After The Dolphin Company assumed ownership of Miami Seaquarium, in August 2021, Tokitae contracted a nearly fatal respiratory infection. She stopped eating and her health began to rapidly decline. Her condition was so dire she needed to receive life saving emergency medical treatments.
Shortly afterwards, The Dolphin Company announced that Friends of Lolita (now Friends of Toki), a well known Lolita activist group, was going to provide assistance by financially funding and coordinating her care.
The fact that Dolphin Company needed such financial assistance to afford her care was alarming news. We were concerned that Friends of Lolita would use this as leverage to push the Dolphin Company to relocate Toki from the only home and family she’s known for 53 years.
In June 2022, we reached out to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniela Levine-Cava. She is also responsible for the wellbeing of Toki, because the Miami Seaquarium is on land leased by the County and she approved the contract with the County and The Dolphin Company. We, collectively, met with her regarding our concerns for Toki and offered her our expertise and assistance with assessing Toki’s care and offering recommendations for independent veterinarians to come evaluate her current health. During this meeting, we were assured that talks of release were not on the table. Mayor Levine-Cava also said she would contact us for our professional input if things changed.
She thanked us for our expertise and we never heard from her again…until the press conference on March 30th, 2023.
Please reach out to your representatives and other entities listed to help keep her safe with the love and care she has been accustomed to for over 50 years. You can find a template letter below. Just type in your name...it’s that easy!
Not sure you’re 100% onboard? That’s ok too! We still encourage you to write to your elected officials and ask them to make sure NOAA does what’s best for Toki! You can find that template letter below.
You can also find these letters and a list of recommended representatives in our outreach page here.
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