Killer whales of Eden, New South Wales facts for kids

The killer whale known as Old Tom swims alongside a whaleboat, helping to hunt a whale calf. The boat is being pulled by a harpooned whale (not seen here).

The killers of Eden were a special group of killer whales (also called orcas). They lived near Eden in southeastern Australia between 1840 and 1930. These killer whales were famous for working together with human whalers to hunt other whales.

A group of killer whales, including a well-known male named Old Tom, would help the whalers. They would find large baleen whales and guide them into Twofold Bay. Often, they would even swim many kilometers to tell the whalers at their homes that a whale was ready to be hunted. They sometimes helped to kill the whales too.

First Australians and the Killer Whales

The local Yuin people, who are Indigenous Australians, believed killer whales were very special. They thought these whales were their totem animals and even their ancestors reborn.

A Yuin elder named Guboo Ted Thomas shared stories about his grandfather riding on the backs of killer whales! He and his daughter Lynne also described how the Yuin worked with dolphins to guide fish to the shore so they could be caught. Some historians think the black and white clothes worn by Koori warriors looked like killer whales.

Yuin elders told filmmaker Greg McKee that their connection to whales goes back a very long time, possibly to the last ice age. They said their ancestors used to hunt on dry land that is now covered by the sea. These ancestors then became killer whales and kept hunting in their old hunting grounds.

Working together to hunt is common between dolphins and humans in many traditional fishing groups. But it's very rare for killer whales to work with humans, especially with Western cultures. Zoologist Danielle Clode explains that the Yuin people's strong spiritual link to the killer whales helped this unique partnership happen. Indigenous crew members on the whale boats would not let anyone harm or kill the killer whales during a hunt. Clode's book, Killers in Eden, shares many old stories about this amazing partnership.

The Davidson Whalers and "The Law of the Tongue"

Old Tom often played a key role. He would alert the human whalers when a whale was in the bay. He did this by jumping out of the water or slapping his tail near the mouth of the Kiah River, where the Davidson family lived. This made him very popular with the whalers. People thought he was the "leader of the pack," but female killer whales are usually the leaders.

After a whale was harpooned, some killer whales would even grab the ropes with their teeth to help the whalers pull the whale. Old Tom's skeleton is on display at the Eden Killer Whale Museum. You can still see wear marks on his teeth from repeatedly grabbing those fast-moving ropes!

In return for their help, the whalers would leave the whale's body anchored overnight. This allowed the killer whales to eat the tongue and lips of the whale. After the killer whales had eaten, the whalers would pull the rest of the whale ashore. This special agreement was called "the law of the tongue." It's a rare example of two different species helping each other out. The killer whales also ate the many fish and birds that came to feed on the smaller pieces and leftover bits from the hunt.

Many of the Eden killer whales were known by name, often named after Yuin whalers who had passed away. Some of the most famous killer whales included Tom (who died in 1930), Hooky, Humpy, Cooper, and Typee.

The End of the Whaling Partnership

The special partnership between the whalers and killer whales eventually came to an end.

Around the mid-1920s, something happened that changed things. A retired farmer named John Logan and his daughter Margaret were on a boat called White Heather with George Davidson, a whaler. Old Tom had helped force a small whale to the surface, and Davidson's crew had harpooned it.

A storm was coming, and Logan worried the whale's body would be lost. So, he tried to pull the whale ashore without letting Old Tom eat the tongue and lips first. Old Tom reportedly grabbed the tow rope in his mouth and lost some teeth in the struggle. Logan felt terrible, saying, "Oh God, what have I done?" when he realized Old Tom had lost teeth.

When Old Tom's body washed ashore in 1930, his mouth had painful sores from his missing teeth. He might have died because he couldn't eat properly. His death was reported in the newspaper as the "King of the Killers."

John Logan later provided the building for the Eden Killer Whale Museum, partly because he felt guilty about what happened to Old Tom.

Even today, killer whales are still seen in the area. In 2010, about 80 years after Old Tom's death, three groups of killer whales were seen in one week.

How We Know About This Amazing Story

The unique way these killer whales behaved was first written down in the 1840s by a whaling manager named Sir Oswald Brierly. Many books and articles also recorded this behavior over the years. Even members of the Australian Parliament witnessed it.

In 1910, the behavior was even filmed by C.B. Jenkins and C.E. Wellings. This movie was shown in Sydney, but sadly, the film is now lost.

The story of the Davidson family and the killer whales was made into a book called Killers of Eden by Tom Mead.

In 2002, zoologist and historian Danielle Clode wrote a factual book about the story. This book was then made into an Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV show in 2004, called Killers in Eden.

While humans and wild cetaceans (like dolphins and whales) work together in other parts of the world, the partnership between the whalers and killer whales in Eden seems to be truly one-of-a-kind.

The Eden killer whale group is also remembered at the Australian National Museum. They have life-sized models of the whales as part of their display.