Killing the Killers

While statesmen debate and parliaments ponder, ordinary folks are beleaguered by the afflictions of everyday living. Killer whales, for instance. Savage sea cannibals up to 30 ft. long and with teeth like bayonets, the "killers" prefer seafood (one was caught with 14 seals and 13 porpoises in its belly) but often tear at fishing boats and nets. This year the largest packs of killer whales in living memory terrorized the seas off Iceland. They destroyed thousands of dollars worth of fishing tackle, forced dozens of Icelanders out of work for lack of gear. Last week the Icelandic government appealed to the U.S., which has thousands of men stationed at a lonely NATO airbase on the subarctic island. Seventy-nine bored G.I.s responded with enthusiasm.

Armed with rifles and machine guns, one posse of Americans climbed into four small boats, put to sea and in one morning wiped out a pack of 100 killers. A newsman watched an even bigger skirmish off Grindavik and related: "First, the killers were rounded up into a tight formation with concentrated machine-gun fire, then moved out again, one by one, for the final blast which would kill them. Other whales helped the troops, for as one was wounded, the others would set upon it and tear it to pieces with their jagged teeth. The sea was red with blood. The scene of destruction was terrible. I have never seen anything like it."

It was all very tough on the whales, reported the newsman, but very good for American-Icelandic relations.

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