NAHCOTTA – Oystermen at the Port of Peninsula in Nahcotta got the surprise of their lives last week.

Port Manager Mary DeLong said an oyster scow was headed out of the port last Wednesday when a 30-foot gray whale surfaced next to the boat. “It gave them quite a start,” DeLong said. “They were speechless.”

DeLong said the whale appeared to be in good health and hasn’t been seen again. “Nobody can remember ever seeing a whale here,” she said.

Unfortunately, nobody had a camera on hand to record the event.

A whale was last reported in the bay about a dozen years ago.