ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

THE KILLERS OF EDEN Maureen Clifford ©



Old Tom was known as a killer...A Judas of the sea,
who hunted out of Eden, with complete impunity.
Backed by a gang of cut throats, who were always seen in black
He drove his victims to their death and never once looked back.

A fearless fighter, he was known for his cunning and guile,
entrapping victims in his net, dispatching them with style.
The dirty work was not for him, let others do the deed.
Taking the victims breath away, dispatching them with speed.

At Twofold Bay , Autumn appeared his favourite time to kill.
Killers of Eden struck out then for their vicarious thrills.
Old Tom was undisputed leader of this wretched pack.
He died in 1930 and the others came not back..

His bones remain. A grisly sight, put out there on display.
Poetic justice some would think, for he showed no dismay
when luring others to their deaths...to feast on shared delights.
A cannibalistic banquet, consumed at dead of night.

The victims tongue and lips were sought, though not for love or passion.
But rather as a delicacy, consumed in mordant fashion.
The carcase then was cast aside..left to decomposition.
A floating, rotting, stinking corpse, requiring no mortician.

But how pray tell did Tom escape the justice and the law?
His deeds were seen by many and told of by many more.
The Black Killer of Eden appeared often defended
by men who worked alongside him. Men he had befriended.

This Eden was no paradise, just a small fishing town
upon the coast of New South Wales, it's one place of renown
was Twofold Bay. Humpbacks and Southern Rights would pass its door.
Killers of Eden would dart out and herd them into shore.

Then whaling boats, with steel harpoons would dart into the fray.
Blue water whipped to bright pink foam as whale blood tinged the bay.
Their cries unheard by human ears, echoed o'er ocean floor,
as Flukes beat helpless, helpless, helpless, till they beat no more.

Yes Old Tom was an Orca, and he hunted in a pack
of other killer whales, a kind of whale sheepdog attack.
His human friends rewarded him with victims tongues and cheeks
and seems that was payment enough, the price Old Tom did seek.

Survival of the fittest or intelligence at it's best?
Whilst Old Tom was helping others, for his body they'd not quest.
He lived, he swam, he ate, he played......a mutual collusion.
Perhaps this was his plan...who knows...What would be your conclusion?

Interesting seeing Tom cast in the role of villain, Maureen. I've always thought of him as the hero of the story. His body was found on 17th September, my birthday (though I was born a few years later...) so I've always felt a certain kinship with Old Tom. They used to say he would 'play' with the harpoon ropes, running them through his mouth. There are large grooves in the back of his lower teeth at the Eden Museum which I have always attributed to these ropes, but perhaps that's just my imagination running wild.

I can understand Tom being seen as a traitor and a cannibal, I suppose, but orcas behave exactly the same way the world over. The only difference here is that Tom (and it wasn't just him, as I'm sure you know - there were many others as well, many of which were also given names) found a way of working with humans, to the mutual benefit of both parties. Either way you look at it, it is a fascinating piece of history.

I never considered him a villain Stephen - he was a smart animal doing what he did naturally and the humans exploited that natural behaviour to their own benefit. I likened him to the kelpie where natural genes come into play in the herding instinct and man has harnessed that gene over the years to breed our working dogs. Across the world stories abound of animals helping humans and always with little in way of recompense and little actually asked other than a kind word, a bit of tucker, a pat or similar.

I agree it is a fascinating story and one not many people know.

cheers

Maureen