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    The Lost Whale
    Humphrey the Humpback
    ABOUT THE PROJECT

    LOGLINE
    Humphrey the Humpback captured the nation’s attention when it got lost up the Sacramento River in 1985. The whale’s dangerous adventure transformed into America’s most famous animal rescue story.

    SYNOPSIS
    Currently in production, THE LOST WHALE: HUMPHREY THE HUMPBACK follows a 40-ton whale’s improbable journey up California’s Sacramento River and the dramatic rescue to save the mammal’s life. When the humpback first entered the San Francisco Bay in 1985, marine biologists believed that the whale would naturally turn around and find its way back out to sea. But the cetacean had other ideas. It headed the wrong way and entered the Sacramento River Delta where no whale of its size had gone before.

    Over 25 days, the wayward whale became a national media sensation as reporters tracked its path and followed the team of scientists in charge of saving the animal’s life. Along the way, someone named the whale Humphrey and the name stuck. As Humphrey swam further inland, he brought distant ocean issues into living rooms everywhere. Americans learned about threats to marine life, the need for environmental conservation, and how to better understand their own connection with nature.

    Blending marine science with 1980s nostalgia, THE LOST WHALE: HUMPHREY THE HUMPBACK takes viewers on Humphrey’s bizarre adventure and asks big questions about humans’ impact on marine ecosystems and the great whales that call them home.

    PROJECT TYPE Documentary Feature

    DIRECTOR David Washburn
    PRODUCER David Washburn, Mary Jane Schramm

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    ID: 678