The other day I went out walking. I walked to the south edge of the island and saw the humpback whale that has somehow made its way into the St-Lawrence River in Montreal.
It’s an amazing animal to see, though it’s sad that it’s gotten here when it should be in the ocean. I hope it can make its way back.
This happens from time to time.
Who here remembers Humphrey The Wayward Humpback Whale? Swam into San Francisco Bay (they do that occasionally), but instead of swimming back out, took a few wrong turns and swam quite some ways up the Sacramento River (60-some miles), where he hung out for two or three weeks. (ETA: This was all way back in 1985.) Multiple attempts to shoo him back out failed, and it was assumed that he was totally disoriented and lost. They finally lured him out by playing recordings of humpback whale “songs”. During this time, his skin was seen to be turning gray (I assume that means lighter gray), suggesting that the fresh-water habitat was starting to do bad shit to his skin. (As discussed in this current thread, about that whale in the St. Lawrence.
After several weeks of failed attempts to get him out, the National Marine Fisheries “authorities” were about to decree an end to the attempts and just “let nature take its course”, which would probably have meant the whale would have died.
Wikipedia: Humphrey the Whale
So many people turned out to watch the whale and the attempts to lure him out, they trampled the shoreline and did all kinds of ecological damage. That, of course, all grew back eventually.
So what is the latest news about Montreal Whale? Is he still there? Are people still trying to get him out? Are there beginning to be signs of health problems?
I had previously worked with some dolphin and whale researchers in Honolulu and also at the California Marine Mammal Center (a volunteer rescue outfit), who got involved in that, so I knew a lot of the people involved.
The whale is still there as far as I know.
I’d thought of playing whale songs, but I don’t know if anyone’s tried it. I don’t know if whale songs would be more or less effective depending on the sex/age of the whale.
Sad update: the whale has been found dead.
That is sad. I’m sorry for your city’s loss.
Thank you.
The whale was certainly beloved here.
sad news for all. 
Do they know why he died?
How long was he there? That’s freshwater up there, right?
They’ve gotten the whale out of the river and plan to do an autopsy.
Could it be as simple as saltwater animals don’t belong in fresh water?
I’m sorry that the whale passed away. S/he may have been sick and/or disoriented, and that may have contributed to their demise.
I remember Humphrey. One day he’d been spotted a few miles from where I lived in San Francisco. He was surrounded by cars parked and driving to see him, and by TV trucks. I hopped on my motorcycle and made a bee line to see him. On the bike, I was able to cut through, right up to the front. Yes I joined the crowds. But it was so cool to see him. I didn’t linger. I left after a few minutes.
One of the coolest things I’ve ever done was going to see the gray whales in Baja. The whales approached our small skiff (about 8-10 adults in it), and got within inches of us. Inches, literally! Definitely less than a foot. It was magical watching those gentle giants, and hearing them breathe. One quickly realizes that, out there, you are on their turf.
I want to go and do that again.
One more thing. In college one of my favorite gen ed classes was marine biology. The teacher was great (that always helps), and one of the outings was to the MMC up in Sausalito — the Marine Mammal Center. They save injured MMs and nurse them back to health. Well, today as I’m preparing for retirement, one thing I’m thinking about doing in my retirement is volunteering at the MMC. I think that would be pretty cool.
A whale of a tale! 
When was that? I took a class on marine mammals at College of Alameda, circa 1979, that included a field trip there (it was called California Marine Mammal Center, or CMMC, in those days). A week later I went back and signed up to volunteer which I did one day a week for about a year.
When you went there, did you visit the actual site with the animals, or the new-ish visitor center they have a few miles away? I don’t know if the actual site is even open to visitors any more since they build that visitor center. It’s been a long time since I’ve been by there.
This was the fall 1983 semester, with Skyline College in San Bruno. We went to where the animals were, to a spot out in the Marin Headlands out in the GGNRA. It wasn’t shiny like a visitors’ center. It had an earthy feel to it — a place where real work was being done with the animals.
It was a long time ago. I just found it on Google Maps, and IIRC this was the spot we went to — Google Maps. The shortened link is safe, I created it (and I’m from Nigeria and I’m trying to give you the thousands of dollars you rightfully own :)).
As for the name, it may have been CMMC, back then. I bought a patch from there and can still picture it. And the telephone number, 415-331-SEAL. After Googling a bit, this looks like the patch I remember, https://is.gd/JX4jw7.
Please click that link and all I need is your bank account number to wire the money directly to you. 
In all seriousness, it was a great class with an excellent teacher, Mel Zucker. He was more like a friend than a professor. We could’ve been drinking buddies. He communicated really well.
Good times.
And I still remember Humphrey.
The latest info is that the Montreal humpback whale may have been struck by a boat. It’s suggested that if it was at night, the boaters might not have known they hit her.