Puget Sound Whales for Sale: The Fight to End Orca Hunting

Sandra Pollard

jun 2014 · Arcadia Publishing

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A look at the history of the commercial capturing of orcas in Washington’s Puget Sound, the whales taken, and the efforts to save them.

In November, 2005, Washington’s iconic killer whales, known as Southern Resident orcas, were placed on the endangered species list. It was a victory long overdue for a fragile population of fewer than one hundred whales. Author and certified marine naturalist Sandra Pollard traces the story and destinies of the many Southern Resident orcas captured for commercial purposes in or near the Puget Sound between 1964 and 1976. During this time, these highly intelligent members of the dolphin family lost nearly one-third of their population. Drawing on original archive material, this important volume outlines the history of orca captivity while also recounting the harrowing struggle—and ultimate triumph—for the Puget Sound orcas’ freedom.

“Making liberal use of interviews, correspondence and newspaper accounts, as well as less intensive use of legislative, governmental, and nonprofit records, Pollard constructs an easily digestible narrative for lay individuals curious about the hunting of Puget Sound’s Northern and Southern Resident killer whale groups between 1965 and 1976. Puget Sound Whales for Sale significantly succeeds the former (Blackfish) in breadth and depth.” —Pacific Northwest Quarterly

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Sandra Pollard was brought up in Cornwall, England, and now lives on Whidbey Island, Washington. She is a certified marine naturalist giving land- and boat-based talks about the endangered Southern Resident orcas and other marine mammals of the Salish Sea, a volunteer with the local whale sightings organization, Orca Network, and a member of the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network. As a freelance writer, she has written pieces for a range of publications.