‘She is finally home’: activists mourn Toki’s death and find meaning in rare whale meetup

Vigils are planned to honor the memory of the whale who was captive for 53 years as her death ripples across the country

On Friday, as the captive orca whale known as Tokitae was dying in Miami, an unusual phenomenon took place in the waters where she was taken from her pod back in 1970. A rare superpod meetup of three clans – the J, K, and L pods – happened off the west side of San Juan Island, in Washington state.

It could have been a coincidence. But for activists like Howard Garrett, who has worked for decades to advocate for the release of Tokitae, there was deep meaning in the meetup. “Gatherings like this are often a cultural social ritual to mark a significant event in their community, and we believe they are welcoming Toki home,” he wrote on the Orca Network Facebook group. “She is finally home, maybe not the way we wanted, but her family seems to know she is with them once again, in ways we may never comprehend.”