|
A Whale is Landed by Seattle Dockworkers
By Jon Halgren
“OK, Bill, I will tell you how it happened”.
It was about 2:00 when over the radio came “There is a whale in the
waterway.” We all started flipping channels to get more information. We were
still trying to clear the back up from lunch. Just like now, at our lunchtime
the trucks wait so there is maybe 100 rigs trying to get loaded or unloaded.
Carl, my partner, walked over to the apron for a close look at the whale. He
kept me informed as to what was happening ”Man it is big.” Carl said.
The whale had wrapped, and twisted itself in the net and that caused
suffocation. Bill, “Do you
remember the fish house at Pier 24?” “The fisherman was going there to
deliver his catch. What could the fisherman do with the whale? That was the
question of the day.”
The Dock foreman offered assistance to get the whale out of the net and
allow the fisherman to deliver his load. “Maybe we can help clear the
whale.” ”That would be great”, said the fisherman. “I will even thro in
a couple of salmon if you can free me.”
It was close to coffee
time and the foreman called the gear locker for: one 5/8, by 20ft eye and eye
sling, a 5 ton snap hook, and 2 5/8 by 8 ft straps, and 2-5 ton shackles. The
gear locker must have of heard what was happening as they were there in a flash.
Hand held
radios were relative new on the waterfront and the foreman carried his in his
chest pocket. Standing upright his
radio stayed in place. During the coffee break truck drivers and office workers
came out to marvel at the sight. It was very unique.
The boss hooked a 20 ft. sling to a 25ton lift and then went down hand over
hand. He was in the process of hooking up the sling when he bent over and out of
his pocket slid the radio. It did bounce twice and then slid down the whale into
the water. Never to be heard from again. The lift operator, oh so gently raised
the whale to clear the bull rail and then backed away from the crane tracks.
Coffee was over and a
superintendent reminded the foreman that the work at Pier 25 was to move
containers not whales. All the crane operators heard the message and we put the
Star-cons to moving containers. In about an hour the back up was taken care of.
WHAT TO DO WITH 6,000 POUNDS OF DECAYING WHALE? U. W. has a Department of
Oceanography, they can do research. NO, Do not bring it to us. The fish house in
right next-door. It is not fresh, and they do not want whales. City dump? No
they do not want the smell or the work of cutting it into small workable sizes.
A Rendering company is a place that cooks or renders animal pieces into fat.
YES! The next morning a Rendering Company truck was loaded with the whale. It
stayed in one piece and away the whale went. After a good Seattle rain the odor
at PIER 25 returned to normal.
Now you know why they have “No
Fishing” signs on the docks.
|
