Lolita, a southern resident orca also known as Tokitae, will be returned to her home waters in Puget Sound after more than 50 years in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium. WTVJ Steve Litz reports.
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#nbcnews #orca #pugetsound
Not sure if they can adjust in nature after 50 yrs later…Seaworld must stop stupid water circus. Thats animal abuse
I’m overjoyed!! She’s finally going to be out of that hellhole!
All captivity’s should be shut down period
White folks are one with slavery!It kills their spirit to set the whale FREE! They will come up with a billion and one reason to enslave! It’s in the blood! Remember they made money off the whale for decades!To add insult to injury!We treated the whale good! REALLY!
South Park anyone?
Orcas die in wild in age 30 to 50 years old. It is inhumane to return non wild Orca at this age to wild.+
Nice that she can go to a sanctuary! I never knew those exist for whales!!!!
Yay!! Bless the man for footing out her bill!!
So Keiko (free willy) story and what went wrong there didn’t teach this industry anything. Great another animal set to die in 2 years 😐😑
She’ll never be accepted back into killer whale society.
50 years of Jail time. Wow. What did that whale do? 🐋
It will die out there !
Animals wouldn’t be held captive if humans didn’t pay to see them. It’s all for money. SHAME on those humans who continue to $upport this cruel business.
Welcome home, girl. We missed you. Just saw your cousins cruising in the bay yesterday. I hope you’ll get to meet them some day soon.
Going to sea world and seeing how those whales were in those tanks had me so sad! I hope Lolita can adapt to being in the sea ❤
It’s sad she’s been in that tank for 50 yrs. I am nervous for her though cause she’s been hand fed for 50 years. Hopefully they been prepping her for her release by putting live fish in her tank to see if she eats. I just saw on the news where they are taking her that her mom is still there swimming and she’s 90 years old.! What a reunion it will be from not seeing her mom in 50 years ! I’m so glad no one can capture or breed these beautiful creatures in this country anymore. GO SEE YOUR MOM LOLITA…..SWIM AND ENJOY YOUR FREEDOM !!!!!
Toki will be in a seapen in the ocean in a netted area 250 feet. Her own trainers are coming along, they will have a medical bay and after acclimation they will try to get her instints to wake up and catch her own food.
Wonderful!! Their conscious is finally caught up with them, guess they don’t want to go to the grave with that on their mind!
Wow some day I hope we can find billionaires that care as much about people
imagine getting out of prison after 50 years and being expected to be well out in the ocean
50 years in captivity. And no apologies from humans. Disgusting.
i always wanted to smack an orca…they look so plump and buoyant. like smacking a giant water balloon thats about to burst. i can already imagine the sound it would make
No one had the right to take her from the wild to begin with. They made enough money off her misery. Humans are disgusting.
Anyone else going to listen to Michael Jackson when they release her?
Such an amazing creature should have never been captured!!!! Human beings can be so cruel 50 years is a long time leave them be stop taking them away from where they belong just for your own amusement and money! Even the freedom of animals and sea life matters! Let them be
🌊 The new protected whale sanctuary in the Pacific sounds nice! After 50 years in captivity, do not release Lolita into the wild, alone. These are social animals and she would need her own pod to survive. Keiko’s release was kind of a failure.
Luckily her family pod still exists, and still resides in that region. She might even get a reunion of sorts.
@Lost Wanderer : Same thing with Keiko. Didn’t work out too well. It takes more than blood to make a family, forming bonds and acceptance. She’d still be a stranger, new comer, low ranking member to them.
@Pohana Hawaii That’s not how orca social structure works. Her age, relation to the matriarch, ability to make similar vocalizations, and history with the pod are more determinants. So, she has a good shot at atleast dying happy.
@Lost Wanderer : Look up Keiko.
Too bad they can’t just let her go here and she can swim there
That thing will be belly up after a week in the wild.
GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN LOLITA !!! <3
Oba❤🎉🎉🎉
Yay, Lolita!!
So cute lolita 😍😍😍
GOOOOOOOD. LET THEM FREE.
Lolita seems that she was well care taken, her dorsal fin is straight unlike other orcas in captivity who have their dorsal fins down, it is an stress signal, but Lolita seem to be the opposite case.
The dorsal fin collapse happens mostly with the males. Probably because they’re much bigger than the females
I don’t know…this kind of feels like it’s gonna be a Keiko situation all over again. Has she learned to avoid humans or will she still seek them out? Can she hunt on her own enough to stay healthy? And most importantly, does she know the language of the local orcas so she can bond with them? Because if not, we’re basically just abandoning her to die in the wild. It wouldn’t be freedom, it’d be a death sentence.
elsa the lion was set free after being years in captivity and did fine there are other dolphins to like that but she will stay in a seapen if nothing goes right lolita was older then keiko at capture and her pod is known her mom is still alive to
She will be in a 250 feet seapen. Her own famiy L pod, from the SRKW are in the area. Her mother Ocean sun, matriarch of that pod, is now 98 years old. Yes she speaks the language of her own family.
If rehabilitation doesn’t work out she’ll stay in the seapen, in the ocean, in the currents, being cared for.
No death sentence.
Yes of course she’ll die one day. We all die.
She’s going to die
If it wasn’t for Sea World and these performance orcas….NO ONE would even care or know about Orcas.
These animal lovers need to show some gratitude
Now they die?
That tank… yikes. Tokitae deserves to be closer to her natural habitat, where her relatives and ancestors have been for thousands of years. Many have been planning for this day for years, so I’m sure they’re working out all the details to give Tokitae the best chance at an enriching life. It’s not risk-free, but I’m on Team Sanctuary for Tokitae 🖤
Never should have been imprisoned in the first place.
Give her a beautiful place where she is free thank you to the Colts owne
Will she be able to survive??
Let her go…..
No animL should be on captive its like this. Shame on humans lack of humanity and care for everything created by God.
As long she “retires” yo a very safe place I am truly grateful for her care.
50 million dollars bill later she is not profitable anymore nice job
But but Orcas are not Whales, they are a species of Dolphin.
How is that you people in all of your intelligence dont know this.
Literally free Willy
56×7=392years old
5 15 achrs
I hope things turn out all right. What comes to mind is that scene from Shawshank Redemption where Brooks didnt fit in the outside world because he spent his whole life in prison and had become institutionalized.
Jim looks drunk. I hope he isn’t bulls*itting all of us. Tokitae needs to get out of that tank; it’s fkn horrific. And no matter what happens, the actions of her captors are today and will always be unforgivable.
Finally 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Why do these people think that they have the right to keep one of God’s Creations 🤔 as a pet .they are the most Wicked people on earth 🌎.
Sentenced her to death. Great. She doesn’t even do well when they are late feeding her… She gets so stressed so easily. This is an awful idea.
elsa the lion was set free after being years in captivity and did fine there are other dolphins to like that but she will stay in a seapen if nothing goes right
@anastasia winters Look at what happened to Keiko…
Memories of Keiko from my childhood… and Free Willy
Aren’t you CRAZY? After 50 years in captivity, do you think she can survive in the wild? You just dumped her because she was too old for the show. What nasty people you are!
This sign of animal advocates are taking over
Free all the animals from farm,too.
Using animals like this must stop. So sad looking at the tank she was in for 50 yrs and the tricks she had to complete daily in order to eat/survive in that tank.
THESE AMUSEMENT PARK SHOULD BE OUTLAWED!!!!
STOP supporting Seaworld !!!!!! 😡😡😡
this is not seaworld its Miami Seaquarium
so now she’s sick and doesn’t make profit for the humans anymore she gets dumbed 🫠 🤮
Why do they look sick when they are talking about her?
All I see is white people tryna convince me it’s all good. Red flag much?
It will be rejected and will die sad and alone just like keiko. Just tell white people to leave nature alone and stop abducting animals for white peoples pleasure and profits.
As a colts fan, this makes me happy to see
Freedom or discard? How will she adapt after 50 years? that doesn’t look cool, good luck Lolita. 😢
She will be in a 250 feet seapen with her own staff looking after her. Her own family L pod, from the SRKW are in the area. Her mother Ocean sun, matriarch of that pod, is now 98 years old. Yes she speaks the language of her own family.
If rehabilitation doesn’t work out she’ll stay in the seapen, in the ocean, in the currents, being cared for.
Finally!!! Best news in the world. Now after this…… Sea world please empty your tanks!!!
Leave those animals in their habitat
Human are pure evil captured her keep
Her and others in captivity
I wish those did that to her be in a cage let see how u will fell
I. D. I. O. T S
Come on home Lolita, the PNW is waiting for you! <3
They probably think she is old, there is no way they do it because they love her.
So because she’s old, they’re gonna spend tens of millions on her?! 🤣
I saw Kiska in person and it was the most depressing thing I had ever seen. I will never go back to Marineland.
good good man!! ❤❤❤❤🎉😅free her
Free her
Hopefully this crime will not be repeated.
Now the animal shall die alone?
Americans are weird
Plan on releasing her is on the 20th anniversary of free Willy
Terrorist
If you support sea world, you are an a hole. If people would stop going to these shows, they would be released. Consumers are the ones that can stop this garbage.
After 50 years in captivity and being fed food without hunting I doubt she will survive. Man should be put in a cage and experience that captivity. We need to be respectful and let nature alone and where it is. Putting animals in a zoo etc just so humans can make money off of them is simply cruelty.
That’s great how about the rest of them
This is the best news I’ve heard in a long time! Thank you to “Friends of Lolita” and the very generous owner of the Colts. Bless you all ❤ ❤ ❤
The people who owns the current place and all the supporters should be ashamed of themselves.
We will see, until she’s free its all talk
That orca ain’t gonna last one night in the wild 😂😂😂
She has been release in wild? I dont think she will survive in wild . She will still find humans to feed her
I hope this practice stops! And these beautiful creates aren’t being captured anymore.
How exactly will she communicate with other whales if she doesn’t have the Pod that they stole her from? She can’t ever be reintroduced into the wild, and you people know that. She would be attacked by something, and would likely die. She has no one to teach her what she should have spent her earliest years learning, and now she is in the later stages of her life. She will need lifelong monitoring, just like Keiko did. They are never truly free.
After being in captivity that long, I worry how she will fare in the wild. She’s a tough one though.
Noooo se va a MORIR IGUAL QUE MI KEIKO 😪😪😪😪😪😪
SHE IS A SURVIVOR AND 💯 IS HERE AS A SPIRIT ANIMAL TO WAKE THE WORLD UP. ARE U WOKE ?
I swear i hate humans
Did anyone see a cloaked Klingon ship following Lolita?
And then she will die
She is pension..
50 years in prison for human entertainment. Disgusting how we treat the earth and our fellow creatures.
we dont matter he said 50 years u exploited that animal for “we” irony at its best
This is like abandoning your old dog in the forest and hope freedom is better for him than survival. Sad
I thought they actually were gonna free her she just going to a bigger prison
I saw Lolita on my first family holiday aged 7 to the USA in 1980 – it feels like an unimaginably long time, so I hope she enjoys her retirement back on her home turf.