John Wifler, the pilot of the fake fiberglass orca, is pulled from the capsized vessel in the Columbia River in Astoria, Ore.
Photo: Joshua Bessex/Daily Astorian via AP
The 32-foot plastic replica of a killer whale had one job: to scare away sea lions taking up too much space on Oregon docks. Unfortunately, it drowned on its very first day of work, before it could actually chase away any sea lions.
The whale will have to be repaired after it was swamped by water from an incoming boat and flipped belly up. The port’s director said there’s a chance they’ll try the trick again, but if not, I’m sure Sea World would be happy to take it.
