Namu (unknown – July 9, 1966) was a male orca unintentionally captured in 1965 from the C1 Pod of the northern resident community.
[1] He was the subject of much media attention, including a starring role in the 1966 film Namu, the Killer Whale.
In June 1965, William Lechkobit discovered a 22-foot (6.7m) male orca in his floating salmon net that had drifted close to shore near Namu, British Columbia.
The female, named Shamu, was quickly leased and eventually sold to SeaWorld in San Diego.
The necropsy actually evidenced that he had been ill with an "acute bacterial infection, likely contracted from sewage runoff in Elliott Bay" where Griffin had moved him.