The capture of orcas with the purpose of public display dates back to 1961 when Marineland of the Pacific, one of the first dolphinariums in the US, captured a female orca in Newport harbor. The orca died just one day after the capture, from crashing her head into the wall of the tank. In the following years, two more attempts were made, in the US and Canada, to capture an orca and keep it alive.
When, in 1965, a male orca got entangled in gill net off the coast of the small town Namu, Canada, Ted Griffin --the owner of the Seattle Aquarium -- purchased the whale and, using a floating pen, brought it to Seattle, Washington. He named the whale Namu, and his whale would become the first orca ever to be trained to perform. The world watched in awe as Griffin got in the water with the “killer' and rode it on its back: The orca’s reputation as a bloodthirsty killer was proven wrong, once and for all. Ironically, the acknowledgement that orcas are both highly intelligent and sentient beings became the foundation for a merciless exploitation of the animals. Just four months after Namu’s capture, Griffin and his partner, Sea World’s Don Goldsberry, captured another young orca in Puget Sound. Captured as a companion for Namu, the young female became known to the world as 'Shamu,' and in the following many months the two whales could be seen performing together in Seattle. 11 months after Namu’s capture, it was all over: Namu died, and Shamu was subsequently sold to Sea World in San Diego where she died six years later.
After Namu’s death, Griffin and Goldsberry continued to capture orcas for the world’s aquariums, chasing the whales with aircrafts, speedboats and explosives. By the end of 1968, they had executed four capture operations in the Pacific Northwest region, capturing a total of 13 orcas. Three of the orcas were sold to Sea World. The others were sold to aquaria in New York, Texas, Canada, England, and to the US Navy in Hawaii.
During the period November 1965 - August 1977, Griffin, Goldsberry and other dolphin captors removed orcas from the waters around Washington and British Colombia. Subjecting the whales to 19 different capture attempts, they seine-netted approximately 262 whales during this time. Of those, 50 juveniles were removed. At least 11 whales died during the capture process, and sixteen of the captured whales died during their first year in captivity. (Source: 'Orca -- the Whale Called Killer,' by Erich Hoyt, and 'Center for Whale Research.')
During one such capture operation in Puget Sound in 1968 two orcas were taken. One of them, a young male, was sold to the Miami Seaquarium where he was given the name “Hugo.” Hugo, who became the first captive orca in the Eastern United States, lived in isolation in a small tank for two years. Then, in August 1970, Griffin and Sea World’s Goldsberry rounded up about 80 orcas in Pen Cove Whidbey Island, in Washington State. Seven orcas were captured and sent to aquariums in the United States, Japan, Australia, England and Australia. At least four whales died during the capture: In their panic and attempt to escape they got entangled in the capture net and, unable to reach the surface to breathe, they suffocated. The capture team tried to conceal the deaths from the public and the media but their scheme didn’t work: Three months after the capture, three young orcas washed up on the shore of Whidbey Island. The orcas’ bellies were slit open and filled with rocks, and their tails were weighted down with anchors. Griffin and Goldsberry at first denied any knowledge of the dead whales but later admitted that they were responsible for causing the death of four whales during the capture.
“Through the late 1960s and early 1970s, Sea World’s Don Goldsberry had captured more than 50 percent of killer whales removed from the wild and sent to the world’s aquariums. With Ted Griffin of the Seattle Public Aquarium, he was the first, in October 1965, to mount a successful live-capture operation, bringing back the first Shamu. Later, on a dozen occasions, he captured more than 200 orcas. Of these, about 30 were sent to various aquariums, but mostly to Sea World. At least nine others died in the nets.” -- Erich Hoyt, author of “ORCA The Whale Called Killer,” page 203
One of the orcas that were captured during Griffin and Goldsberry’s ill-fated capture expedition in 1970 was a six-year-old female orca. She was brutally separated from her mother during the capture, forced into a sling and sent to the Miami Seaquarium in Florida, USA. Here, she was given the name Lolita. She and Hugo shared the same tank until 1980 when Hugo died. He was just 15 years old.
When Sea World wants whales....
In 1976 Goldsberry, once again using aircrafts and explosives, herded a group of terrified orcas through Puget Sound, finally cornering them in Budd Inlet. The State of Washington filed a lawsuit against Sea World in federal court, on the grounds that Goldsberry's treatment of the whales consisted of a serious violation of the terms of his capture permit. The judge finally dismissed the case on condition that Sea World release the orcas and agree to never again capture orcas in the waters of Washington State. While this meant that the orcas of Puget Sound would be free from the terror of capture, Sea World and other aquaria would now focus their attention on orcas in Iceland where the violent and inhumane captures could take place without the scrutiny of the public and the media.
Today, Lolita is the last survivor of 45 orcas known to have been taken from Washington waters during the 1960’s and 1970s. The six other young orcas that were captured during the same capture operation survived an average of less than five years in captivity.
Suggested websites:
Frontline, a Whale of a Business:
Suggested reading:
'Orca -- The Whale Called Killer,' by Erich Hoyt
Suggested video documentaries:
'Lolita: Spirit in the Water.' Available from Wehman Video, 2366 Eastlake Avenue East, Suite 312, Seattle, Washington 98012, USA, (800) 659-1553, 60 minutes
'A Fall from Freedom.'
'Lolita -- Slave to Entertainment,' pruduced by Tim Gorski and available here:
Before you buy a ticket to watch orcas in captivity, please consider this:
The orca is the biggest of the dolphin species and one of the largest predators on earth. It is the biggest animal ever to be held captive.
Orcas are social, intelligent, and complex marine mammals. Together with the pilot whales -- also members of the dolphin family -- they are the most family-oriented animals on earth. They live in highly organized family groups, known as pods. In this remarkable social structure calves never leave their mothers. Only two events make an orca leave its pod: Death -- and capture.
The capture of orcas is a very violent procedure with animals chased to exhaustion. Video footage shows orcas being chased in rodeo style with no regards to pregnant and nursing females. The whales are chased with aircrafts, speedboats, and explosives.
During the captures, orcas have become entangled in the capture net underwater and -- unable to reach the surface to breathe -- they suffocated.
Calves have been separated from their mothers and transported by truck and airplane to amusement parks on the other side of the continent. Here, they have been trained to perform tricks for huge, paying audiences. They will never see their family or the ocean again.
Orcas communicate using a wide-ranging spectrum of sound signals. Each pod has its own dialect, made up by sound signals that differ from those of other pods. The individual orca's strong ties to its family can be illustrated by the fact that an orca -- even after decades of captivity -- continues to produces the unique sound of its pod.
In nature, orcas travel up to 100 miles a day. They are always on the move, capable of reaching a top speed of 30 knots. Living in an immense and diverse ocean environment, they spend their time foraging, socializing, breaching, diving, and playing. In captivity, orcas are restricted to the miniscule size of a concrete, barren tank, totally deprived of living in accordance with their true nature.
In nature, orcas live in a gravity-free ocean environment. In captivity, they are routinely exposed to the stress of being transported from one amusement park to another. As part of captive dolphin breeding programs, amusement parks exchange male orcas on so-called breeding loans, and female orcas are permanently separated from their offspring.
Orcas are the top predators of the oceans and have developed a number of sophisticated ways of foraging, putting all of their natural skills to use: Their intelligence, speed, use of sonar, and ability to communicate and cooperate. In captivity, they are trained to perform silly circus tricks for food rewards of dead fish.
The United States holds the world record of 21 captive orcas. In order to justify the capture, confinement, and captive breeding of orcas, amusementparks present them to the paying audiences as ambassadors, and with the support of the US National Marine Fisheries Service -- a branch of the US Department of Commerce -- the claim is routinely made that the killer whale shows serve the purpose of being 'educational.'
Today, Lolita is the last survivor of 45 orcas known to have been taken from Washington waters during the 1960’s and 1970s. The six other young orcas that were captured during the same capture operation survived an average of less than five years in captivity.
Lolita has been imprisoned for 33 years for a crime she did not commit. She deserves to return home.
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