MIAMI, Fla. – It looks like Tokitae is finally coming home.
FOX 13 reports that an agreement is in place to bring the endangered Southern Resident orca back to her native waters in the Puget Sound.
Miami’s Seaquarium and Indianapolis Colts owner and philanthropist Jim Irsay held a news conference Thursday morning to address the orca’s future.
Her movement back west could happen within the next two years.
Tokitae was just four years old when she was captured in Penn Cove off Whidbey Island in 1970.
She lived in captivity and performed under the name Lolita for over 50 years, until Seaquarium retired her last year.
Members of Lummi Nation and others have pleaded for her return to her native waters for years.
Their carvers created a totem that local resident Paul Anderson helped haul to the Seaquarium in 2018.
Washington state has outlawed the capture of killer whales and Tokitae is the last survivor of those that were taken from local waters.
Irsay has been a vocal supporter of her return to her native region and some say he may help fund her return.
His funding would be crucial- early estimated of Tokitae’s move range between $15-20 million.
Details about where she may be kept haven’t been released.