LANGLEY, Wash. — Vigils in Langley on Whidbey Island and in Miami Florida were held in honor of Tokitae's passing on Saturday night.
Tokitae was the last Southern Resident orca living in captivity. She was captured from Whidbey Island's Penn Cove in August of 1970. She spent the rest of her life living and performing at the Miami Seaquarium.
Her death is an unexpected blow to many who advocated for her return to the Salish Sea. Now, those who pushed to bring her home are saying there's still much work to be done.
"It was such, such a shock. We had heard even earlier this week how well she was doing," said Stephanie Raymond with the Orca Network.
Plans were underway to transport Tokitae from Miami to leave out the rest of her days in a sea pen in the Puget Sound. She would have received food and medical care.
"She was so close, and that's part of what makes this so heartbreaking," Raymond said.
Raymond said many at the Orca Network, which has long advocated for her return, are heartbroken by Tokitae's sudden death.
"Everybody on our staff last night was totally in shock," Raymond said. "I think a lot of us still are, I don't think it's totally hit me yet."
In the years since Tokitae's capture the world around her moved to protect other marine mammals from following her same path.
Lummi Elder Raynell Morris is among Tokitae's fiercest advocates. She now turns her attention to bringing Tokitae's remains back to the Pacific Northwest so she can be put to rest in accordance with the Tribe's traditions.
"Well I bring her home, I got there and I bring her home, that's my obligation to finish the work for her, to bring her home," Morris said in a previous interview with KING 5.
Just this year, Toki, as she was known, was cleared to return home.
"I think we're all feeling like she did come home, just not the way we wanted her to," Morris said.
Senator Maria Cantwell issued a statement Saturday also pushing for Tokitae's remains to be returned to Washington.
"Toki’s remains should return to the Pacific Northwest," Cantwell said. "My office has been in communication with the Administration to urge them to work with Tribes to ensure their voices are heard and ceremonial rights are protected."
While advocates work to make sure her remains are returned to the Northwest – the community that longed for her is in mourning.
"I hope that we always remember her strength and her spirit and her resilience and I hope that she continues to inspire people like she has done for decades now," Raymond said.
Tokitae my be gone, but her story is not finished.
"There are thousands of people around the world who have been so touched by her so inspired by her," Raymond said.