I have never seen a whale. Well, let me take that back.

Years ago when Cap'n Bob Fish was developing his new “Whale Watch” trips, I went with him to get some photos of whales for the company brochure. We did see some minke whales, but they were not very large when compared to some of their more substantial ocean cousins.

Oh, and I did see some killer whales, I guess they were, during a family visit to Disney World when the girls were small. They were quite large.

So, when I got a call from Joe Gelarden of local newspaper fame, to head south to Cape Newagen for photos of a humpback whale, I was very interested. Little did I know that said specimen was in a state of considerable disrepair accompanied by genuine down wind effervescence. The tide was out, too, and the sun actually made a brief appearance as we circled the remains to get a better look.

This was a big piece of equipment. It would have taken a pretty good amount of energy to move such a large critter up so far onto the island. How on Earth it will ever be moved off this spot is beyond me. I am suspecting that, at this point, the only possible removal will be through natural deterioration over time.

What I did find interesting is the toughness of the whale's outer skin. Ham Meserve, “Wally the Whale's” present caretaker, told us that it will take a sustained period of warm days and nights (good luck with that) to begin the rendering process, breaking down the remaining material.

In my accompanying photo, Mr. Meserve is indicating the direction from which he believes the whale came, AND, more precisely, the direction to which he wishes it would return.