Whale of a Tale--Like Humphrey, It Has Staying Power

The saga of Humphrey, the lost and wayward humpback, is tale of a whale that won’t go away.

It’s a whale of a tale that took place in October when Humphrey took a sharp left turn from the Pacific Ocean at the Golden Gate Bridge and began a monthlong journey through an inland waterway that attracted thousands of sightseers and scientists.

It’s also the tale of a whale’s tail that was photographed by scientists who now say Humphrey can be easily identified when and if he shows up off the Hawaiian Islands.

And now, a local publisher has rushed out an “instant” illustrated children’s book about Humphrey that has become a brisk seller. The 24-page book is called simply, “Humphrey The Wayward Whale. (Heyday Books, Berkeley, Calif., $3.95).

What was Humphrey really up to when he abruptly turned into San Francisco Bay on his 70-mile inland odyssey? Would he ever return to the sea?

‘Wasn’t a Clue’

“Nobody knew. There wasn’t a clue,” reply the authors in the book.

Publisher Malcolm Margolin said he was struck by the mystery and suspense of the whale’s erratic adventure and enlisted the help of husband-and-wife writing team Ernest Callenbach and Christine Leefeldt, as well as illustrator Carl Dennis Buell, to hurry into print.

“The idea came from being a local publisher. I wanted the kind of story that was deeply imbedded in the Bay Area and was the kind of book I grew up with back in Boston, where I read about ducks and all those wondrous creatures.

“Also, it’s a great story revolving around an outpouring of passion and love by people who no longer have the contact with animals that we had in the old days.”

Margolin said fairy tales with animal characters are becoming more remote as the nation has become urbanized, and he believes Humphrey’s ordeal brought out the best in people, many of whom took to their boats to coax and cajole the mammal back out to sea.

“The real story had all the elements of passion and suspense, of life and death. He caused kind of a benevolent type of riot around here. People were rushing to buy the paper or watch the TV news every day to find out what had happened to Humphrey. He seemed to have brought out something in human nature that was quite wonderful.”

Callenbach, who edits the California Natural History Guide series for the University of California Press, said the appearance of Humphrey was a rare event and gave ordinary folks and scientists an opportunity to observe a humpback whale up close.

“Gray whales sometimes come in the bay, but humpbacks are bigger and this had never occurred before around here,” said Callenbach. “The strangeness of the encounter is what appealed to most people. I mean, you’ll never see a humpback whale in a zoo.”

He said the reason for the whale’s meandering is one of those mysteries that will probably never be solved. “My own private theory is Humphrey, a youngish whale, was just having a good time exploring and cavorting around.”