A Monster in the Mud
An unusually large sulphur bottom whale ends up stranded on the Olympia mudflats.
A large fish, weighing 1300 pounds, and measuring 14 feet in length, and twenty inches through the thickest part, was captured one day this week. His fish-ship had run aground upon the mud flats and was floundering about at a terrible rate when he was located by his captors and hauled ashore. He is pronounced by competent 'authority' to be a 'sulphur bottom whale.'
“His fish-ship had run aground upon the mud flats and was floundering about at a terrible rate when he was located by his captors.”
While whales are rarely found in the mud flats of Olympia's downtown today, this report highlights the region's deep connection to the marine environment. It serves as a reminder of how the local shoreline has changed through nearly two centuries of urban development and landfill.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.