I’ve felt for the past year that I failed Tokitae. Many people I know that fought for her feel the same way. I’m past that. We did not fail her.

The same person who failed Keiko, by not having a sustainable financial plan, forcing him to go free, only to show up in Norway seeking out humans and succumbing to pneumonia, is the one who failed Toki.

The same person who failed Kiska by allowing the organization this person leads to write critical blog posts about the park she lived in AND THEN asking the park to donate her, failed Toki.

I remind you that the day after KIska’s death in her theme park tank, the President of this person’s organization wrote “[this person] emphasizes that the loss of Kiska will only intensify the urgency of our team to help Marineland relocate the approximately 34 belugas and five dolphins who remain there. And we look to every available means to transfer as many as possible to sanctuaries.” Nothing has come of this. The person who failed Keiko and Kiska and Toki has failed these thirty-nine whales as well.

Kiska the Orca Has Died at Marineland

Now, the person who failed Keiko and Kiska and Toki and thirty-four belugas and five dolphins in Canada is trying to acquire two orcas from France to move to Nova Scotia, but this person’s organization’s plan says they can’t move until after the Winter because you can’t build a sanctuary during the Winter. If you can’t build your sanctuary prior to Winter, then something’s off.

In the meantime, this person’s plan is to keep the whales in their current deteriorating tank, where divers have to be tethered when they go in the pools just in case the walls collapse – just like this person kept Toki in her pool that was condemned by the federal government as it continued to crumble. On a streaming interview in late 2022, this person said that a new tank for Toki, like the one this person had given Keiko, had been considered but would have been too expensive. Others said that it would delay Toki’s move to Washington. Yet, state officials I spoke with told me – and the local press – that she would not be able to be relocated until 2025 at the earliest.

A new tank did not need to be open for public viewing. It did not need to be aesthetically pleasing on the outside. New construction techniques meant that it could have been built within months and for a fraction of the cost of Keiko’s Oregon tank. At the top of this post is a photo of an October 2022 medical assist given to Tokitae. This photo was taken by and is owned by one of the individuals present, who gave permission for its usage. When Toki died one year ago, it would have looked very similar to this.

A new tank would have included a distinct medical pool with a lift, a very different looking experience and one less stressful to the whale. Beyond hurricane safety, beyond tank integrity, beyond having the proper facility to be rehabilitated and trained for a move, beyond simple dignity, how could this person fail Tokitae, determining care to be “too expensive” when there were millionaires and billionaires backing the project?

For almost two years, this person who failed Toki hid evidence about her continued renal issues, failing to include this factor in any of the monthly public health reports this person posted, despite documents during this period obtained from NOAA and USDA showing significant concern over this condition.

In my opinion, this person has caused extreme harm to cetaceans through negligence. And yet, this person is allowed by his associates and the anti-captivity movement to be the standard bearer for returning orcas from theme parks to the sea. I do not consider this person to be a standard bearer. I see this person as a pallbearer.

Today, I cannot name this person who failed Keiko and Kiska and thirty-nine Canadian belugas and dolphins and one year ago today, Tokitae. Today, I vomit in my mouth when I try to say this person’s name. It has something in common with the word charlatan, in that this person’s name and the word share the first five letters.

On this day, one year later, I no longer mourn for Tokitae. I celebrate her. I celebrate her life, and how she persevered during her final years, having to endure disgusting living conditions and a strange training regimen. There are people who will say, “But you weren’t there.” And there are people who were there who will say “You weren’t there.” And they’re right. But they also don’t know who I’ve spoken with – people who were there on the last day, in those final minutes, people who were standing right next to them. There’s a story yet to be told. And it’s not from this person who failed her.