Ethelbert

***This article contains imagery of a deceased animal. Viewer discretion is advised.***

## Ethelbert

* Warning
* \*Graphic Content\*

## Physical Traits

### Population

SRKW

Ethelbert (*pronounced EH-thel-bert*), also known as Jimmy McCool's Whale, was a young female killer whale. She became famous after straying into the Columbia River and later being killed by whalers in October of 1931.

## Venture Into the Columbia River

Ethelbert was first seen in mid-October of 1931. Locals of Portland, Oregon spotted a large creature swimming in the Columbia River. There was initially confusion over the identity of the animal, but it was eventually confirmed to be an orca that had swam over 100 miles upstream to reach Portland.

After first being spotted, the whale, who would later be named Ethelbert, was shot several times by sportsmen looking to kill a whale. Eventually, governor Julius L. Meier ordered them to stop. After this, the debate on what to do with Ethelbert started. Managers of Jantzen Beach Park, a popular amusement park located in Portland, attempted to get permission to capture the whale and keep it at the park as an attraction. Some naturalists believed that there was no reason why Ethelbert couldn't live in the river indefinitely. Jimmy McCool, the naturalist who gave Ethelbert her alternate name of Jimmy McCool's Whale, believed that the whale should either be allowed to stay in the river, or driven out to sea.

After the whale had spent almost two weeks in the river, the Oregon Humane Society decided that the best option would be to humanely put Ethelbert down, possibly via dynamite. They believed that the young whale was too small to eat the large fish in the river and it would soon starve to death. The bullet wounds Ethelbert had suffered earlier were also starting to fester.

## Death

On October 24th, 1931, an ex-whaler named Edward Lessard and his son Joseph harpooned and killed Ethelbert. The pair were arrested and charged, but were ultimately cleared as no laws governed inland whaling. Ethelbert's carcass was collected and displayed. One source states that the whale's stomach was found to be empty, suggesting they were indeed starving.  At some point, Ethelbert was preserved in embalming fluid, and returned to Edward Lessard.

There are conflicting accounts on where exactly Ethelbert's remains ended up. One account says that the whale's remains were rediscovered buried in St. Helens, Oregon in August of 1949 after the container containing the whale and its embalming fluid began leaking, causing locals to complain of a terrible smell. This account claims that the whale was reburied a week later.

Another account says that Edward Lessard, after finishing with displaying the whale, took its remains to a property he owned in Washougal, Washington and buried them there around the late 1940s.  Today, the location of Ethelbert's remains remains unknown.

## Galleries

* **Photos** of Ethelbert
* **Videos** of Ethelbert

1. ↑ 'The Oregonian Archives - October 23rd, 1931'
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 'The Sad, Strange Story of Ethelbert Orca Comes to a Tragic End After a Weird Interaction With Humans'
3. ↑ 'The Oregonian Archives - November 9th, 1931'
4. ↑ 'Killer Whale's Body Left on Mountain'