Historic Hood River
Beached Whale
8-12-2022
Notes
This image of a beached whale likely on the Oregon or Washington coast, circa 1905 doesn’t have a direct connection to Hood River, but I never pass up an opportunity to link to the video of the 1970 KATU coverage of ODOT blowing up a dead whale on the Oregon coast. In 2020 the city of Florence created a small park to memorialize the event (and the unfortunate whale).
The man at the tail end of the creature seems to be holding a 12″ ruler, which is far less concerning than the knife the man in the foreground it wielding.
kmb
Interesting….let's hope someone with good knowledge of the coast can guess or place this based on the land horizon features in the background. I see two large structures in the background just to the left of the whale. Or maybe identify the whale?
ArthurB
I believe it is a humpback whale.
L.E.
Reminds me of the Lewis and Clark whale story.
http://www.lewisandclarktrail.com/section4/orcities/seaside/ecola/index.htm
Peter
It was a huge windfall for early coastal dwellers to harvest the blubber from beached whales.
ArthurB
Interesting point, Peter. It was as if a gasoline tanker truck was abandoned right next to town.