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Died in 1930 when a whaler tried to bring the carcass in early, before Tom had his share (there was a storm approaching). Tom lost teeth grabbing the tow rope a
by mustacheemperor 3y ago
Died in 1930 when a whaler tried to bring the carcass in early, before Tom had his share (there was a storm approaching). Tom lost teeth grabbing the tow rope and washed up deceased with oral abscesses some time later.
This was after most of the pod of killer whales had disappeared - thought maybe hunted down in Norway. Whaling is fascinating history. But it is very sad.
- vintagedave 3y ago> thought maybe hunted down in Norway Are you sure? I don't know much about orcas but that's a very long way to track the same whales. The Wikipedia article [1] states Norwegian whalers a little further north in Jervis Bay, still in Australian waters. I fully agree, whaling is a very sad history. As a kid, I occasionally saw "whale pots", big iron cauldrons used for boiling down blubber (I suppose.) I thought they were really cool. I don't think so any more. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tom_(orca)#Death_and_the_end_of_whaling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tom_(orca)#Death_and_the_e...
- mustacheemperor 3y agoAha, I misread “Norwegian” to be in Norway, not Norwegians whaling in Australia. Certainly makes a lot more sense geographically, I was thinking that seemed like a long way to swim.