In the July 1965, Ted Griffen, owner of the Seattle Aquarium, was offered a male killer whale that had accidently been trapped in a fishing net in Namu, British Columbia. He went down and viewed the whale. Griffen Purchased the whale, whom he named Namu, and towed him in a seapen to Seattle. During the journey, several members of Namu's pod followed very closley to the pen. After the first few days of the trip, most of them turned around and went back to Johnstone Straight. But a female, and two juveniles remained with him until they got to BainBridge Island. Then after a 2 days of calling to him, they turned around and left also. Griffen learned to immitate Namu's squeaks, allowing for "communication" between to two. Griffen told the press in a 1995 interview, that "The whale was always in charge. He could have killed me instantly in a variety of ways. The whale was actually interacting with me and training me, and creating a companion for him under his circumstances. It brought me to my knees when i realized that i was dealing with something of this enormous intellect and capability." Although Griffen tried his best, his companionship was not enough for Namu. 11 months after capture, his dorsal fin flopped over, and suffering from severe bacterial infections due to the polluted waters, Namu rammed the steel mesh net at full speed, impaling himself and drowning. Namu died, but not before and industry had been born. After Namu's death, Griffen never got himself another whale, but set out capturing orcas for other marineparks such as Seaworld. Namu truly was a window opened for the world. |
