Eden's Orcas and Whales

The Killer Whale Museum was full of lots of interesting information and well worth a visit.

From 1826 until the 1930's shore based whaling was conducted from Twofold Bay particularly by the Davidson Family. Around 1840's there were reportedly 50 orcas which were split 3 pods that co-operated together to catch whales. One pod stationed far out to sea would drive whales in towards the coast, another pod would attack the whale (swimming beneath it to prevent it from diving down while others would cover the blowhole) and another pod would be ahead of the whale in case it broke loose.

Three generations of the Davidson family worked closely with the orcas. Several orcas would swim into the mouth of the Kiah river adjacent to the Davidson homes and begin to breech or slap their tails on the water (known by the Davidsons at flop-tailing) to alert the whalers that whales were in the vicinity. The whalers would row their wooden boats following the orcas to the corralled whales.

After killing the whale, the Davidsons would tie an anchor and bouy to the whale leaving the spoils to the orcas who only ate the its tongue and lips. The next day the whale would float to the surface and the whalers would retrieve and tow the remains back to shore. This arrangement was known amongst the whalers at 'the law of the tongue.'

There were many stories about the strong relationship between the orcas and the whalers. The orcas markings and distinctive differences of their dorsal fins led to them being named. The most famous one begin Old Tom whoes dorsal fin was about 170cm tall! Old Tom not only would alert the whalers to the presence of whales but would often hold onto the rope attached to the anchor/whale either to be pulled around or to do the pulling! There were various stories of Old Tom and the other orcas protecting the whalers from sharks when their whaleboat capsized or they'd fallen overboard.

Another story involved the tragic drowning of Jack Davidson and his two sons while crossing from Twofold Bay. The bodies of the three were not immediately located. However over the following week Old Tom had been circling an area adjacent to the where the boat capsized. It was in this area that the bodies were eventually found.

Sadly Old Tom died in 1930, with his carcass found floating in Twofold Bay. The locals decided to preserve Old Tom's bones and they can be seen reassembled in the Killer Whale Museum. Interestingly with the reduction in orcas and the death of Old Tom, the shore based whaling essentially ceased around this time.