NAMU

Namu - the killer whale

The capture of Namu

Namu is a medium size killer whale.

In 1965, while trying to catch salmon, fishermen caught Namu, a killer whale. By accident, Namu, a 24-foot long, 5-ton male killer whale was caught off Namu, British Columbia. The fishermen decided to sell Namu, the killer whale, alive to the first bidder.

The owner of an aquarium in Seattle, Washington, Ted Griffin, bought Namu from the fishermen for $8,000. Ted has been fascinated by killer whales for sometime and he jumped at the opportunity. He named the killer whale he bought Namu after the town it was captured. 

Transporting Namu to the Aquarium

Namu made the trip to his new home. Namu needed to travel 450 miles from British Columbia to Seattle. He travelled in a 60 foot x 40 foot x 16 foot deep floating pen towed by a boat.

While Namu was in transport, he made various screaming sounds. Soon, about 30 - 40 other killer whales in the ocean circled around the floating pen. They are probably Namu 's pod. They constantly charged at the pen seemingly trying to help Namu. However, the pen that contained Namu had built in sonar to warn other killer whales. After a while, all other killer whales disappeared but a female killer whale and two killer whale calves. They stayed with Namu for a while and then they too disappeared.

A lot of people lined up on bridges to watch Namu pass underneath. Some people worried about Namu and wanted to see him free.

Namu 's life at the Aquarium

Namu arrived in the Aquarium in Seattle on July 28 1965. Namu's new home was protected by a big net. Inside, he jumped and played and swam around. Namu weighed as much as a big schoolbus so when he jumped, he made a very big splash.

5,000 people lined up to see Namu, the killer whale, at the aquarium in Seattle on the first day.  By September the number of people who visited Namu exceeded 120,000. 

Namu ate 400 pounds of salmon a day.