Very few people are aware that in the 1950's, the U.S. Navy stationed in Iceland was asked by the Icelandic government to help with a problem: killer whales (Orcinus orca) were interfering with the herring catch.
The Navy's solution? Send some Neptune anti-submarine warfare aircraft to BOMB THE WHALES!
I am indebted to my old Seattle friend, former USAAF navigator David Gardner, for drawing my attention to the story in a 1956 edition of Naval Aviation News. As the article makes clear, "several hundred" orcas were estimated to be killed; a huge number, given how tightly bound orca families are.
The story triggered my own curiosity, so I wrote to the Naval Archive and got the report from the Seventh Squadron that confirms the report in NAN.
What irreplaceable dialects and elements of orca culture were forever lost? I think the U.S. Navy has some apologizing to do...
Doubtless, more investigation could be done. I am sure film and still photos were shot of these operations, and I am sure that some old Navy men who took part must still be alive.
Original article from Naval Aviation News
Letter from the Naval Archive
Cover, Declassified Report from Seventh ASW Squadron
Page 1, Declassified Report from Seventh ASW Squadron
I am presuming all the depth charges were used on whales. Since scanning this page I have learned that HVARs refers to "high velocity aircraft rockets," the "tank killers" of WWII. I don't know what SCARs refers to but I assume the last two words are "aircraft rocket."
COMING NEXT: Exclusive interview! Ric O'Barry, star of "The Cove," speaks out about dolphins... in 1978!
Inner page (no #) showing ordnance expended.
Note that almost 10,000 rounds of .50 caliber machine gun ammunition were fired. Some of this was undoubtedly target practice on an deserted rock island, mentioned in the report. How much was actually fired at the whales, and with what effect, I don't know.
A Navy divers' manual from the period states, "The only defense against a killer whale attack is reincarnation," and this in spite of the fact that a wild killer whale has never attacked a human being!
It's evident the U.S. Navy unleashed some of its most destructive weaponry, short of the A-bomb, on Icelandic killer whales. It makes me wonder, who deserves the title, "KILLER?"
