Whale War history talk showcases work of local activists

MENDOCINO CO., 3/17/25 – The whales are coming to the Mendocino Coast this month, but it might not have turned out this way.

On Saturday a panel of local activists in the Mendocino Whale Wars gathered to tell their stories at the Kelley House Museum in Mendocino. The event, jointly sponsored by the Museum and the Noyo Center for Marine Science, drew a full house to hear about how the whale population was nearly decimated by Japanese and Russian whaling fleets in the 1960s and 1970s. The Whale Wars led to the launch of the Mendocino Whale Festival in 1976 to educate the public about the whales’ plight. The festival has continued ever since.