Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Your Plus plan is $7.95 a month after 30 day trial. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Tokitae  By  cover art

Tokitae

By: Bonnie Swift
Narrated by: Bonnie Swift
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Episodes
  • Trailer
    Nov 4 2021
    In 1970, in one of the most infamous orca round-ups in history, an orca calf named Tokitae was taken from the islands off the coast of Seattle. For more than 50 years, she has lived at the Miami Seaquarium, in North America’s smallest orca tank.

    Multiple lawsuits have been brought forward to free her, all of which so far have failed.

    Then, in 2017, an elder from the Lummi Nation received a message, carried from a dream. “Can anybody hear me?” Tokitae said, “I want to go home.”

    To the Lummi, Tokitae is not just an animal in captivity, she is a kidnapped relative. Now, members of the Lummi Nation are taking up the fight to return Tokitae to the Salish Sea, where she was born.

    But there’s a problem. Tokitae’s wild family is struggling for survival. Is it safe to bring her home, when her family here is facing extinction?

    “What happens to the orcas is going to happen to us,” says Jay Julius, the former Chairman of the Lummi Nation. “And what happens to the Indians is going to happen to everyone else.”

    Bonnie Swift grew up on Penn Cove, hearing the story of Tokitae’s capture, and as a child sang songs at protest events on Tokitae’s behalf. Now, in her thirties, Bonnie's come back to Tokitae. This is a story about killer whales, capture teams, Free Willy, the failures of environmental law, the extinction crisis, indigenous rights, grief, spirituality, and, most of all, the promise of repair.

    Show more Show less
    2 mins
  • Chapter 1: How to Capture a Whale
    Nov 18 2021
    Tokitae’s capture in 1970 was one of the most infamous orca round-ups in history. Seven calves were taken, and five whales drowned. The public outcry following this capture helped put an end to the capture era in Washington State. Of those seven calves who were taken, Tokitae is the last survivor.
    Show more Show less
    58 mins
  • Chapter 2: Superpod
    Nov 25 2021
    Tokitae’s extended family, the southern resident killer whales, have lived in the Salish Sea for at least 700,000 years. Likely longer. They are highly sentient beings, with large, wrinkly brains, x-ray vision, languages, cultures, and they live in matriarchal family units called pods. They are also on the brink of extinction.
    Show more Show less
    50 mins

Related Podcasts

Orca Nerd Podcast By Kalyn Miller cover art The Bering Podcast By Sean Flynn cover art
The Catch: The Real Freshwater Five Story Podcast By Raphael Rowe cover art
Apartment 515 Podcast By Jeff Pearlman cover art
The Murder of Robert Wone Podcast By AYR Media cover art
Death by Unknown Event Podcast By Danielle Elliot - writer, Eliza Smith - editor, Skybound Entertainment & Kamala Films - producer cover art
Middlespace: The Rebels Attack, And Then The Other Side Attacks As Well Podcast By Paul Lieberstein cover art
All the Gory Details Podcast By Josh Murphy, Heather J. Miller cover art
Solving the Black Dahlia Podcast By Douglas Laux cover art
Where the Devil Belongs Podcast By Jim Clemente, Josh Sanburn, Mariana Clemente cover art
Killer Book Club Podcast By Gillian Pachter cover art
Operation Firewall Podcast By Michal Lev-Ram cover art
Sweet Bobby Podcast By Tortoise Media cover art Seven Truths Podcast By Tanya Talaga cover art
Three Million Acres Podcast By Maria Luisa Tucker cover art
Broadway Revival Podcast By Alex Barron, Shelley Lewis, Faith Salie cover art

Meet the Creators

Bonnie grew up in the islands of the Pacific Northwest and currently lives in Seattle.
She has a BA in history from Stanford and an MFA from the Konstfack College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Sweden. Her first love was radio and podcast, but she’s also worked as an architectural historian, as a freelance editor, and in healthcare research.
Tokitae is her first long-form audio story.

Meet the Creators

Tokitae features prayers and original music by Chenoa Egawa, as well as original music by Mark Nichols and Julie Lewis.
Our editor and production manager is Loretta Williams.
Our executive producer and editor at Audible is Rachel Hamburg.
Kurt Russo is our producer and liaison.
Cyrus James is our assistant producer.
Fact checking by Elizabeth Atalay.
Nadini Agarwal is our research assistant.
Sound design, mix, and mastering are by Jake Young and Cara Ehlenfeldt of Mumble Media.
Audio engineering by Daniel Guenther.
The photo on our cover is an image of Tokitae at her capture, courtesy of Terrell Newby.
Thank you to CBC, Howard Garrett, Geoffrey Schaaf, and John Ford for archival materials. And to Emily Harrold for procuring them.
Thanks to Jaime Wolf and Jacob London for their legal expertise.
Special thanks to all of the interviewees who took part in this series, and especially to those at the Lummi Nation who trusted me with their stories.

What listeners say about Tokitae

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    46
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    46
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    43
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

steadfast narration

I was emotionally captivated by the story and admire the narrator's steadfast factual story-telling with such powerful emotional sustanence of the story and its relative 'characters'...well done...-im such a baby cuz the dolphins (orkas) make me cry--Hooty & the 🐡

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Touched my heart

I have always loved Orcas but now much deeper. I had no idea this really happens in real life, only in movies. My heart aches.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Mark B.
  • Mark B.
  • 11-14-22

outstanding

I blitzed through this during a long truck drive. it was over all too soon. Full of sorrow, joy , hope, ancient indigenous wisdom and fascinating facts about these truly remarkable special creatures that inhabited this plant thousands of lifetimes ago before we were even here.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Anonymous User
  • Anonymous User
  • 05-26-22

Brilliant

Very moving we must set her free! Tokitae has suffered too long. She must go home to her family.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Kay B
  • Kay B
  • 03-08-22

Sad yet hopeful

Interesting, relevant and respectfully done. A real wake-up call for us all. Listen if you can!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for TRIDENT
  • TRIDENT
  • 01-28-22

Fantastic Story So Well Done

Great story and so well done.All I can say is good luck to Tokitae…We all want to see you Free …

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Anonymous User
  • Anonymous User
  • 03-23-23

Worth every moment listening and all that made it.

Heartbreak to empower change. Gratitude for all involved in this movement and the purity to do and be better for the righteous of all reason.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Anonymous User
  • Anonymous User
  • 09-18-22

Great learning for all of us.

A sad but ultimately uplifting and thorough investigation into the legend behind Tokitae . Bonnie Swift subtly, powerfully and in great detail explores the message that we are not separate from the creatures we share this beautiful planet with.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Jessie hall
  • Jessie hall
  • 07-11-22

Fantastic podcast

If you’re a lover of the ocean, if you’re a lover of whales, if you’re a lover of culture- this podcast meets all expectations. It was heartwarming and heartbreaking and the story was told with such care. I enjoyed every moment I listened.