From Orca Network's Facebook Page.
Courtesy of Melisa Pinnow:
43 years ago, at this moment, the entire Southern Resident orca population was being chased toward Whidbey Island with speed boats, M-80 bombs, and low flying planes. By sunset tonight, purse seiners would have netted off the mouth of Penn Cove and trapped J, K and L pod inside.
Over these next few days, 8 babies were sold to aquariums around the world and were separated from their mothers, dragged by ropes and nets to a dock, put into sling, lifted by a crane onto a flatbed truck and transported to an airport. 5 Orcas drowned in this capture, one of them being a mother who was desperately trying to reach her calf through the nets but got tangled. The 4 others were babies that drowned in the nets while trying to reach their mothers.
As the last calf was being put into a sling at the dock, the entire Southern Resident population, who had all let out of the nets now, came over to the baby and started communicating back and forth with her, spy hopping to look at her as she was being lifted out of the water. Once the she left the water, all the orcas slowly turned around and headed out of the Penn cove.
The Orcas captured over the next few days are as followed:
1 year old male Lil’ Nootka, who lasted 7 months in captivity.
2 year old male Ramu 4, who lasted 1 year.
Less than 1 year old female Wally, who lasted 1 year in a tank as well.
2 year old male Clovis, who lasted 2 and a half years.
2 year old female Chappy, who lasted 3 and half years.
5 year old male Jumbo, who lasted 4 years.
4 year old male Winston, who lasted a whopping 15 and a half years in a tank.
4-6 year old female Tokitae, also known as Lolita, who was the last to leave in that sling and is the last Southern Resident orca alive in captivity out of the 45 sold to marine parks. She has spent the last 43 years at Miami Seaquarium in Florida, in the smallest orca tank in the US. Please remember Lolita as well as all the orcas who were involved in this capture over the next few days. Photo by Terry Newby.
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