Talk:Namu (orca)

Removed Text

I took out this text, which would be better suited to an article on the history of orca captures. I've copyedited for clarity.

The captive orca, a sick, disoriented female, was captured in 1961 by Marineland of the Pacific in Newport Harbor, California. Two days after her introduction to her tank, she smashed head-on into the tank's wall and died.

The next captive orca was captured in 1964. A sculptor by the name of Samuel Burich was commissioned in 1964 by the Vancouver Aquarium to go out and kill an orca and fashion a life-sized model of it for the aquarium's new British Columbia hall. Burich harpooned a 15-foot long, 1-ton orca near East Point, Saturna Island in British Columbia. When the orca did not die immediately, even after being shot, the aquarium's director, Murray Newman, decided to keep it alive and tow it by the dorsal fin back to Vancouver - a 20-mile journey. The orca was named Moby Doll (though later it was found to be male). People were surprised by Moby Doll's docility. He was kept in captivity for 87 days until he died from a skin disease caused by the harbor's low-salinity water.

For the first time, newspapers and magazines including Reader's Digest, Life, The Times of London, and the Victoria Times gave some positive press about orcas. Moby Doll's captivity started a new era for his species.

Also this bit, also copyedited:

Griffin, spotting an opportunity, decided to capture more orcas for oceaniums. In 1965 he began a partnership with Dan Goldsberry.

Griffin, Goldsberry and others captured orcas in the waters around Washington and British Columbia from November 1965 until August 1977. They seine-netted the orcas on 19 separate occasions, and captured a total of around 262 individuals. From those captured, they selected 50 juveniles. Weaned juveniles were targeted because they posed less risk during transportation and still possessed the mental flexibility to adapt to a captive situation. Five other orcas were removed from the population either because they were accidentally caught in nets or they had been stranded. At least 11 orcas died during the capture, mainly by drowning in nets. Sixteen of the orcas in captivity died in the first year.

Public and scientific concern arose because of the captures. People wanted restrictions to be introduced if killer whales were to be continually taken. It was unknown exactly how many orcas were present in the population during the capture period. The assumption of the captors was that there were hundreds or thousands of orcas in the area. This number was based on the assumption that they were evenly distributed over the entire Pacific Ocean. Because of this concern, Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans contracted a marine biologist, Dr. Mike Bigg, to do a population census of orcas in the area around British Columbia.

Dr. Bigg organized a public sighting program to assess the number of orcas and their locations by sending out questionnaires to lighthouses, ferries, fishery patrol boats, tugs, fishermen and other individuals who lived and worked along the coast of British Columbia. From 500 or so returns per year, it was estimated that the population in British Columbia was roughly 200-300 orcas. This number was much lower than the many hundreds and even thousands of killer whales that the captors thought were present.

In 1973, Bigg proposed the use of photographs to obtain an accurate account of the orcas in local waters. This method involved taking photographs of each individual's dorsal fin and saddle patch (the grey spot that appears just behind the dorsal fin), parts of the orca as individual as human fingerprints. Bigg also argued that this method of photo-identification would provide insight into many other features of their natural history. He began assigning identities to the orcas. Each pod he encountered was given a letter. Within each pod, each individual also received a number.

Many scientists were sceptical about whether this new method would work. To prove this new field technique, Dr. Bigg captured a young male orca in Pedder Bay near Victoria, British Colombia in 1973. This young killer whale (K-1) was radio tagged and at the same time, two nicks were cut out from the top third of its dorsal fin for easy identification. Dr. Bigg wanted to prove that injuries involving tissue loss are permanent. (K-1 had been photographed in 1997 and these knicks had remained unchanged. Sadly this orca hasn't been seen since 1997 and is therefore presumed to be dead.)

The text on the movie has also been removed, as it deserves its own entry, if there isn't one on the movie already. Movies typically don't have huge crew listings, but lots of attention is paid to synopses and production, and generally whole entries aren't lifted from some other source (as the quoted comment would suggest). For that reason I'm not quoting the text here.

I removed the potentially libellous and unbiased phrase, "Griffin had become so enthralled by money and fame ..." I'm not a particular fan of the capture of cetaceans for marine mammal parks and zoos, but Wikipedia articles need to remain unbiased.

I'm also going through doing a serious copyedit. I don't know what to do about the clashing American/British spellings (we've got "behavior" but also "sceptical"), so I'm going to leave those for now and let the article's author deal with that, or maybe post their intentions so I can change spelling accordingly.

This is a great article, but in need of a bit of cleanup and needs to cite sources. It could also use some links to other articles. Lomaprieta 01:36, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

Copyrighted text

I've removed all of the following as it is almost identical to the text here: http://www.rockisland.com/~orcasurv/changing.htm . It needs to be rewritten before it can go back. Kla'quot 06:12, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Capture

Orca captures for exhibition purposes began in the Pacific Northwest in 1965. The second capture in the northwest was an accidental snare of a 24-foot long, 5-ton male who became tangled in a fishing net off Namu, British Columbia. The two fishermen who owned the net decided to sell him alive to the first person willing to pay.

Ted Griffin, owner of the Seattle Public Aquarium, had dreamed for many years of befriending an orca. When Griffin heard of the captured orca, he jumped at the opportunity and bought it for $8,000, the cost of replacing the net. He named the animal Namu, after the town of its capture.

The main problem was how to transport Namu 450 miles from Namu to Seattle, Washington. Griffin solved this problem by building a floating pen that could be towed by boat to Seattle. The journey southward started in July 1965. While Namu was being towed southward he called out, and on the fourth day of the trip, a pod of orcas overtook the floating pen. They repeatedly charged the cage, but did not hit it. After several hours, most of the orcas disappeared, save a female and two calves. These three orcas were possibly Namu's mother and siblings, and they stayed with Namu for 150 miles.

Life in Captivity

Namu was an instant success when he arrived on July 28, 1965, in Rich Cove, 12 miles west of Seattle. Namu's first Sunday at Rich Cove attracted 5,000 people, and by September the number of people who visited Namu exceeded 120,000. They all came to see the "killer turned tame".

Griffin wanted to dispel the popular notion that orcas were bloodthirsty predators. Griffin knew that in order to prove this attitude wrong, he had to meet Namu on his own terms and in his own environment. Griffin decided that to demonstrate the orca's friendliness, he had to swim with him. People told him that "swimming with a killer whale is like risking death."

Before attempting the first swim ever with a wild orca, Griffin studied Namu's behavior. He reasoned that fear would not be a cause for aggression, since orcas have no natural enemies. Namu should instead regard Griffin with curiosity.

Griffin first entered the water with Namu on August 27, 1965, just one month after Namu arrived at Rich Cove. He approached Namu with a short handled brush. Namu did not move, so Griffin scrubbed Namu's head, nose and chin. Later in the day Griffin slid onto Namu's back, and a relationship was born. Griffin commented on his relationshop with Namu: "It was as if my every conscious wish became the whale's command."

Death

Namu and Griffin performed together for 11 months until Namu contracted a bacterial infection which damaged his nervous system. A few days before his death he became unresponsive to people, and in June Namu crashed head-on at full speed into the wire mesh of his pen, thrashed violently for a few minutes and then died.

Shamu, Namu & Kandu

Sea World in the late 1980's and early 1990's (if not before) used to use "Namu" as one of its stage/show names for its Orcas during performances. No mention of that is made here. I can't source it yet, as it's from memory of many visits to Sea World of Texas in that timeframe, but it was in their advertising and part of their shows, eg. "Sea World -- home to "Shamu, Namu & Kandu". - Ageekgal 18:27, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

I saw this edit a long time ago but didn't quite believe it until today when I stumbled across 2 photos and a video that verifies this. Photo 1, Photo 2, Video. That should teach me to ever doubt the power of the internet. If someone with better Wikipedia skills than I could properly reference that statement now, I'd greatly appreciate it. Polar33 (talk) 01:44, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

I'm not sure it's necessary to "cite" these photos / video of the use of the name "Namu" for SeaWorld orcas in San Diego and San Antonio. The fact that the name "Namu" was used for orcas in SeaWorld shows does appear to be true / verifiable (and non-controversial and unlikely to be challenged) so I removed the "citation needed" flag from this statement in the article today. I hope this is OK / reasonable Wikipedia-policy-wise. Pugetbill (talk) 13:33, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

First, second, third, etc. orcas captured / displayed / performed / etc.

I corrected a recent edit in which a "precedence" statement was altered in the lead paragraph. The original statement was correct - and consistent with sources / citations - so the edit was reverted. The following brief summary is based on the citations given in this (and the Moby Doll and Shamu articles) and (especially) the PBS and other sources ([1])

• "Wanda" (?) was the first orca "captured" (in 1961 near Los Angeles Harbor) but she died within 24 (48?) hours so was not "displayed in an aquarium exhibit" in any meaningful way.

"1961, November

Marineland of the Pacific, south of Los Angeles, discovers a single orca feeding alone in nearby Newport Harbor. They corral the female whale, finally hoisting it onto a flatbed. When the whale is introduced into the tank, she smashes head-on into the wall. Frank Brocato, Marineland's head animal collector at the time, recalls: 'We'd suspected the animal was in trouble because of its erratic behavior in the harbor...But the next day, she went crazy. She started swimming at high speed around the tank, striking her body repeatedly. Finally, she convulsed and died.' The autopsy reveals she suffered from acute gastroenteritis and pneumonia.")

• Next, Moby Doll was captured in 1964 (after being harpooned and shot at - the original intent was to kill and recover the orca for use in creating a model/sculpture) and the injured animal was placed on display in a pen in Burrard Drydocks (Vancouver, BC) for ~3 months before he died. No sources claim that Moby Doll "performed" during this time - with or without human trainers.
  
• Namu was captured in British Columbia waters, sold to Seattle aquarium owner Ted Griffin, and put on public display in Griffin's aquarium - in a pen along Seattle's waterfront. Namu "performed" regularly for the public - together with Griffin in and out of the water - before he died, a little over a year after being caught.
  
• Before Namu dies in 1966, Griffin captures Shamu in Puget Sound and leases and eventually sells her to SeaWorld in San Diego, CA where she performs for the public for years before dying in 1971.
  
• Many more orcas are captured by Griffin and others and are sold to aquariums around the world.

Pugetbill (talk) 17:51, 14 September 2013 (UTC)

Second thoughts / corrections regarding "precedence"

I am having second (third?) thoughts about the rationale for my previous "corrections" (above) to the "precedence" issues in this article. According to reliable sources, "Wanda" (aka "The Newport Specimen") was the first orca (killer whale) ever captured. This is well documented and was never in dispute as far as I know. What seems/seemed less clear (to me anyway) was whether or not Wanda was ever "displayed in a public exhibit" before she died. According to sources, Wanda was captured on Nov 18, 1961 and was introduced into Marineland of the Pacific's giant "oval tank" at 10pm Saturday evening. She expired in that same tank less than 35 hours later at 8:30am on Monday morning, Nov 20, 1961. I still can't find any specific citation that describes the orca as being on "public display" that Sunday, Nov 19, but I also see no mention that Marineland of the Pacific was closed to the public that day or that the oval tank was not available for public viewing. So, unless there is a specific source / citation that states otherwise, it seems much more likely (to me) to assume the tank (and therefore Wanda) was publicly viewable that day. This makes Wanda the first orca captured AND the first to be "displayed in a public exhibit" - even if it was only for one day. I plan to add citations and adjust the relevant language in this article as appropriate. Pugetbill (talk) 18:48, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Granny (orca) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 16:46, 27 May 2019 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Chimo (killer whale) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 22:01, 27 May 2019 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:List of captive orcas which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 15:46, 30 May 2019 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Granny (killer whale) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 15:50, 10 March 2022 (UTC)

Not "the first healthy killer whale to be captured"

Rewriting the lead sentence to focus on primary notability. Removing confusing claim: while Wanda was already ailing, Moby Doll the next capture (1964) was healthy in the wild and swimming with his pod until harpooned by his captors. Rebecca Beecham Gotzl (talk) 12:03, 15 April 2023 (UTC)