The Community and the Whale

My last Sunday by the Sea post featured a whale in the Klamath River in Northern California. By the time I had the privilege of seeing her swimming below the bridge, her baby had already returned to the ocean. Many people were excited to see the mama whale and observe her majestic presence in the river. From locals to students from Humboldt State University, the whale brought lots of people to the bridge to marvel and to learn.

Sad to say, the mama whale never rejoined her baby out at sea. She passed away a couple of days ago.

I'd like to share a couple of quotes from an article in the Times-Standard here, as they fit this week's theme of community so well and show the positive side to this story:

"It brought a lot of laughs, smiles and a lot of conversation... She kind of liked it here. And, it appeared she liked people.”

"It brought many agencies and entities and concerned people together to work together to learn the abilities of each other and to know each other... We learned a little more about the science of whales, and the scientists learned a little bit more about the tradition of whales.”

~ Yurok Tribal Chairman Thomas O'Rourke Sr. ~

The Yurok tribe will be burying the whale "above the river near where she died."

If you're interested in learning more about the whale's story, please read the article on the newspaper's website. I got my information (and these quotes) from this article, although I had heard about the whale's death earlier from a friend.