Utah's Whale Hoax That Fooled a Nation

A wild tale of whales in the Great Salt Lake sparked headlines, art exhibits, and even a film—but none of it was real. 🌐 #News #SaltLakeCityUT #Utah #WeirdNews

SALT LAKE CITY, UT — What started as an eyebrow-raising newspaper story in the late 1800s evolved into one of Utah’s most peculiar urban legends: that a British scientist had released whales into the salty shallows of the Great Salt Lake to launch a whale oil empire.

Birth of a Bizarre Idea

Back in 1888, the Salt Lake Herald-Republican ran an article that would spark decades of strange retellings. The piece, originally published in a Canadian paper, alleged that James Wickham—a British scientist and entrepreneur—had transported two whales from Australia to Utah via San Francisco by rail, housing them in massive seawater tanks.

According to the report, the whales were released into the Great Salt Lake in 1875. They supposedly escaped from a fenced enclosure shortly after and vanished into deeper waters. Years later, the same article claimed that an agent in touch with Wickham had witnessed whales and their calves surfacing in the lake.

Adding Fuel to the Fantasy

Soon after, Ohio’s Jefferson County Sentinel chimed in with its own flair. One article included a playful letter from a Cleveland resident who asked whether religious permission was needed from the dominant local church to start whaling in Utah. That piece also claimed the whales had matured and reproduced, echoing the original tale.

By 1890, the Utah Daily Enquirer commemorated the supposed 15-year anniversary of the whale release. The report stated the animals had grown to a stunning 60 feet and had several offspring. The tone of the article treated the endeavor as a glowing success—even though the logistics didn’t add up.

Facts Fail to Support the Fantasy

Skepticism was widespread. Experts pointed out that the Great Salt Lake’s extreme salinity and shallow depth made it an impossible habitat for large marine mammals. Scientific errors in the reports, like the claim that whales lay eggs, further dismantled the credibility of the hoax. Whales, being mammals, give live birth.

Nevertheless, the tale persisted through humorous and fictionalized versions, including satirical remarks suggesting the whales could be harnessed to move ferry boats. Scholars and historical societies eventually characterized the hoax as a quirky product of its time—intended more to entertain than inform.

From Urban Legend to Artistic Muse

More than a century later, the myth remains alive—not in biology, but in art. In 2019, artists Christine Baczek and David Hyams staged an exhibition titled Whale of a Tale in Salt Lake City, showcasing imagined photographic scenes of the whale transport.

Then in 2021, artist Justin Diggle unveiled a mixed-media piece titled A Whale from the Great Salt Lake, Utah, incorporating visuals from Antelope Island to explore the absurdity of the myth.

In 2023, the tale leapt to the screen in the short film Whales of the High Desert, directed by Joseph LeBaron. The documentary-style project included insights from folklorist Dr. Lynne McNeill and highlighted both the myth’s cultural grip and modern concerns over the lake’s fragile ecosystem. The film was officially selected for the Utah International Film Festival and is slated for PBS release in late 2024.

Did You Know?

The Great Salt Lake’s salinity can be up to 8 times higher than that of the ocean, making it inhospitable to most aquatic life beyond brine shrimp and algae (U.S. Geological Survey).
Whales have never been successfully kept in fully enclosed freshwater or hypersaline bodies of water, due to severe physiological stress (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
Utah’s Great Salt Lake is rapidly shrinking, and experts warn that without intervention, the lake’s ecosystem could collapse within the next few decades (Utah Division of Water Resources, 2023).

Moment for Reflection

Even the most unbelievable tales can carry a flicker of human hope—our desire to dream big, challenge limits, and spin magic from the mundane. While Wickham’s whales never breached the Great Salt Lake, the legend itself reminds us that imagination holds power. Sometimes, it’s the impossible stories that bring us together in laughter, wonder, and community. And in that spirit, perhaps truth isn’t always what matters most—it’s the joy we find in sharing it.

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RELATED TOPICS: History | Utah | Weird News