Lolita's Timeline

(Tokitae=Lolita)

Hugo was born in 1965.

Tokitae was born in 1966.

In 1968 a family of whales were trapped and 2 calves were removed from the pod. One of those, a 3-year-old male named Hugo, was sent to the Miami Seaquarium.

Two years later, on August 8, 1970, Tokitae was captured at about 4 years old, in Penn Cove off the cost of Seattle, Washington. She was sent to the Miami Seaquarium to be a playmate for Hugo. Tokitae's new owners didn’t want visitors to know she was from Seattle, so she was renamed Lolita, a name that they imagined would SCREAM Miami.

Throughout his captivity, Hugo banged his head against the wall of his tank many times. Hugo died on March 4, 1980 after smashing his head into the wall of the tank.

As of 1987, Lolita was the only living orca of approximately 58 orcas that had been taken from Puget Sound. Lolita is currently 48 years old and has not seen another whale since Hugo died in 1980. She performs shows daily and bobs listlessly between shows and all night long.

Lolita’s captivity is currently being challenged in a lawsuit so that she can be set free from her illegally small tank and the trainers, that in the past, have harmed and harassed her.