Justice in the World of Killer Whales

By Michael L. Kryder

For almost fifty years, killer whales, or orcas, have been abused and mistreated both during capture and while in captivity. They are contained in small tanks, harassed, and used for entertainment, while their natural habitat is the ocean. To keep the whales in check, trainers use brutal methods, and sometimes, the whales fight back.

One day, a three-year-old orca is captured and torn from his family. The young male whale is deemed unsuitable for training and use in amusement shows, so he is killed, his carcass tossed back into the sea. The mother orca and her pod, the dead whales family, find the carcass and vow revenge. So the ocean justice begins.

The pod brutally attacks and kills humans along the California coast. Later, a mature male orca escapes from a marine amusement park and joins the mothers pod as the killing continues. Humans fight back. Marine Biologists, land-based law enforcement, the Coast Guard, and others try to stop the carnagebut what human cruelty unleashed, no man can stop.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781491795941

Michael L. Kryder

Michael L. Kryder earned bachelor's degrees in chemistry and mathematics from Arizona State University and spent over forty years in the retail field. Michael has two adult children and currently lives in Florida. A Killer Whale’s Revenge is his fourth novel.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

THERE WAS A 56-FOOT EARLY model Hatteras yacht anchored off the east side of Catalina Island just south of Avalon harbor. The ocean was calm with low, very slow moving swells. The sun was almost straight up in the sky, and it was almost lunch time. The guys sat on the back deck having a beer while the women stayed cool floating in the water in their life preservers.

There was a sudden scream, and instantly, one of the women was pulled under water. Both men jumped to their feet and started yelling, Where did she go? What happened to her? The other lady in the water screamed to get her out and was panicking and swimming as fast as she could in her cumbersome life preserver. The men scanned the surface. They took a minute to get the other woman out onto the ski platform on the back of the boat.

Just as the men helped the lady over the side onto the aft deck, they saw it. The woman came shooting out of the water. She was held in the mouth of a killer whale and was missing one leg. When the whale fell back into the water, he released the woman.

She screamed, Please help me, please help me! She was now floating by herself, and the water was turning red all around her. The owner of the boat went forward to start the engines to try and help the woman and get her back safely on board. Then they saw the large dorsal fins of three killer whales were coming towards her. They saw her being pulled back and forth, and then one of the orcas came from underneath her and grabbed her. It traveled along the surface with the woman in its mouth. She was missing one arm completely now, and the other was barely hanging on with just muscle and skin. Only the top half of her torso was in the whale’s mouth, and both legs were gone. Blood was spraying in all directions. Suddenly, the orcas disappeared, leaving nothing but a large pool of blood in the water.

The boat slowly moved towards where the lady had been attacked. The boat stopped and let its momentum float it up to the woman’s body – at least, what remained of it – and the men lifted her up into the boat. The skipper had a hand-held fishing net and was scooping the body parts out of the water. He lost it and had to vomit over the side.

The skipper got on the radio and immediately called the Coast Guard. It took about a half hour for the authorities to show up. He then called the port harbor master on Catalina and made sure there was a medical unit to meet them on the dock. The husband was still in hysterics. He had gone into shock and was just sitting down on the stern repeating the word, Why, why… and sobbing at the same time. The skipper’s wife was with him in the cabin. She was physically still shaking but very quiet.

The minimally-staffed medical unit on the island had to deal with everyone’s trauma. They all got sedatives to calm them down. The husband remained in shock. He was not coherent. He kept repeating his wife’s name, Gloria, why…

Reports were taken and given to the Coast Guard. Before the boaters left for the mainland that afternoon, a group of investigators questioned the three people who’d witnessed the attack. They asked them repeatedly if they could have been mistaken and if it had been a group of sharks that were responsible for the attack. The witnesses were emphatic. It had been a group of killer whales; their black and white markings were unmistakable. Sharks don’t come flying out of the water with people in their mouths. The huge teeth were visible in the mouth, and the sizes of the killer whales were huge. No, it had to be killer whales. Somebody called Ocean World of the Pacific, which was currently under construction, because it had one of the most renowned marine biologists in the country.

The medical examiner was there along with the Coast Guard and several law enforcement officers to meet with Mark Tillsdale, the head marine biologist at Ocean World of the Pacific. Everyone at the meeting still found it very hard to believe the women had been attacked by a pod of orcas. This was the first incident of its kind ever reported and totally beyond anyone’s imagination. The probability was almost impossible.

It had been over a year ago that the Ocean World Corporation had gotten the $ 280,000,000 loan for the construction of Ocean World of the Pacific. It would be their thirteenth park and the largest Ocean World park. It was being built on four square miles of land on the California coast located just north of Laguna Beach and south of Newport beach just west of Interstate 5. Some of its main features would be:

It would have four of the largest seawater aquarium tanks in the world.

• They would be oval shaped.

• The length of two of them would be 250 feet.

o One 250-foot tank would contain three humpback whales and several pilot whales.

o The other 250-foot tank would contain eight orcas (better known as killer whales).

• The length of the other two tanks would be 200 feet.

o One 200-foot tank would contain a group of live great white sharks.

o The other 200-foot tank would contain large species of fish including bluefin and yellowfin tuna, sun fish, and manta rays.

Other tanks, eight in all, would house the remaining variety of fish and several species of sea turtles.

The park would contain more sea mammals and fish on display than anywhere in the world. It would be six months before it opened to the public.

Other features of the park would include:

• Five show arenas.

o Two for the whales – both orca species and humpbacks.

o One for the porpoises.

o One for the seals.

o The last one would be for the otters.

• There would be an automated tram that would run underground, traveling next to the underwater windows of all the aquariums on the opposite side from the foot traffic.

• The automated trams would be equipped with a sound recording that would give all the information about the sea creatures as they stopped for a few minutes next to each aquarium.

• Throughout the park grounds would be a twenty-foot-wide river flowing at the bottom of a shallow canal.

o The canal would be bordered by a short wall and railing extending four feet over the river for safety.

o The river would wind through all exhibits and shops.

o The river would have alligators and crocodiles kept in separate areas of the canal.

o There would be a small platform arena for an alligator show where the trainers would handle and feed the alligators.

• There would be exhibits of manatees, walruses, and penguins. There would be selected exhibits of more exotic mammals like Narwhales.

• Overall there would be over a hundred main exhibits and shows with more than four hundred different species of sea life.

• There would be a sea petting zoo for the kids to touch, handle, pet, and in some cases feed the sea animals.

• The park would contain young porpoises, sea rays, sea otters, small sharks of different species, and a variety of crustaceans.

• The park would have a large auditorium with a movie theatre that would seat four hundred people to show a variety of educational films scheduled throughout the day on the different species and interesting facts about the park.

• Part of the construction included an ocean harbor protected by a cement break wall directly down from the park along the sea coast. It would include a large multi-docking facility for all the research and capture vessels.

• There would be a 600-foot rail system that would have trams running from the docks up to the park for transporting live specimens and supplies. There would also be specially designed containers to transport the large sea mammals that would keep the water level constant and the animals alive.

• The park would employee some 2500 people.

• The staff would include:

o Four marine biologists, including Mark Tillsdale. Mark was a world renowned biologist who would be in charge of all the sea life. This would include the full scope from capture to training.

o A special staff of marine vets to maintain the health of the sea creatures.

o A special unit of water maintenance technicians to insure the quality of seawater and its circulation within all the aquariums. Park maintenance technicians.

o Machine shop staff.

o Restaurant and booth staff.

o Administration and security staff.

o Science research staff.

• Three large restaurants.

• One of the restaurants would be a large needle tower 450 feet high overlooking the entire park with a panoramic view of the coastline. It would have a solar light enhanced with a battery system that would be activated at night that would serve as a lighthouse identifying the coastline for ships. It was hoped that it would become one of the great landmarks of the California coast.

• Thirty concession stands.

• There would be thirty restrooms strategically placed throughout the park. You can’t have enough restrooms.

• A large information center at the entrance with a rental facility for mobile carts and wheelchairs.

• There would be three first-aid stations – one with a full-time medical staff including a doctor – placed in prominent areas.

• There would be two miles of winding parkway trails.

• There would be a trolley system for those who didn’t want to walk or were unable to walk the distance.

• There would be guided tours by trained marine personnel for those who wanted to be educated on all the sea life.

Now that the park was six months from opening, all the aquariums had been completed. This time frame allowed for all the collection and capture of the vast assortment of animals for the park. This would also allow for the acclimation and training of all the sea mammals for the shows. The aquariums needed several months to stabilize the sea life environment in the tanks.

There were two main capture vessels, one 210 feet long and the other 190 feet long. They had been completely outfitted for the collecting of sea life. On board one of the vessels were two forty-foot tanks to accommodate the whales and other large mammals. There was a trucking and transportation system with pallets that had plastic lined containers with a battery-operated aerating system and cooling unit to sustain the smaller species while in transport. Some of these fish would be trucked or flown from all over the U.S., and others from areas around the world.

Also, during this last six months of construction, the hiring and training process was in full swing. Each division of park personnel would be thoroughly trained in their various functions. In some cases, an additional 200 trained personnel would be transferred from the other 12 parks. All the personnel would be managed under the park’s administration division headed by Bill Edmond.

The construction and development of Ocean World of the Pacific was the largest undertaking of a marine amusement park anywhere in the world.

CHAPTER 2

MARK TILLSDALE AND NICK HERRINGTON, the captain of the larger Golden West capture vessel, were getting ready to make their first maiden voyage for the park. The route would take them around Catalina and the other south Channel Islands just off the coast of California heading north towards the Monterey and Santa Barbara bay areas. This marked the route for the spring migration of transient killer whales. The main vessel housed two large Zodiac boats carried on the stern. They would be used to run a large extra-reinforced fishing net around the killer whale pod. Once the whales were netted, they could sort out the smaller orcas, which would then be tranquilized and put into the large holding tanks for delivery to the park.

Sharon would accompany the crew on this first trip. Sharon was the marine biologist in charge of all the mammals to be trained. She also happened to be Mark’s fiancée. They’d gotten engaged last year just before the construction of the park had started. Sharon was one of the personnel being transferred from the San Diego Ocean World Park.

This would be the second marriage for Mark but the first for Sharon. Sharon had first taken notice of Mark several years ago. Mark had been the company’s chief marine biologist and had traveled throughout the parks insuring park standards. Mark was a handsome man in his mid-forties, with blondish brown hair, hazel eyes, and a great smile, and he was well-tanned. Mark was 190 pounds and broad-shouldered. He stood six foot one and was very athletic. Sharon, on the other hand, was only five foot four inches but very well endowed, which made things like putting on her dive suit a little more awkward. Sharon had short dark brown hair, big brown bedroom eyes, full lips, and was also very well-tanned; of course, her tan was all over her body. She was way above average on the hottie scale. She’d just turned 34 a week ago.

The Golden West was nicely equipped to be an orca capture vessel:

• The ship had a crew of eight:

o The captain.

o Three biologists.

o Four deck hands that ran the capture operation and maintained the vessel.

• Great accommodations. Staterooms that could accommodate two people each. They were small rooms, a bit tight, but were very well equipped. They were very much above standard for a vessel like this.

• Food – very important. There was a large galley for cooking and a mess area that seated twelve. The pantry and freezers were always well stocked and there was always fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, and a large selection of drinks available.

• Cleanliness. There were three large, roomy showers and four well-placed heads.

• The pilot house had all the latest computerized technology including:

o A GPS tracking and navigation system.

o Several radar systems.

o Auto pilot.

o Several very accurate sonar systems.

o While it’s not electronic, let’s not forget a nice, big, comfortable captain’s chair.

• Maybe most importantly, the deck had a full crane system with a sling for hauling the catch from the nets and placing them gently into the holding tanks and for loading supplies and equipment on board.

• The deck had a full flood light system for night work.

• The ship was painted a glossy white with red trim along the gunnels.

• The ship’s name, Golden West, was very prominently painted on the stern in large gold letters and in smaller letters on each side of the bow.

• Two large diesel engines powered a double prop system that gave the ship a top speed of thirty knots.

• A third large diesel engine powered the electric generators.

It was eight o’clock in the morning, and the ship was underway. It was a beautiful day with calm seas and a bright sunny ocean that glistened like a mirror across the surface. The ship’s cutting bow sliced through the water.

The crew and guests were down in the mess having a pancake breakfast with bacon and sausage. Mark loaded his pancakes with lots of butter and a good coating of syrup. The melted butter and syrup combination ran together, covering the pancakes and overflowing onto the sides of the plate. As he cut each bite, he very gently dipped it into the excess mixture and tried to get it into his mouth without drenching his shirt. Not too graceful but very delicious. Sharon just looked at him and smiled. He grinned and tried to keep his mouth shut while chewing the whole time with his mouth full.

It was early afternoon, and about twenty miles north of Catalina, they spotted their first pod of killer whales. The ship immediately went into action. The Zodiacs slid off the stern and slowly headed for the whales. The pod consisted of ten orcas slowly cruising, heading north. The capture vessel stayed far behind and to the right of the pod. They didn’t want to spook them. When the Zodiacs got a mile or so in front of the pod, the Zodiac with the net made a long swing around towards the direction the pod was moving. The other Zodiac headed so that it was directly behind the pod but not too close. They wanted to drive the pod into the net. Just as the pod started to change its path, the Zodiac tried to close the distance and let the net form a large circle around the pod.

The pod finally realized what was going on and split up, making a fast descent and headed away from the net before it could completely close. One orca failed to escape the net and got caught. The capture vessel came alongside and administered the tranquilizer and got the young male orca safely on board. They all commented what a beautiful healthy specimen it was. The male looked