A Whale of a Tale

In case you didn't catch this story on the news the other night, I thought I'd post it. I was sitting for a friend, when I saw the teaser of "An unusual sighting in the Hudson River today..." followed by a video clip from high in the sky of what seemed to be a whale. Then, of course, it cut to commercial, and I got distracted, so I just remembered this morning to look it up and confirm.

Yep, Henry the Humpback a 30-40 foot whale headed up the Hudson River and was sighted near Brooklyn before heading back out to the ocean (they assume, since they didn't spot him again after several sightings throughout the day). He was a typical tourist, however, making a stop at the World Trade Center before going home. A safety corridor was set up so that shipping traffic in New York harbor wouldn't harm, or be harmed by, the whale.

Not since Humphrey the Humpback swam 70 miles up the Sacramento River in 1985, only to be lured back under the Golden Gate bridge by artificial female flute like calls, has a whale been known to swim up-river.

Of course, I'm especially partial to the nickname they've chosen for this latest wanderer.

Totally off-topic from this post, but since I was on they NYT site, I clicked over to Judith Warner's (Perfect Madness author) column Domestic Disturbance. Though I don't always agree with her points, she does always give me something to think about.