A Puget Sound Orca in Captivity: The Fight to Bring Lolita Home

On August 8, 1970, the Southern Resident orcas of Puget Sound were herded into Penn Cove on Whidbey Island by explosives, spotter planes and speedboats in a coordinated effort to capture seven young whales. Between 1964 and 1976, dozens of these now-endangered orcas were torn from their home and sent to marine parks around the globe. Just over a decade later, all but one had died. This lone survivor is Tokitae, also known as Lolita, and she's spent most of her life performing at the Miami Seaquarium. For twenty years, the Orca Network has called for her release, and now the indigenous Lummi Nation, People of the Sea, have joined the fight. Author Sandra Pollard chronicles the extraordinary effort to bring Tokitae home.

Author of Puget Sound Whales for Sale and certified marine naturalist Sandra Pollard has continued to advocate for the critically endangered Southern Resident orcas, including Tokitae (Lolita), the sole survivor of the capture era. Based on Whidbey Island, Washington, she is a member of the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network and a volunteer with the local education and whale sightings nonprofit organization Orca Network. Her writing career spans fiction and nonfiction publications in both the United States and the United Kingdom.