L Pod’s Historic Return to Penn Cove
Fifty years ago Southern Residents were brutally rounded up in Penn Cove for capture. Since that time they had never returned. Until now.
L87 Onyx breaching at the entrance of Penn Cove on Monday, November 4, 2024. Photo by Tamara Kelley
Nestled off the Northeast side of Whidbey Island is a large bay called Penn Cove. The cove is surrounded by forests of towering pines, a small town with little shops and cafes, and is teaming with wildlife making it a popular tourist destination. Located deep in the cove on the south end you can see the oyster beds where the world-famous Penn Cove oysters are harvested. Take a stroll down the wharf in downtown Coupeville which sits about midway in the cove, and you are sure to see seals swimming beneath the water searching for fish, or a group of California sea lions barking and leaping out of the water. If you’re lucky, occasionally, you may even see a whale enter the cove. Penn Cove is occasionally visited by Transient killer whales, also called Bigg’s killer whales, which are the mammal-eating ecotype of orca, that use the cove to find prey. During other times of year, you might encounter a gray whale or possibly even a humpback.
Overlooking Penn Cove from the north end
While Penn Cove is an excellent spot for viewing local marine life and birds, one of the animals you were guaranteed not to see in this location was the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales. That was the case until now.
For as quaint and charming as Penn Cove is today, it is shrouded in a dark and traumatic past.
The Captures
In the summer of 1970 upwards of 100 Southern Resident killer whales were brutally rounded up in Penn Cove for capture to be sold to marine parks. The captures were led by Don Goldsberry and Ted Griffin of Namu Inc. and were organized and funded by marine parks including SeaWorld, Miami Seaquarium, the Vancouver Aquarium, and MarineLand.
The event consisted of two major captures, one in June 1970 followed by a second capture in August 1970. There were subsequent captures in 1971 and 1972. The series of captures resulted in a total of 13 whales taken from the population for captivity as well as the death of at least four whales due to injuries and stress from the capture process.
The captures began with the deployment of several boats and planes working in tandem to corral the whales into the cove, utilizing tactics such as detonating dynamite and explosives to scare and disorient the whales. Once in the cove, a net was deployed across the entrance, trapping the whales inside the cove.
Once the net was in place, the boats would continue to pressure the orcas, pushing them into a more confined space. In some cases, a “pocket” or shallow area of the cove was used to further isolate the whales from the rest of the pod. The whales would then be separated from their families by age and size, with the younger orcas and calves being taken. Young orcas and calves were targeted as they were considered more valuable and could be easily trained for performances.
One of the whales taken to captivity was Tokitae, also known as Lolita or Sk’aliChelt-tenaut, who spent her entire life at the Miami Seaquarium. She was the last living Southern Resident in captivity and sadly passed away in August 2023, as efforts were in the process to relocate her to a sea pen.
The captures were deeply traumatic to the killer whales, which have strong family bonds, and had long-term impacts on the entire Southern Resident killer whale population. The loss of key individuals from the population led to at least three breeding generations being removed and a loss of genetic diversity, all of which have contributed to the continued decline and endangered status of the Southern Resident killer whales.
Since the captures, no Southern Resident pods had ever returned.
The Return
On the afternoon of Sunday, November 3, 2024, L Pod made history when they entered Penn Cove. They had been in Puget Sound the days prior and had even gone in and out of Port Susan the previous day which is relatively unusual for Southern Residents. They spent multiple days in Saratoga Passage located between Whidbey and Camano Islands, and is at the mouth of Penn Cove. They had been making their way north in Saratoga Passage, before ultimately making the turn into Penn Cove. As they entered the cove they were surface active dazzling onlookers by spyhopping and tail slapping. They ultimately went about halfway into the cove before turning around and leaving, making their way south in Saratoga Passage, ending up in Langley before dark.
The following day brought some severe weather with gale-force winds creating some swell and large wind waves on the water. L Pod was first seen in Holmes Harbor which is roughly 7 miles south of Penn Cove. Upon entering into Saratoga Passage they made their way north, where we picked them up at Long Point, a public beach that sits at the south side of the entrance of Penn Cove. We weren’t sure if we were going to be able to see in them in the windy conditions. The strong wind gusts made it challenging to keep binoculars or cameras steady, and at times would even knock us off our feet. Luckily for us, the orcas made a close pass to shore, displaying a multitude of surface behaviors like leaping, breaching, spy hopping, and tail slapping as they entered the cove. We often speculate that the orcas like to play in the wind swells, and that seemed to be the case with many of the youngsters soaring out of the water.
Unlike the previous day where they had gone halfway in before turning around and exiting, L Pod went all the way into the cove where they remained for the rest of the day. Once they were deep in the cove, they appeared to be grouped together in a resting formation.
It is unclear why after over 50 years the whales returned. The most likely reason is that there have been enough lapse between generations, that younger generations are open to exploring new places. Some speculate that the whales may have returned in search of food, however, the cove itself may not host much salmon in comparison to other locations. And it’s quite possible in the case of the windstorm that the orcas were just seeking refuge from the wind.
While we may never know why the whales chose to return, or what that experience may have been like for them, we see this is a moment of healing, be it for the locals and whale advocates who witnessed the horrific events, or possibly even the whales themselves. We also can’t help but feel this shows the resiliency of the Southern Residents, and we hope that it serves as a reminder that given the chance, they can and will thrive. It’s up to us to give them that chance.
