

Hello, thank you for asking! I've let this one sit for a while because it's a very sensitive subject. I'm not Indigenous, so obviously I cannot speak for the pain and injustice suffered by the Lummi people. Taking orcas from the Puget Sound was horribly cruel not only to the animals, but also to the people who have cherished them for millennia, and I don't want to diminish that in the slightest. I can only speak on the feasibility of actually returning Tokitae/Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut/"Lolita" (who I'll refer to by her nickname "Toki") to her native waters.

Toki was estimated to be 4 years old when she captured in 1970. While calves only nurse for 1-2 years, she was very likely still socially dependent on her mom (who has never been confirmed to be Ocean Sun as is often claimed) at this time. She was sold to Miami Seaquarium in Septemer of the same year and placed in an undersized tank called the "Whale Bowl." She has not left that same pool in the 52 and a half years that have passed since. Furthermore, her mate, Hugo, died in March 1980, meaning she has not seen or communicated with another orca in 43 years. All of this is to say: she is quite literally the worst possible candidate for transfer to a sea pen.

But that doesn't seem to matter. Today, the Dolphin Company gave in to pressure from animal rights groups and the public and announced that Toki is going to be "released" to a sea pen.

It seems we learned nothing from Keiko's heartbreaking fate. At the very least, it seems that they plan to allow her to live out what little remains of her life in managed care, rather than attempting to completely release her as was done with Keiko.

I do not wish harm on Toki. More than anything, I hope this goes well, for her sake. But I, and every other animal care professional I've talked to, do not beleive it will. Toki is a geriatric animal in delicate health. She has spent half a century with extrememly minimal change in her environment, and she is going to be removed from her habitat in a sling, placed in a very large crate, driven to the airport, and flown clear across the country. Cetaceans are transported between facilities routinely, but they have to be in excellent health and are properly trained and desensitized to the process. Toki has never been transported, not once in her long life. I will be genuinely surprised if the shock of transport doesn't kill her. And if she survives the move, she is going to face a barage of pathogens she hasn't encountered in 50+ years the second she hits the water. While in an immunocompromised state due to her age and stress. Folks expect her ails to be magically cured once she's in her natural environment. Let me tell you that the opposite is true.

And if she dies, it will inevitably be blamed on her "years of captivity." No one will admit that this misguided experiment was the cause of her demise. They'll just say, "at least she died free!" Just like they say about Keiko.

And that doesn't even touch on how they plan to fund her ongoing care. Keiko was a beloved movie star, and the donations dried up shortly after he arrived in his sea pen. The general public just doesn't understand how nigh-impossible it is to "free" an animal that has spent decades upon decades in human care.

I'm terrified for Toki, and I'm terrified of the precedent this will set for other animals. I can only hope that AZA facilities with cetaceans buckle down to protect their animals from activists.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Lolita, the orca that was a star attraction in captivity at the Seaquarium, died Friday as plans to move her out of the Miami theme park were beginning to take shape.

She was believed to be 57 at the time of her death.

Now known as Toki, a name adopted by advocates urging her freedom, the killer whale had suffered health problems in her Seaquarium tank last fall before seeming to recover, according to recent interviews with her training staff.

In a social media post, the Seaquarium said Lolita developed a renal condition in recent days.

“Toki was an inspiration to all who had the fortune to hear her story, and especially to the Lummi nation that considered her family,” the statement said, referring to indigenous people in her natural waters off Washington state, where she was captured at age four.

A non-profit backed by Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, had been partnering with the Seaquarium to move Lolita to a sea pen off Washington state and was training her for the eventual move.

The non-profit, Friends of Toki, released the same statement as the Seaquarium, with some details about her failing health:

“Over the last two days, Toki started exhibiting serious signs of discomfort, which her full Miami Seaquarium and Friends of Toki medical team began treating immediately and aggressively.

Despite receiving the best possible medical care, she passed away Friday afternoon from what is believed to be a renal condition.”

Toki was a shortened version of Tokitae, the name given the orca by indigenous people in Washington state, who have for years advocated to return the mammal to her native waters.

Friends of Toki was in talks with tribes in Washington to assist with the plan to transfer Lolita to the pen, where she would continue being fed and given medical care but with far more room to swim amid natural waters with sea life traveling in and out of the netting.

Some of her handlers in Miami planned to move to Washington to remain working with Lolita after the relocation in an ongoing care operation funded by Friends of Toki, Charles Vinick, the group’s director, said in a recent interview.

“All who want to, we’d want to move with her,” he said. “They’re the people she trusts.”

Friends of Toki had paid to upgrade the chilling equipment in Lolita’s Seaquarium tank.

They hired a trainer, veterinarian and others to help supervise her care and training.

That included introducing the car-sized sling that was planned to hoist her out of the tank and onto a transport truck for a cross-country flight to Washington for a new life in a sea pen.

‘Heartbroken’

“I am heartbroken that Toki has left us,” Irsay said in a statement. “I was honored to be part of the team working to return her to her indigenous home, and I take solace in knowing we significantly improved her living conditions this past year.”

The relocation plan was mostly aspirational, since the Irsay group hadn’t secured the federal permits or water rights needed to create a sea pen for the 7,000-pound mammal.

But it was the most definitive effort yet to move Lolita from a tank that had been flagged by federal animal inspectors and local authorities as needing a major overhaul to continue housing Lolita.

While the Seaquarium continues holding dolphin performances, the Lolita shows ended in 2021 as the condition of the tank drew scrutiny from the United States Department of Agriculture and Miami-Dade’s Unsafe Structures Division.

When the Dolphin Company purchased the Seaquarium operations in 2022, including the site lease for the county-owned waterfront that houses the park, it announced Lolita would never return to public performing.

Animal-rights activists condemned the Seaquarium over the years for confining the orca in a tank small enough that it took just seconds to swim from end to end.

“Kind people begged the Miami Seaquarium to end Lolita’s hellish life in a concrete cell and release her to a seaside sanctuary, where she could dive deep, feel the ocean’s currents, and even be reunited with the orca believed to be her mother,” PETA, an anti-captivity group, said in a statement.

“But plans to move her to a seaside sanctuary came too late.”

The relocation plan had critics, too. Some former trainers of Lolita formed Truth4Toki and urged the Seaquarium to either keep the orca in place or move her to a more modernized tank at Sea World in Orlando.

After past battles with illness, the group said Lolita “is not a candidate for release.”

Tom Reidarson, a former SeaWorld veterinarian hired by Friends of Toki to work with her in Miami, said in a recent interview that he was concerned Lolita would die last fall after a serious bout with pneumonia.

“It became pretty dire,” he told the Miami Herald on July 8.

Though she remained on antibiotics, Reidarson said the orca’s lung problems appeared to have resolved well.

“She’s actually really healthy right now,” he said.

In its statement, the Seaquarium described liver issues with Lolita, who was believed to be four when captured in Puget Sound and roughly 57 in 2023.

“Over the last two days, Toki started exhibiting serious signs of discomfort,” the Seaquarium said on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.

“Despite receiving the best possible medical care, she passed away Friday afternoon from what’s believed to be a renal condition.”

Miami-Dade’s mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, advocated for moving Lolita as part of the county’s talks with the Dolphin Company taking over the lease.

The company signed an agreement to move the orca once there was a safe and healthy option for her to leave the Seaquarium.

“Our collective wish was to see Toki in her native waters and we are heartbroken to learn of this sudden loss,” Levine Cava said in a statement.

“Alongside the many Miamians who grew up visiting her, the generations of activists around the world that were inspired by her story, and the caretakers who remained dedicated to her health until the very end — today we say our final goodbye to our beloved Toki.”

This story was originally published on August 18, 2023.

🖤🤍🖤

[ltwilliammowett]

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Some lucky charms for the Götheborg, by Virginia Jay

[sleepyminty]

So i was thinking and feel free to correct me if im wrong but kept asking my self why dream devouring siltcurrent drop the endorphin kit as an ego gift

And the i realized endorphin sound kinda similar to dolphin. Meaning this mother fucker isnt a whale

ITS A FUCKING DOLPHIN-

[stone-cold-groove]

Tonight on NBC! Flipper - 1964.

[connergoessupersonic]

The Pokémon Company just made their own rendition of the dolphin meme

[windor-truffle]

[behind the scenes of writing Two Hearts Could Be One]:

ok if Asbel ends up being the one who kills Cedric that's important I think that'd weigh on his conscience so I should try to have at least one scene acknowledging that maybe let him talk with Richard abt it but hmm I didn't leave much room in the plot here for extra stuff maybe they can discuss it while helping Richard get ready for the coronation oh that's right Richard's injured he probably needs help getting dressed for it and I can draw parallels between the wound Richard has now and the one Asbel got at Wallbridge and wait am I seriously planning a scene where Asbel sensually undresses Richard while talking about the man he killed on his behalf jesus christ you two stop turning this into a romance 😩

[iczer-ryuga2]

Time for some Liveman art up in here. Megumi, you're up next!

[minisinmedia]

Suzanne Somers as Chrissy Snow wearing light green dolphin short shorts on Three's Company

[deelaundry]

This GIF was first in the GIF directory on Teams at my work. Just... did not expect that at a major employer.

[altoskh]

anyone else love to just download and install programs

[soft-serve-soymilk]

I like installing things as a treat for myself every year :>

[skygurutraveltourism]

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[suetravelblog]

Exploring Kuching Malaysia

Darul Hana Bridge and Sarawak Parliament Building Kuching is one of the most exotic and beautiful places I’ve visited in my travels. The tropical weather requires considerable adjustment for those unaccustomed to heat and humidity, and a daily swim in the lap pool helps! Kuching Apt Lap Pool Daytrips I’ve been exploring the surrounding areas but have had difficulty booking daytrips. There aren’t…

[raeathnos]

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[stone-cold-groove]

Tonight on NBC! Flipper - 1964.