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Submitted by stevenl on Wed, 10/26/2005 - 6:07am.
For 3 decades or so, there was a grey wall of metal sitting in Budd Inlet known as the "Mothball Fleet." The ships were left over from WWII and remained an imposing presence until the early 1970s. During my Junior High years, I had a friend with a motorboat, and we enjoyed getting close to those ships and giving the local Coast Guard a fun cat and mouse chase. Today, of course, they would shoot us for being terrorists. But I digress before I even get started.
» In March 1976, this newly vacated area which had served as the home for the Mothball Fleet for so long, became a stage for the Sea World whale drama. Early that month six killer whales were chased into Budd Inlet by aquarium hunters from Sea World, Inc., who employed boats and a seaplane. All six whales were trapped in a net. But in one of those coincidences that makes me think there must be a God and it has a sense a humor, this capture happened at the same time the International Orca Symposium was taking place at TESC. This was a gathering of whale activists and researchers who helped provide some of the people power behind the small navy of protesters that quickly surrounded the hunters. They came in rowboats, kayaks, canoes, at one time more than a hundred protesters were on the water. From shore it looked impressive. Three of the whales broke loose and refused to leave the others, as if joining in the protest. There were student schemes to cut the net and free the orcas, but before a fortnight had passed, legal steps had been taken by Dan Evans to force Sea World to release the others.
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This is another great story.
Submitted by Sarah on Wed, 10/26/2005 - 12:08pm.I have no memory of any law e
Submitted by stevenl on Wed, 10/26/2005 - 6:02pm.Boy do I remember this one!
Submitted by bcameron on Tue, 06/05/2007 - 10:01am.The most memorable demo I ever attended, and one of my fondest memories of my brief but eventful year at Evergreen. I was in a canoe when a whale surfaced maybe 50 feet away.
I wrote a story about the demo for the Cooper Point Journal, so hopefully it's archived if someone knows where to look. I believe my lead was "You couldn't tell the players without a scorecard in Budd Inlet", cause there were so many different parties on the water, all involved in one way or another.
Someone asked about law enforcement; they were certainly present but felt no need to take action. In fact, while out there I spoke with the deputy sherriff who was in charge, who offered his compliments to the protesters for the peaceful conduct of the demo.
I also engaged in a conversation with a PR guy working for Sea World, who gave their point-of-view while reclining on the foredeck of a small cabin cruiser. "What a sellout this guy is", I remember thinking. Well, I was young and idealistic.
There were several fishing boats working for Sea World and we did exchange some insults, but that's about as rough as it got.
Part of the issue was that they were going to relocate the orcas a long distance, I can't exactly recall to where, might have been Chicago or Florida but wasn't on the Pacific where they belonged.
Thanks for the memory jog!
Bill Cameron
Thanks for the nice report,
Submitted by stevenl on Wed, 06/06/2007 - 5:29am.