Maverick or help with medical expenses. Head to our website local ten .com. And now to a one
and only exclusive local ten
news the only South station to
get up close with the Miami
Seaquarium is famed killer whale
Alita. It’s the first time we’re
seeing her since she retired.
And Louis she got a hand, got a
chance to see her first hand. I
did. There is a new sense of
urgency to move her out of her.
After recent photos of her
habitat and stadium went viral,
I was invited by the secretary
home to see for myself what that
looks like and to see how Toki
is doing right now. She is as
majestic and as as ever. This
the first time a news crew has
been allowed into the whale
stadium to see Tokyo Day since
she was from performing at the
Miami Seaquarium in March of
2022, when the now seven year
old orca went by the name. She’s
doing very well behaviorally.
She’s doing great. She has great
energy. Her blood work is
stable, local ten was invited to
see Toki after recent images
were posted on social media
showing the current state of her
pool and the stadium that
surrounds it. Paint is peeling,
there is visible sparkling and
there assuring underneath the
structure. The stadium was
deemed unsafe. Miami-Dade County
back in August of 2021 and has
been closed to the public ever
since. Now for the first time
ever, the Miami Seaquarium is
publicly admitting it’s time to
get Toki out, but we need to put
her somewhere to repair this.
Eduardo Alba is the CEO of the
Dolphin Company, the new owners
of the Miami Seaquarium. He
inherited the Whale Stadium in
its dilapidated conditions when
his company took over from the
previous Owners Palace
Entertainment in March last
year. Does that concern you?
Well, in concert, I’ll
definitely be. And it requires a
very different this is the only
way to do is to empty the tank,
obviously, to remove her and
empty the time. We cannot do it
while she’s here. But where will
she go? There No other habitat
in the park. A large enough and
deep enough for her to live. And
Allbaugh is now open to the
possibility of releasing Toki to
an enclosed, fully natural seep
and in the Pacific Northwest,
like this one in the same waters
, she was captured as a four
year old calf in 1970 and were
her family. The Alpine still
swims through today, but first
they need to get her ready and
improving her health and present
quality of life is paramount.
How much money has been invested
in improving the water quality?
Well, I’m more than half a
million dollars since the spring
of 2022. The Seaquarium has been
working with the nonprofit
Friends of Toki to provide
optimal care and together figure
out what her best future would
be. Getting her water right was
critical. So that’s where the
water will be sterilized by the
ozone and then it goes into our
reservoir pool. Over past few
months, new upgrades have been
to better filter her pool,
regulate the water temperature.
New chillers can now get the
temp down to mimic the waters of
the Pacific 56 to 58. But we can
get down to 50 if we want to
with the new chillers. Tanika
says the pool is scrubbed in
vacuum four times a week. And as
for the health that saw Toki
gravely Ill both in February and
October of 2022. Defying all
odds, Toki has bounced back
strong. So he’s doing great.
We’re increasing her interactive
time. We’re trying to find ways
to entertain her throughout the
day. Keep doing that plan.
Gather more exercise and then
just start getting her ready for
the move. Now Toki can be moved
from this. She has to be trained
to volunteer early, swim on to a
stretcher that training has yet
to be done. But It’s happening.
It’ll be a stretcher like. This
one putting it in her tank to
get her used to seeing it. The
step one. And we will be
starting that very shortly.
Friends of Toki says move could
take months. If not a couple of
years to finalize. But if for
whatever reason, they to get her
out sooner, they say she’s
ready. If the move happen like
this or next week. She could do
it right now. She’s as good as a
health condition. As good that
did it for us for
transportation. But we need keep
her as stable as. It is her life
force is so strong. Millions of
people around the world would
like to see Toki return to the
Salish Sea and live the rest of
her life in natural sea pen. But
that is not a done deal just
yet. Both and state regulatory
agencies would need to approve
it, and that, as I said, will
take months. Maybe years, if at
all. Friends of Toki say the
application process has already
begun. But it’s not the only
option on the table. We’ll
explore what else is being
discussed in part two of our
special report airing tomorrow
right here on Local ten News. So
while she is improving, health
is improving, the team still
looks the it does it does
hurricane season around the
corner. What happens in that is
a huge concern but friends of
Toki and current management at
the Seaquarium say they will not
abandon her a specialty will be
with Toki should the storm south
Florida and they will secure
that stadium as best they can
and pray for the best. But as I
said her will to live her will
to survive is absolutely
awesome. It is absolutely