Stephen Kesler
Kesler created the permanent humpback sculpture beneath every painted version of the Whale.
Stories from 9th & 9th
The Whale Almanac
There is a real whale in a Salt Lake City traffic circle. Around it grew gnomes, a wandering baby Whale, snow claims, marathon laps, a sacred-whale church, changing murals, local businesses, and several stories that cannot all be literally true. Every chapter now tells you which is which.
Latest from the Current
What is changing now
Dated updates about the neighborhood festival, the Whale's next coat and unveiling, and the next official orbit around the roundabout.
Current report
Open Your Eyes: the Whale's next mural
Jiyoun Lee-Lodge's new mural wraps the Whale in Great Salt Lake water, Utah sky, and one very deliberate wink. Painting is scheduled from late August through September.
Published August 22, 2026 · Official media-ready image
Current report
The 9th & 9th Street Festival returns September 19
The 33rd annual neighborhood festival fills 900 South and 900 East with local art, food, music, and community on Saturday, September 19.
Published August 24, 2026 · Original illustration
Current report
Whale Fest 2026 is set for October 3
Salt Lake City has named the day for the Whale's next unveiling. The full festival schedule is still below the surface.
Published August 22, 2026 · Original illustration
Current report
Whaleathon 2026 has an official race day
The organizer has set October 24 for the first sanctioned Whaleathon. Registration is not open yet, but the arithmetic remains gloriously unreasonable.
Published August 22, 2026 · Original illustrationHow to read the Almanac
Four labels, clearly marked
Reports track what is changing now. Facts stay useful. Legends keep their mystery. Whale tales get to be ridiculous. The label travels with you into every chapter.
Current report
A dated update checked against named public sources.
Verified fact
Real people, places, dates, and events checked against the sources linked on the page.
Local legend
A real story the community tells. It belongs to the neighborhood, but it is not a literal claim.
Whale's tale
Made up by Whale Fortunes for fun. No city office, artist, gnome, or meteorologist signed off on it.
Put feet to folklore
Take the Whale's 23-stop walking tour
Walk west from the roundabout with one useful human tip and one cheerfully wrong Whale interpretation at every stop.
The complete collection
Open any Almanac shelf
Browse every verified fact, neighborhood legend, and original Whale tale when you want the whole archive.
Facts from shoreStart with what really happenedThe sculpture, the artists, the gnomes, the wandering baby Whale, the Church, the runners, and the neighborhood around them.
Open shelf +
Verified fact
The whale in a Salt Lake City traffic circle
Its official name is Out of the Blue. It is a full-size humpback sculpture, not an ancient sea creature with an unusual commute. Probably.
Verified fact
The baby Whale that appeared out of the blue
Michael Claflin built a little Whale for fun. Someone else carried it to the big Whale, the neighborhood declared a birth, and the calf kept wandering.
Verified fact
The gnomes before the Whale
Before a whale breached from the roundabout, neighbors had already populated the little garden with gnomes. The change produced protest signs, jokes, and an unusually good time capsule.
Verified fact
The Church of the Sacred Whale
Riley Adamson founded a neighborhood church with commandments, member services, environmental principles, and a theology entwined with the Whale's snowy local legend.
Verified fact
Whaleathon and the runners around the Whale
Four friends looked at a very small traffic circle and found a very long race inside it. The Whale watched every return and offered no shortcut.
Verified fact
A Whale's field guide to 9th & 9th
The Whale is at 900 South and 1100 East. The business district that lends it a neighborhood name is centered two blocks west. Walk between them and you pass coffee, fly rods, wedding dresses, bicycles, gelato, a cinema, and several opportunities for a sea creature to misunderstand land.
Stories in circulationThen follow what people tellThese stories are real folklore, even when the weather science and sacred cetacean theology are not.
Open shelf +
The current gets strangeFinally, let the Whale make things upOriginal Whale Fortunes fiction: clearly labeled, sincerely delivered, and not approved by the gnomes.
Open shelf +
Credit the handsMeet and support the artistsVerified artist portfolios, profiles, and places to support their work.Open directory +
Michael “Mike” Murdock
Murdock painted the Whale's inaugural mural and helped establish the colors the neighborhood first adopted.
Artist profile →Verified by Salt Lake City Public Art@mikemurdock48 →Instagram listed by Salt Lake City Public ArtULTRASNAZZY →Murdock's own site: artwork, illustration, and muralsThe Wigglestick →His imaginary skateboard company, with real things to buyNocturnal Stack →See another recent Murdock mural through Mural Fest
Jiyoun Lee-Lodge
Salt Lake City selected Lee-Lodge to create Open Your Eyes, the Great Salt Lake-inspired mural scheduled to become the Whale's next painted surface in 2026.
Michael Claflin
Claflin made the miniature Whale as a personal side project. We found no public creative shop or art account that could be confidently verified as his.
Go look at their stuff. We link local artists because we want them to get paid, and every link here goes to a channel the artist runs themselves. Whale Fortunes takes no commission, has no affiliate arrangement, and is not affiliated with any of them. We only list a place to buy when we can verify the artist owns it.
Artist links last reviewed August 24, 2026Beyond this AlmanacFollow the neighborhoodOfficial, community-run, and locally reported links beyond our stories.Open directory +
Community destinations
Salt Lake City Public ArtOut of the Blue
The city's official home for the sculpture, mural program, and public-art details.
ELPCOEast Liberty Park Community OrganizationThe recognized community organization representing residents and businesses around the Whale.
Neighborhood volunteers9th & 9th Street FestivalThe official site lists the neighborhood festival, in its 33rd year, for September 19, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 900 East and 900 South.
whaleathon.comWhaleathon 2026The organizer site lists the first officially sanctioned Whaleathon for October 24, 2026, with event updates available ahead of registration.
Salt Lake City9th & 9th Business DistrictThe city's overview of the district, its character, and neighborhood destinations.
Local reporting
Axios Salt Lake City · August 2026The Whale's new look
Local reporting on Jiyoun Lee-Lodge's selection to create the next mural for Out of the Blue.
KSL · July 2026How a goofy side project added to the Whale's loreThe documented story of Michael Claflin, the miniature Whale, and its mysterious journey.
KUER · October 2023How many laps make a Whaleathon?Local reporting on the first marathon-distance orbit around the Whale and the snow lore surrounding it.
KUER · March 2021A Whale, a roundabout, and a colony of gnomesA foundational account of the gnome garden and the neighborhood debate before the Whale arrived.
Links are references, not sponsorships or endorsements. External pages can change. Suggest a correction.
Curated, not exhaustive · Last reviewed August 3, 2026