Indianapolis Colts effort to rescue an orca whale from the Miami Seaquarium has tragically ended.
According to WTHR, Tokitae – also known as Toki and Lolita – passed away on Friday. Miami Seaquarium announced that Tokitae died due to renal failure following signs of distress over the past few days.
She was approximately 57 years old.
Tokitae was performing at the Seaquarium for 52 years and was the second-oldest orca in captivity in the United States. Health issues plagued the orca in recent years, and Irsay became one of the leading figures in efforts to have to have Tokitae moved to an ocean sanctuary in the Pacific Northwest.
To that end, Irsay had pledged as much as $20 million to help get Tokitae moved back to her pod in an area off the Puget sound in Washington.
