Humphrey the Whale first swam into the hearts of the world via the San Francisco Bay on Oct. 10, 1985.
On that Thursday in early fall, the 40-foot wayward adult humpback male took a wrong turn on his migration from Alaska to Mexico and was spotted near Oakland’s Outer Harbor. For the next four days, he passed through Richmond and Benicia, wandered up into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and into the tiny town of Rio Vista in Solano County. By mid-October, “Wrong Way Humphrey” had painted himself into a corner in a Delta slough where he languished for another three weeks.
On Nov. 3, 1985, buoyed by efforts from scientists, local farmers and fishermen, Humphrey was led out of the Sacramento River. The following day, he was back in the Bay and passed under the Golden Gate Bridge into the Pacific Ocean, on his way home, finally…