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On August 8, 1970, around 80 orcas from the Southern Resident population were captured as part of the infamous Penn Cove captures. Out of the captured orcas 7 are taken and sold to marine parks.
Former diver John Crowe, who appears in the documentary Blackfish, was part of the capture team at the time. He told of how, when the captures were over, there were several dead orcas in the nets. He and two other crew members were then ordered to cut the orcas open, fill their bellies with rocks, tie anchors to their tails and sink them.
When the bodies of some of the orcas washed ashore some months later, there was a huge public outcry of people concerned with the welfare of the animals as well as the impact of captures on wild orcas.