The Whale that Goreham built

The former fisherman says some people thought he was crazy when he first started re-building the whale from bones he found last summer.

“Now that they see it’s coming together, they say it’s starting to look good,” said Goreham.

It took several trips to transport the bones after he found the rotting carcass on Outer Island.

“I smelled an awful stink,” he said. “I went ashore and discovered the whale.”

He had to tow the 2,000-pound head behind his boat and it took close to three months to bring the rest of the bones home.

Although the project is well underway, the 15 – 20 ft. tail section remains on a nearby beach, decaying for awhile yet.

Goreham has sprayed the bones with Javex at least half a dozen times to aid the cleaning process, usually before a rain.

Figuring out where each bone goes has been a real head-scratcher.

“I’ve pretty well been going by ‘that looks like it fits here and that looks like it fits there,’ he said.

“I have to rearrange them sometimes when I find more bones and bring them home,” he said.

Each bone has been placed on a bed of sand and gravel to help stabilize it.

A model of a seaside village that Goreham built five years ago, complete with wharves and boats, is at the head of the whale.

He hopes to complete the skeleton before June when tourists start to arrive.

You see, Goreham has a whale of a goal to fulfill. Last summer he was part of a contingent from Shelburne County that helped build the Dulce Refuggio orphanage in Aquascalientes, Mexico.

“I thought I’d do this up nice for pictures and put a donation box out there for the orphanage,” he said.

His experience with the orphans, who were happy despite living in challenging conditions, left him a changed person.

“They’ve got absolutely nothing… and they’ll have more than our kids will ever have,” he said.