How to Bring Southern Resident Orca Tokitae/Lolita Home to the Salish Sea, with Howard Garrett

Howard Garrett is the co-founder and President of Orca Network, based on Whidbey Island. With a Sociology degree from The Colorado College, he began studying orcas with the Center for Whale Research in 1981. In 1995 he founded the Tokitae Foundation to return a captive Southern Resident orca to her native waters in the Pacific Northwest. Garrett wrote about orca culture for the Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior in 2005, and Orcas In Our Midst in 2011. He co-founded Orca Network in 2001 with his wife Susan Berta to provide education about the orcas of the Salish Sea and to advocate for habitat restoration, specifically to improve runs of chinook salmon, the primary prey of Southern Resident orcas.

Orca Network projects include the Whale Sighting Network and Education Programs, the Free Lolita Campaign, The Langley Whale Center, and the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

In the past year the Seaquarium was sold to a new owner after a scathing USDA inspection report about poor treatment and conditions. In March 2022 the USDA closed the whale stadium to the public. Now Tokitae and a dolphin kept with her remain in the tank. She is now being treated for a persistent infection and assessed for her possible return to the Salish Sea. The presentation will discuss the people involved and the science behind the work to bring her home.

Orca “Spy Hopping” out of the water by Jill Hein.

Monthly Member Meeting Agenda

• 10:00 am – 10:30 am Sound Water Stewards Business Reports
  • Board
  • Executive Director Report
  • Community Science
  • Education: Success of summer programs and next committee meeting
    • Volunteer Education Training
    • Sound Waters University
    • Summer Recap of wonderful programs
    • Fall Education opportunities: *Provalens training, WA State Park background check required. Review recorded 101 with Allie
      • 10/5 Fort Casey 6th grade Beach Walk + Live Tank volunteer opportunity
      • 10/15 Orca Recovery Day at Fort Casey | NOAA Marine Debris Survey + Debris Timeline
      • 10/22, 10/23, 10/29 and 10/30 Haunted Fort Casey Family Fun Booth + Activity
      • Go to VolunteerMatters: Education in the Field to sign up and email Tabitha
  • Stewardship 
  • Camano Report – Tom Hiegler – In lieu of a break-out room meeting today, Camano urges all members to stay to learn VolunteerMatters. We also want to announce these upcoming events:
    • Tree Watering at Freedom Park – we still need people, water at least once a week. Please signup
    • 9/16 Farmers Market Booth – Gaylen Heacock, Claudia Vaughn, Joan will be there
    • 9/17 Waste-Wise Plastic Pot Exchange – 10 am to noon, lot behind CASA and Island Transit Base
    • 9/24 Camano 101 – Gaylen Heacock, Sandra Garson will be there, everyone invite your friends
    • 9/25 Terry Skorheim Memorial Open House presented by his family- 1 to 4pm – in memory of Terry Skorheim, Camano member who passed away in July 2022
  • Additional reports
    • 10/10 next monthly member meeting presented by Camano Steering Committee at 10 am with our very own Jay Adams on Moths of Lindsay
• 10:30 am Howard Garett, co-founder and President of Orca Network
• 11:30 am Q & A
• 11:45 – 11:55 am Learn how to log hours by navigating the project catalog on VolunteerMatters and sign up for projects. Remember to reset password you must have your Username, not your email, but to sign in you may use either.