By John Dodge - Staff writer
Originally from theolympian.com
Read the original article here
Photo courtesy San Juan Islands Tourism and Jim Maya
Sea World contractor Don Goldsberry made a huge tactical error on a Sunday afternoon in March 1976.
He herded a family of transient killer whales into Budd Inlet with airplanes, power boats and underwater explosives dropped in the shadow of the state Capitol and not far from The Evergreen State College, which was hosting whale scientists and biologists at the first-ever International Orca Symposium.
His high-powered pursuit also occurred right in front of former Secretary of State Ralph Munro, who was sailing in lower Budd Inlet with his wife and two other couples.
The Munro party didn’t like what they heard or saw as Goldsberry corraled six of the orcas in a net. Killer whales on each side of the net, near Athens Beach, cried out to each other in distress. They were victims of a federal permit that allowed Goldsberry to capture orcas and sell them into captivity so they could be trained to perform tricks for paying customers at marine parks and aquariums.
