March 1, 1970. It was a blustery, cold morning off the southern tip of Vancouver Island when four men on a boating trip spotted something unusual in the waves.
A white dorsal fin.
A white orca.
Seeing the creatures is extremely rare; in 2020, Stephanie Hayes, a marine biology PhD candidate with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, told CBC News only about 10 white orcas had been recorded in history.
This white orca and its pod, four black and white killer whales, became known as the Pedder Bay 5.
Enter Bob Wright. The 40-year-old master angler was also the owner of Sealand of the Pacific, an aquarium in Oak Bay, B.C., just outside Victoria on Vancouver Island’s southern tip. The aquarium was a major part of Wright’s growing waterfront empire at the Oak Bay Marina, about a five kilometre drive from downtown Victoria.
A pair of young whale trainers and budding conservationists happened to be accompanying Wright that day in 1970: 25-year-old Don White and 20-year-old Graham Ellis, who would go on to become one of the world’s leading experts on orcas.
The three men would soon find themselves on opposite sides of the killer whale capture and captivity debate.
In his series Whale TaleCBC’s Grant Lawrence shares the story of the Pedder Bay 5, how they were herded and captured, and how two of them were released — a mystery on B.C.’s coast that remains to this day.
Listen to Whale Tale below:
North by Northwest11:03Whale Tale Chapter 1
Grant Lawrence launches his his new weekly story series, Whale Tale. Over the next several weeks, he’ll tell the story of a unique family of orcas in Desolation Sound, and a dive into a mystery surrounding the pod that dates back over 50 years.
North by Northwest12:12Whale Tale Chapter 2
CBC’s Grant Lawrence brings us the second chapter of his new series Whale Tale, about a special family of orcas in Desolation Sound, and a mystery surrounding them that goes back more than half a century.
North by Northwest13:26Whale Tale Chapter 3
CBC’s Grant Lawrence returns with the third chapter of his new series Whale Tale. This week, he takes us back to a particular evening, when whale hunters captured and closely studied a group of orcas.
North by Northwest13:00Whale Tale Chapter 4
CBC’s Grant Lawrence returns with the fourth chapter of his series Whale Tale, telling the story of a white whale tangled and drowning beneath the waves.
North by Northwest13:55Whale Tale Chapter 5
CBC’s Grant Lawrence returns with the fifth chapter of his series Whale Tale, taking us to the southern end of Vancouver Island in 1970.
North by Northwest14:10Whale Tale Chapter 6
Grant Lawrence returns with the sixth chapter of his series Whale Tale, following a unique family of West Coast orcas.
North by Northwest14:11Whale Tale Chapter 7
Grant Lawrence returns with the seventh chapter of his series, Whale Tale, following a unique family of West Coast orcas.
North by Northwest15:15Whale Tale Chapter 8
Grant Lawrence returns with the eighth chapter of his series, Whale Tale, following a unique family of West Coast orcas.
North by Northwest14:38Whale Tale Chapter 9
Grant Lawrence brings us the penultimate chapter of his series, Whale Tale, following a unique family of West Coast orcas.
North by Northwest15:33Whale Tale Chapter 10
CBC’s Grant Lawrence is back with the final chapter of his radio series Whale Tale.
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