Once upon a time, the Thaua people who occupied the South Coast of New South Wales formed a magical bond with a pod of Beowas -- or orcas -- who frequented Twofold Bay. The Thaua believed the Beowas were the reincarnation of their ancestors; they revered them as sacred, and in turn the orcas helped the Thaua hunt whales.
In 1828, when the first whaling station was established in Eden, the Thaua were employed as whalers. With them came the Beowas, which the European whalers at first considered pests -- until the orcas began aiding the whale hunts. Eden's orca pod -- which at its peaked contained 36 orcas -- would chase right whales into Twofold Bay. The pod would then divide into three groups: one group would stay out at sea, blocking any possible outward escape route; the second blocked the whales from below; the third attacked the whales directly, tearing at their lips and tongues, weakening them.
The most well-known and beloved of the Beowas was Tom (1895 -1930, skeleton pictured). Tom would actively try and drown right whales by launching himself onto their blowholes, suffocating them. He would also alert whalers to the presence of right whales and lead their boats into Twofold Bay. After the whales had been harpooned and buoyed, they were temporarily left in the Bay, where the Beowas were allowed to feast on their lips and tongues -- the only parts of the whale that they ate.
Tom passed away in 1930, and after his death his pod never returned to Twofold Bay. Without the help of the Beowas, Eden's already struggling whaling industry finally came to an end.