B A C K   T H E N

Killer Whale at Tenants Harbor,
St. George

A stranded orca, or killer whale, attracted much attention in 1956. The Rockland Courier-Gazette of December 15 reported: “Children and grown-ups alike took advantage to mount the killer whale’s back while camera shutters snapped.” The boy is Alan hupper. The girl is Nadine Dowling. Nadine, understandably, looks ill at ease and perhaps is concerned for the whale.

The camera appears to be an iconic Rolleiflex. John Stilgoe has written: “The Rolleiflex caused users to bow toward subjects: most photographers not only bowed their heads…but also slightly hunched their shoulders and pulled in their stomach, bending their bodies at the waist.” Viewfinder cameras, Stilgoe observed, capture a different perspective than do 35 mm cameras (or, indeed, cellphones).

The next morning at high tide, fishermen Hugo Lehtinen and Allison Morris, using a small outboard motorboat, towed the whale to deeper water, only to find themselves being towed by the still lively creature. That night the whale stranded again but had vanished by morning.
Sighting a killer whale today in the Gulf of Maine is a great rarity, although in the 1880s Cape Codders complained that they interfered with attempts to drive blackfish ashore.

Text by William H. Bunting from Maine On Glass. Published by Tilbury House Publishers, 12 Starr St., Thomaston, Maine. 800-582-1899.

Maine On Glass and prints of the photographs are available through the Penobscot Marine Museum: PenobscotMarineMuseum.org.