20 years ago

Pratt Museum volunteers cut up a dead gray whale that had been found floating in Halibut Cove Lagoon. The crew spent about a week removing blubber and flesh to salvage the skeleton. The dead whale was part of a die-off of gray whales in the Pacific Northwest.

— From the issue of July 1, 1999

30 years ago

Homer inventor Billy Day came up with a device he said will clean oiled rocks more rapidly and completely than the hand-cleaning done by workers along Alaska’s oil-soaked coastline. Day, his brother, Bob, and friend Sandy Cronland field tested the machine in a small cove near Port Dick Creek in Port Dick at the southern end of the Kenai Peninsula.

— From the issue of July 6, 1989

50 years ago

A school of whales made a special appearance off the end of the Homer Spit on June 27, 1969. The whales surfaced not far from Land’s End Resort, spouting water and acting as though they were putting on a show for the audience. The whales were thought to be gray whales, much larger than beluga whales normally seen in Kachemak Bay.

— From the issue of July 1, 1969