Forty-five years ago today, the Penobscot River was invaded by an odd-looking creature that had all of Bangor in a panic for a week. At first mistaken for a white submarine, and a shark, porpoise, seal, sturgeon, sea lion, halibut, dolphin and cod fish, the white creature that drew thousands of curiosity seekers to the riverbank was eventually determined to be a white beluga whale.

In these jaded times, it’s difficult to imagine a marine mammal, at 18 feet among the smallest of the whale family, stopping traffic in Bangor for days, but on Monday morning, April 26, 1954, a whale did just that. Perhaps because Bangorites are innately curious creatures themselves, or maybe because many were wary of invasion in the wake of Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist witch hunts and had lingering nightmares of World War II and Korea, the “invasion” caused a stir.

Bob Taylor of the NEWS staff wrote, “One daring band of local people set out in a motor boat to get a closer look, although they were hampered by the swift current and didn’t get much closer than the spectators on the shore.”

Things turned ugly after the white whale was joined by a companion and the crowds swelled even more. Desiring to destroy the nuisance but lacking the legal authority to do so within city limits, Bangor Police Chief John B. Toole turned the matter over to the Sea and Shore Fisheries Commission, which signed a death warrant for the mammals.

That plan was thwarted by hundreds of concerned citizens who flooded the Police Department, Chamber of Commerce and NEWS office with calls of protest.

By May 2, the whales left the salmon pool and swam back out to sea, ending the crisis. Why they came in the first place remains a mystery, although biologists’ best guess is that they navigated all the way from Hudson Bay in Canada in search of a Penobscot delicacy: smelts.

Today the twin cities’ beluga adventure is remembered by many residents residents, in a 1979 children’s book by Gerald Hausman, “The Day the White Whales Came to Bangor,” and in a series of watercolors by Frank Hamabe.

Such simple, inspiring stories are worth recalling from time to time as a reminder that some of life’s most rewarding experiences are unexpected. And free.