Washington's bright white ferries are icons of the Salish Sea, allowing people to move around to get to their jobs, visit people and experience places across the waters. On June 8 we joined the builders and speakers, as well as the Samish singers and drummers, and a car deck filled with eager ferry-riders, to celebrate the first public viewing of the new ferry Tokitae, named in part to honor the last surviving Southern Resident orca, still held in a theme park in Miami, and still doing display routines twice daily. The Tokitae is adorned with stunning photos of orcas in their natural habitat, along with graceful artwork and information about the orcas of the Salish Sea.

Tokitae
Meaning/Significance: “Tokitae” is a Coast Salish greeting meaning “Nice day, pretty colors”, and is also the name given to an orca captured at Penn Cove, near Keystone, in 1970. Tokitae was brought to a marine park in Miami 40 years ago, where she was put into service as an entertainer, and named Lolita. She is the last survivor of the 45 Southern Resident orcas captured in Washington state during the capture era of the 1960s and 70s. Such captures were banned in Washington State waters in 1976.

News on M/V Tokitae

• Whidbey Island welcomes new ferry Tokitae

• WSF Olympic Class 144-Car Ferries by WSDOT

• MV Tokitae Ferry, United States of America

• Tokitae’s Maiden Voyage

Tokitae Facts

• Year Built: 2014

• Ferry Class: Olympic Class Ferry

• Passenger Capacity: 1,500 People

• Vehicle Capacity: 144 Vehicles

• Auto deck clearance height: 8 feet

• Tall vehicle clearance height: 16 feet

• Number of side-by-side motorhomes: 3 (wider vehicle lanes in the main tunnel of the auto deck will fit three tall, oversized vehicles. Most ferries fit only 2 oversized vehicles side-by-side.)

• Length of the ferry: 362 feet, 3 inches long

• Beam: (Width of the ferry) 83 feet, 2 inches wide

• Draft: (How deep the ferry's hull sits in the water) 18 feet deep

• Diesel engines: 2

• Horsepower: 6,000

• Speed: 17 knots (19.6 mph); top speed on the Mukilteo/Clinton run is 14 knots

• Elevators: 2, both are ADA accessible

• Width of passenger stairwells: 48 inches wide, the widest stairwells in the fleet. Wide stairwells make it easier to maneuver wheelchairs during an emergency.

• Electrical outlets available to passengers: 60 double outlets, one every other booth. There are more outlets on the Tokitae than any other vessel, aside from the 202-car Jumbo Mark II Class ferries.

• Emergency inflatable evacuation slides: 4 (All evacuation slides are located in the passenger cabin. Each slide connects to two, 192 passenger life rafts for 10 percent evacuation.) The only other ferries with this system are in the Kwa-di Tabil vessels.