Whale Tale - Ch 8 - Escape

In the final chapter, you'll learn about what happened to the whales that escaped from Pedder Bay, and the legacy of both the orcas and the humans involved in the capture of these whales on Vancouver Island in 1970. 

In this penultimate chapter, orca researcher Graeme Ellis provides clues on who let the whales out. Also, the fate of the prized Chimo the white whale and her aggressive cousin Nootka. 

The two remaining orcas in the Pedder Bay net pen have been sold to an American aquarium, but with local opposition heating up, an incredible event occurs that stuns all involved: the whales escape. But who helps them? 

In this chapter, you'll hear about the desperate attempts to get the two remaining older whales - Charlie, and his mother 'Pointed Nose Cow' eating something - anything - for the first time in months. And some unlikely companionship: local children discover the orcas penned in Pedder Bay, Vancouver Island, 1970.

In the last chapter, you heard about Chimo, the young white orca, and her cousin Nootka, being moved to their new home: Sealand of the Pacific Aquarium in Oak Bay BC, on southern Vancouver Island, where they finally starting eating after a 24 day fast in 1970. In this chapter, you'll hear about Sealand's desperate attempt to feed the remaining three adult orcas left in the sea pen in Pedder Bay, all of whom fasted for much longer, and were suffering from starvation. 

Transient orca Chimo, the young white whale, and her cousin Nootka, are transferred from their Pedder Bay net pen to the Sealand Aquarium in Oak Bay, BC. There, they meet Haida, a southern resident, and what follows is a profound moment in the captivity era.

Diver Bruce Bott shares what it was like to be underwater with the orcas on the chaotic night when the Pedder Bay 5 were captured, and his later experience diving down to Chimo, the prized white whale, when she got tangled in her net and was drowning. 

The white whale and the rest of her pod have been captured in Pedder Bay, Vancouver Island... but now what? The handlers quickly realize that these whales are unlike any they have ever come across. 

In this episode, Grant Lawrence takes you back to the serendipitous events of March 1, 1970, off the blustery coast of southern Vancouver Island: the capture of the one of the rarest ocean mammals of all time - a white orca whale.

In this gripping new West Coast adventure series, Grant Lawrence tries to crack a 55-year-old mystery that involves the tragedy and triumph of a unique family of orcas.