Lets Kissy Mama

Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut, also known as “Tokitae” or “Lolita”, was a Southern Resident killer whale likely from L-pod. She was born around the mid-1960s. Many suspect her mother is L25 “Ocean Sun”, but there has never been confirmation.

In August 1970, Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut was one of around 80 killer whales rounded up for capture in Penn Cove, Washington. Based on her size, she was between 2-7 years old at the time. In the capture, led by Ted Griffin and Don Golsberry, 5 whales drowned and 7 whales, including Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut, were taken away.

Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut was purchased by a veterinarian at Miami Seaquarium named Jesse White for $20,000. She was transported to Miami Seaquarium in September 1970. White named her “Tokitae”, a Coast Salish word that roughly translates to “nice day” or “pretty colours” in English.

She was originally kept separately from the other orca, a male Southern Resident called Hugo. Hugo had been captured 2 years prior from Vaughn Bay, Washington.

Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut and Hugo would often talk to each other between tanks, Southern Residents have a unique language which includes specific dialects within their pods, meaning that the two of them were able to communicate in ways that they could not with any other population. Miami Seaquarium eventually placed them together in a single 80-by-35 ft tank. The they mated often, but never had any living calves. Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut was given the stage name “Lolita”.

Hugo experienced severe stress due to his situation. In March 1980, he died after ramming his head into the wall of the tank.

Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut was housed with other cetaceans, but remained the only orca at the aquarium for the rest of her life. Despite her isolation, she held on to her home. She was heard multiple times throughout her decades in captivity singing a song that is only heard within L-pod.

In 2015, NOAA removed the exclusion of captive whales from the Endangered Species Act and included Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut in the listing of Southern Residents. NOAA stated there was a “strong case” that she was a Southern Resident after analysing her mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA. However, because she was captured 2 years before the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut was considered “pre-Act”, meaning she did not qualify under it.

The Lummi Nation never stopped fighting for Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut to be brought home. They consider her a relative. In July 2019, two Lummi women, Squil-le-he-le and Tah-mahs, invoked the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in an attempt to bring Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut home. NAGPRA gave them legal grounds to sue Miami Seaquarium if they refused to return Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut to the Salish Sea.

In August 2019, the Lummi gave her the name “Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut”, which roughly translates to “member of Sk’aliCh’elh” in English. Sk’aliCh’elh being a family of orcas in the Salish sea.

Squil-le-he-le visited Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut in Miami and performed healing songs for her. Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut was very receptive to this. Squil-le-he-le was quoted saying “She was singing with me. She was vocalizing with me,” in an interview with The Planet.

In March 2023, the Miami Seaquarium (now owned by The Dolphin Company) partnered with Friends of Toki and began the process of transferring Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut to a sea pen in her home waters.

This decision was controversial given Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut’s age (around her late 50s) and her chronic health conditions. She hadn’t been transported anywhere in over 50 years, causing concern for the stress that transport to Washington could cause her. There were also concerns that she might not be able to survive the re-exposure to the bacteria in the ocean after living in a tank of clorinated water for so long, or that she could possibly expose the wild Southern Residents to the infections she developed in captivity.

Others, especially the Lummi, argued that she deserved to live the remainder of her life in her home waters, which she clearly remembered.

In August 2023, the Miami Seaquarium announced that Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut had passed away. Her cause of death was attributed to multiple chronic health conditions. On the day of her death, over 3000 miles away, members of all 3 Southern Resident pods (J,K, and L) were gathered together in what is known as a “superpod”. Gatherings of multiple Southern Resident pods have become more rare in recent years.

The Lummi were not consulted before the autopsy was performed.

Finally, in September 2023 her ashes were returned home and there were multiple ceremonies laying her to rest.

No Southern Resident had been seen in Penn Cove since the captures in the 1970s, but in November 2024, L-pod returned. Among them was Ocean Sun.

Footage: Kat Martin, ScubaFilmFactory, Miami Herald, KING 5 Seattle, AnaCarlaNJ, H2Omammals, DaddysJournie, KING 5 Seattle

Audio: Susannah Joffe, sacredsea.org

Aerial photos of J-pod socialising 

Photos by SR3/SEA (source)

this picture is so beautiful to me, the colours brothers

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potato chip’s old man groan…

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kissy from mama

california sea lions - newport, oregon