SALT LAKE CITY — Did you know whales once swam in the Great Salt Lake? Or did they? The origins of this whale of a tale date back to an article first published in the late 1800s by a Canadian newspaper.
Reprinted by The Salt Lake Herald-Republican in 1888, the story recalls an attempt by British scientist, James Wickham, to introduce two blue whale calves into the Great Salt Lake.
Set in 1873, the article details how Wickham captured the whales off the coast of Australia and transported them by train from San Francisco to Ogden in carriages filled with 30,000 gallons of saltwater. Upon arrival, the whales were released into a small holding area but escaped into open water.
Convinced the juvenile whales would not survive, Wickham abandoned his plan to establish a whaling industry in the United States. However, six months later, a colleague of Wickham’s claimed he spotted the calves 50 miles from the coast.
Last week, the Friends of the Great Salt Lake organization hosted a screening of “Whales of the High Desert,” a short film that depicts Wickham’s efforts. Directed by local filmmaker Joseph Adam Lebron, the film features commentary from Dr. Lynne McNeill, a professor of folklore at Utah State University.
Further exploring the crossover of fact versus fiction, Katie Newbern, Education and Outreach Director for Friends of Great Salt Lake, weighed in on whether large marine mammals could survive in the lake.
“The Great Salt Lake has an ocean-type ecosystem. It is salty and home to brine shrimp, which are similar to krill that whales might eat," Newbern explained. “However, the Great Salt Lake is quite shallow for its size in terms of its capacity to house whales; it’s probably too shallow for that to be feasible.”
Newbern also pointed out that the lake is five-to-ten times saltier than environments where blue whales typically thrive.
Even with scientific skepticism, the story raises questions of truth versus tale.
“The newspaper articles are real. There is really not any proof that the story itself was very factual,” Newborn noted.
For more information about “Whales of the High Desert” and how to get involved with Friends of Great Salt Lake, visit their website here.
