The Mendocino Whale War by Nicholas Wilson

The little coastal town of Mendocino, California, has long been a hotbed of progressive activism. In 1976, the cause was saving whales from slaughter by Russian and Japanese whaling fleets. In June, 1975, a Greenpeace patrol boat located a Russian fleet killing sperm whales off Cape Mendocino. Activists used a high-speed Zodiac inflatable to maneuver themselves between the harpooners and the whales, capturing dramatic footage of a harpoon flying over their heads and striking a whale. When the film aired on national television, some Mendocino locals were inspired to get involved in stopping the whale slaughter.

Byrd Baker, a local wood sculptor, likely came up with the name “Mendocino Whale War,” in contrast to the peace in Greenpeace. He and other locals formed the Mendocino Whale War Association in December, 1975. Byrd was a charismatic fellow who could spin a good yarn, and he looked the part of an old-time sea captain. With the help of media-savvy locals like John Bear, an advertising man and the first president of the MWW Association, and magazine writer Jules Siegel, the media soon picked up the story. Major coverage began early in 1976 with a big feature in the Detroit Free Press that hyped the idea of a small California coastal town declaring war on Japan and the Soviet Union … at the height of the Cold War!

The MWW Association organized the 1st Annual Whale Festival in Mendocino in March, 1976. The goal was to make the public aware that whales were still being hunted and turned into dog food, lipstick, and lubricant for nuclear missiles. The festival was also a fundraiser for an ocean voyage to challenge the whalers off the Mendocino Coast.

Byrd traveled to Vancouver and, with help from Greenpeace, he was able to charter the same boat Greenpeace had used in 1975. The Phyllis Cormack was a 66-foot wooden fishing boat, owned and captained by John Cormack, a seasoned Gulf of Alaska fishing skipper who was eager to take on the Russian whalers again. In late June, the Phyllis Cormack anchored briefly in Mendocino Bay before heading to San Francisco. After loading up two Zodiac inflatables, fuel, and provisions, the boat headed out under the Golden Gate Bridge with four Mendocino warriors aboard: Byrd Baker, J.D. Mayhew, John Griffith, and Nicholas Wilson, the official photographer, who is the only one of the four left to tell the tale.

The MWW boat had a planned rendezvous with Greenpeace on July 1 about 100 miles off Cape Mendocino, near where they had found the Russian whalers the year before. Both ships launched Zodiacs bearing their leaders for a secret strategy meeting. They agreed that the MWW would stay in the vicinity patrolling for whalers while Greenpeace went on to San Francisco to do media work and fundraising. We were to return to San Francisco July 5 for a big media welcome arranged by Greenpeace.

We didn’t spot any whalers, but we did find a large fleet of Soviet trawlers scraping the ocean bottom with huge nets just outside the 12-mile limit that was then in place. We shot photos and film of the big ships hauling in nets loaded with tons of fish. We also photographed a Korean crabber deploying a couple hundred crab pots just outside the 12-mile limit. The Coast Guard was on scene observing, but no law was broken. Some experts had been urging the extension of the 12-mile limit farther out to regulate the excessive taking of resources off our coast. The photos of the Russian and Korean boats were sold to the San Francisco papers, UPI wire service, and Oceans magazine, helping add to political pressure that brought about the present 200 mile limit.

The MWW voyage ended with a brief stop at Mendocino on July 4, before the boat returned to San Francisco the next morning. The big media welcome promised by Greenpeace ended up being me and my camera in a Zodiac piloted by Paul Watson, who later split from Greenpeace and formed the Sea Shepherd organization. I had gone ashore in Mendocino, stayed up all night developing film and making prints to distribute to the media, and then had driven to San Francisco. There I found the Greenpeacers mostly still asleep, but Paul fired up a Zodiac and rushed me out to photograph the Phyllis Cormack just as she came in under the Golden Gate Bridge.

After dealing photos to media outlets, that was the end of the war for me, but Byrd converted an old school bus and campaigned around the country, talking at schools and civic organizations, spreading his message to “Save God’s Whales.” In 1986 the International Whaling Commission finally yielded to growing public pressure and diminishing numbers of whales, and passed a moratorium on commercial whaling that continues today, although neither Norway, Iceland, nor Japan refrain from it completely.

𝘖𝘯 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 15, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘺𝘰 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴: 𝘏𝘦𝘪𝘥𝘪 𝘊𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘋𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘏𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘑.𝘋. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘩𝘦𝘸’𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘺𝘰 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺. 4:00𝘱𝘮–5:30𝘱𝘮, $7 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴, $10 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘑.𝘋. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘩𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘩𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦.