Paul Spong

In 1963, Spong became a graduate student in Donald B. Lindsley's laboratory in the Psychology Department at the University of California, Los Angeles.

He also worked in Ross Adey's Space Biology Lab in UCLA's Brain Research Institute (BRI).

Spong's work included computer analyses of human brain wave patterns and tracking information pathways.

Spong was selected as the candidate to work at the Vancouver Aquarium with orcas after a successful interview and a recommendation from the head of the lab at UCLA.

This was a few months after Skana, the orca that Spong would be working with, had been bought by the Vancouver Aquarium from the Pacific Northwest Boat Show.

He then started testing Skana's eyesight, rewarding her with half a herring every time she correctly distinguished between one and two vertical lines displayed on cards dropped into slots on an apparatus.

Then, at a point when Skana was performing at 100% correct, she suddenly switched her behaviour and started pressing only the "wrong" lever.

After some thought, and finding no comparable report in behavioural literature, Spong concluded that the whale was giving wrong answers on purpose and trying to communicate something to him.

Spong had developed a habit of going to the Aquarium in the early morning, before the public arrived and sitting on a little training platform dangling his bare feet in the water.

They went through this circle 10 or 11 times, until finally Spong was able to leave his feet in the water while Skana slashed her teeth across them without reacting.

In 1968, Spong delivered a lecture at the University of British Columbia, describing his experience with the two whales at the Vancouver Aquarium.

He proposed transferring the whales to a semi-wild environment (such as Pender Harbour) in order to study them in their natural habitat.

In June 1969, Spong gave an uninvited address to the Western Psychological Association in which he discussed his belief that taking psychedelic drugs helped him tune in to the whales' space and that this could help with orca–human communications Killer Whale (Orcinus Orca) Foundation, or KWOOF was the foundation that Spong created after leaving the Aquarium.

Orca families travel through the pass towards Johnstone Strait where they feast on migrating salmon, socialise with others of their community, and visit special "rubbing beaches".

Eventually OrcaLab created a network of hydrophones that covered 50 square kilometres (19 sq mi) of ocean that became recognised as Critical Habitat for the Northern Resident orca community.

Spong with his wife Helena Symonds and many allies including the 'Namgis First Nation mounted a campaign that opposed the logging.

Hundreds of letters from people around the world, including many from Europe and Japan were written to the British Columbia government.

Eventually, the forest of Hanson Island was protected under negotiations between the BC government, First Nations, environmental groups and logging companies that established the Great Bear Rainforest.

In 1972, Spong met the Canada author Farley Mowat who was on a national tour promoting his book A whale for the killing.

Spong with his wife Linda began a campaign as the Canadian branch of Project Jonah aimed at convincing Canada to stop whaling.

Spong set his sights higher and convinced Greenpeace, at the time an anti-nuclear testing organisation, to take up the whales' cause.

In 1974, Spong and his family travelled to Japan and made presentations at 21 venues that included theatres in shopping malls and schools.

The result was a dramatic uplift in public awareness of the whaling issue and pressure on the Commission which was essentially a whalers' club at that point.

Spong presented information about the Northern Resident A5 pod member named Corky (A16) and suggested her as a candidate for release back into the wild, where her family was well known.

An international campaign followed highlighted by appeals to Sea World from children from 21 countries who contributed painted patches that were turned into a huge banner nearly 2 km long.

Owner of the old Double Bay lodge Michael Reppy, who is building the Sanctuary, has the support of the ‘Namgis First Nation as well as Spong.