Listen to the last song Toki, the captive orca, sang, a tune her mother taught her

In all the coverage of Tokitae, the captive orca who died at the Miami Seaquarium on August 18, perhaps the most heartrending detail was that Toki sang the songs her mother and pod taught her before she was captured in the Salish Sea in 1970, at age 4. She reportedly sang these songs her whole life in her tank in Miami.

On Sunday on San Juan Island, Lummi tribal members honored Toki’s life and what she meant to them. They played what is believed to be the last recording of her singing before she died, at age 57.

Toki’s song is a clear whistle, starting with four plaintive notes. It is sophisticated and beautiful and haunting:

For those who wished for Toki’s return to her native waters as she grew older, there were small comforts that emerged after her death.

Orca Network Langley posted that as she began to struggle and move onto the next world, “her entire family was off the west side of San Juan Island in what these days is a rare gathering, with all three pods swimming up and down the island, socializing in a superpod.”

A superpod happens with the J, K, and L pods come together. Among the pod is L25, believed to be Toki’s mother. L25, also known as Ocean Sun, is believed to be 94 years old and the oldest living Southern Resident killer whale.

The orca network wrote, “This is often a cultural, social ritual to mark a significant event in their community, and we believe they were welcoming her home.”

They continued, “Toki 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.”

Tokitae was the last living orca of the 45 who were captured in in the late 1960s and 70s. They were sold to SeaWorld and other marine parks. Toki, captured at Whidbey Island’s Penn Cove in 1970, was sold to the Seaquarium for $6,000 in 1970.

KUOW's John O'Brien contributed reporting.