A Whale That Stopped Traffic

Crowds hanging off the Klamath River Bridge on California's Highway 101 to see Mama Whale.

     For almost two months a gray whale had parked herself underneath California's Highway 101 in the Klamath River.  For the first month she was joined by her calf  but then he left her for the ocean.  I hadn't heard about it until I saw the story on the cover of our local newspaper.  I picked up a copy, took it home, showed my husband and by 7am the next morning we were on our way to see her.  Excited road signs warned that in 53 miles pedestrians were crossing the highway at the river.  We arrived at the Klamath River, that runs through the Yurok Indian Reservation, and pulled onto the side of the road behind a bunch of early risers.  I looked anxiously ahead, worried that she was gone.  I read that Mama Whale (this is the name that just sort of became hers on it's own in media circles and by the people) and her calf swam up the Klamath River on June 24th, 2011 and on July 22nd her calf left her to swim back to the salt of the Pacific Ocean.  Mama Whale stayed behind and continued to circle under the bridge. 
     When I got to the railing I watched as the 45 foot gray whale floated through a mirage of green waters beneath me. 

This beautiful giant that has swam through my mind in stories and photos now appeared right below me.  Everyone on the bridge was transfixed.  Every time she swam back under the bridge the growing mass of people would dodge the logging trucks whizzing by at 65mph to get to the other side.  Adults, kids, foreigners even dogs looked over the bridge. For weeks, above and below, the bridge was filled with on lookers.  People kayaked out to her, they paddled out on stand up paddle boards.  People even dove in the water to swim next to her.   She cast a spell over the people who saw her.  When she exhaled her heart shaped spray would cause all that watched to inhale it in.

     No one knew why she let her calf swim off without her...why she didn't follow him back out to their home.  Everyone, who marveled at her on the bridge and uploaded photos of her on to their Face book page all wondered why she was there.  She was giving us all an exciting experience with her presence but were we watching her  suffer?  Was she sick? Dying? Exhausted?  Were we watching her demise?  I heard many times on that bridge with the traffic screaming by unnoticed "I hope she's okay." The Yurok tribal members were praying for her and singing her sacred songs.  Others went to the river's banks and played flutes and violins to bring her comfort. From the railing I wished to her that she would be okay and swim back to her home.
     I looked at the stream of new arrivals walking on to the bridge and I was struck by how many people wanted to see this natural wonder.  This wasn't an amusement park.  This wasn't an animal trained to do tricks.  It was just a giant gray whale swimming beneath us on the bridge.  She was circling beneath us alone, her calf had left her or maybe she made it leave.  She circled beneath us not letting us know why or how we could help her.  She didn't ask for anything with all of us watching her.  She let us wonder. 
     I wondered why she picked under the bridge.  Some thought she liked the attention.  Some thought that she was sending a message.  Some thought there was no motive...that she was just a whale.  I don't know.   Maybe with her last few weeks of life she wanted people to see her.  She is a mother.  Maybe she wanted people to see her and to remember that her baby was still out there.  A piece of her swam out to the ocean to begin it's life that could span the next six decades.  Maybe she was asking us to protect it.
     She passed away on Tuesday August 16th.  She spent over 50 days in that river until she finally rested herself on the beach.  She shared with us her mystery and gave us all who watched her on that bridge the memory of her and her calf.  Sitting here now, I just sort of know...she wanted us to remember what her wonder brought us.

Good bye Mama Whale.

Thanks to my great photographer and Hubby Casey!
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