Locals can still hear the sharp cries of orcas during the 1970 Penn Cove capture. Photograph: Wallie V. Funk Photographs, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Washington University
The whales knew speedboats were after them again. In 1970, about 100 orcas had convened in the cold waters off the islands north of Seattle for their annual mid-summer’s romp. Known as a “superpod,” members of all three southern resident lineages line up in a somewhat mysterious greeting that conjures both traditional Native potlatches and awkward middle school dances. Then they go off. They belly flop, back dive, and breach. They feast on Chinook salmon. Sometimes, yes, they mate. But in early August, the
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