Photo curtesy of San Francisco Whale Tours[1]
REPOST
In the late 1880s San Francisco was the leading whaling port in the world, with more than 40 whaling boats operating out of the City alone. San Francisco was a major producer of refined whale oil, used at the time for heat and lighting.
Whales, mostly grey and humpback, pass San Francisco as they migrate between Alaska and Mexico. It was not unheard of to see the occasional whale enter the San Francisco Bay, but since 2016 they have been spotted in larger numbers and staying longer.
From October 10th – November 4th 1985 Humphrey, a humpback whale, had the City mesmerized when he entered the Bay and started migrating inland. He made it 60 miles up the Sacramento River to Rio Vista. His journey, and the unsuccessful attempts to rescue him, continued to be front page news. Nothing deterred him from turning around until the Marin Marine Mammal Center, with the assistance of the Coast Guard, used a high power transducer with acoustic recordings of whale social and feeding sounds to lure him back towards salt water. Large crowds lined the banks to watch Humphrey’s journey back through the Golden Gate.
Humphrey made a second appearance five years later, this time traveling down into the South Bay. He got stuck on a mudflat south of Candlestick Park and had to be extricated using a large cargo net. He was once again lured back into the Pacific with whale sounds.
Humphrey was last seen near the Farallon Islands[2] in 1991.
[1] Visit them at https://sanfranciscowhaletours.com
[2] Farallon Islands: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4818
Denise Cranney says: That book was a favorite of William’s too – must have read it a hundred times 😊
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