There are many examples of whales’ interaction with man. Perhaps the first well known case of whales reacting to help man is the case of “Old Tom” and his pack of killers who worked so well with the local whalemen of Twofold Bay.


This particular shore-based whaling operation was unique in the co-operation between the whalers and a pack of killer whales which returned each year. These killer whales which were identified individually by special markings, Tom, Hooky, Humpy and Stranger would herd the baleen whales into Twofold Bay. They would alert the whalers of their prey’s arrival by “flop-tailing”, (thrashing the water with their tails), and the chase would be on.

After the whale was harpooned, some of the killers would expedite its death by rolling over its blowhole to stop it breathing, and others would swim below it to prevent it sounding.

When the whale was dead, the killers would take the tongue and lips as their reward and leave the carcass for the whalers to bring ashore. Whaling from Twofold Bay continued until the late 1920’s, by which time, on this scale, it certainly could not have been a profitable concern. The last whale was taken in 1928.

Tom’s body was found in Twofold Bay on 17th September, 1930. His remains were treated and his ORCA skeleton is now on exhibition in the ‘Davidson Gallery’ at the Eden Killer Whale Museum.