About a dozen people gathered on Saturday to unveil a memorial for Espresso the Whale, honoring the sea creature that washed ashore twice in 2024.
The humpback whale, nicknamed “Espresso” by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), was memorialized at Beach Bluff Park with a bronze plaque, a ceremony, and a stone-laying activity. Children’s author Jeana Khan, who wrote the book “Winky the Humpback Whale,” spoke at the event and played a recording of whale sounds.
“To me, Swampscott and Marblehead, by the line, wasn’t different,” Khan told the Swampscott Tides. “This is for everyone to see.”
The 42-foot, 65,000-pound, 11-year-old female humpback whale washed ashore twice last year, first in Marblehead along Preston Beach on April 25, 2024. Scientists from NOAA, Tufts University, and the Seacoast Science Center determined that Espresso did not die from human-related causes.
“Doug (Cassidy) anxiously collected his diving gear, put on his wetsuit and went to the beach by the end of Sur Street in Marblehead. When he arrived at the scene, many people – young and old – had gathered,” Khan said. “As Doug approached the water’s edge, one of the young boys yelled ‘save the whale!’”
Marblehead Harbormaster Mark Souza asked Cassidy to “draw a large red X on Espresso’s back so she could be identified if she drifted away,” Khan said.
Espresso was towed 50 miles back out to sea on May 2, 2024 but reappeared on May 14 near Blodgett Avenue in Swampscott. Former Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald worked with state and federal agencies to bury the humpback.
She was buried near the Marblehead–Swampscott town line.
“At 11 years old, just shy of maturity, this magnificent, highly intelligent humpback whale had found her final resting place,” Khan said. “Doug the diver, so moved by this whole episode, gave me a call. He wanted me to write a book about Espresso.”
Khan said that she was able to learn about whales and how they can live as long as humans.
“I learned about their compassionate nature,” Khan said. “They will protect others from danger.”
In the few pages Khan said she wrote to honor Espresso, she renamed the whale to Xena to honor the red X on the whale’s back, but Khan wanted to do more.
“I felt compelled to host a memorial and have a plaque on a rock near her final resting place,” Khan said. “I hope to bring awareness and appreciation of these magnificent creatures we share planet Earth with.”
Patti O’Hare Williams, who grew up with Khan in Marblehead, created the artwork for the plaque.
On Saturday, O’Hare Williams marked out the whale’s dimensions, 42-feet by 27-feet, on Preston Beach, so attendees could lay rocks in her memory.
“I’ve been following this since the beginning,” O’Hare Williams told the Swampscott Tides. “I did see the whale when it was on the rocks. The size was amazing.”
